New research shows that the top two challenges rail industry leaders and experts face are talent and sustainability. 31% percent of respondents in the civil engineering sector said that attracting, training, and retaining the right people is currently their top challenge, while 26% said sustainability is a top challenge they are facing today. Finally, data management is also a key issue—projects are becoming increasingly complex, making it difficult to handle the vast amounts of data needed across disciplines and time zones. In order to face these challenges, rail leaders and experts are turning to digital transformation. Read the special edition report to learn more.
Connect people, data, and processes across the project lifecycle in a cloud-based, common data environment. Expand beyond the office and work together anytime, anywhere. Reduce errors and increase capacity using transparent workflows; and share the right data at the right time with your whole team, giving a comprehensive project view.
55% of firms using Digital Project Delivery say it significantly increased their team’s capacity.
BIM transforms your rail design workflow and delivery time. With BIM, you can maximize digitalization, manage project complexity, and improve collaboration across teams from design to handover. It also helps you generate insights that empower sound, real-time decision-making. By combining and accessing accurate data from multiple teams into a single source of truth, BIM enhances workflows across all project phases.
BIM and GIS cloud collaboration makes it easy for teams to explore and collaborate on project information with geospatial context.
This has significant implications for project teams, including improved design review, visualization, and exploration. Teams can also rapidly map and manage issues as they emerge, and by connecting documentations to relevant ArcGIS features, they can securely and efficiently track project updates.
Streamline processes and scale up your outputs. Simplify workflows, reduce errors, and produce high-quality designs fast.
Let your teams create, visualize, automate, and instantly modify designs together with the most up-to-date models, from anywhere.
Work with clarity and precision. Visualize each railway engineering project, access key insights, and make informed decisions.
Finish railway engineering projects faster, at an even higher standard. Impress your clients and secure more work.
Typsa Group used Autodesk rail and transit solutions to create and construct Line 10 of the Valencia Metro.
Teknik Engineering switched to Autodesk software to simplify and speed up a high-stakes railway engineering project.
Ramboll helped its railway design team work twice as fast, using Revit to automate tasks and communicate effectively.
Powerful BIM and CAD tools for designers, engineers, and contractors, including Revit, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Autodesk Forma, and more
Cloud-based design co-authoring, collaboration, and coordination software for architecture, engineering, and construction teams. “Pro” enables anytime, anywhere collaboration in Revit, Civil 3D, and AutoCAD Plant 3D.
Plan, design, construct, and manage buildings with powerful tools for Building Information Modeling.
Get inspired with the top presentations and panel talks from Autodesk Rail Summit 2023—the world’s premier event for digital transformation in railway engineering.
COMMUNITY
Join the Autodesk Rail Community to connect with industry experts and find member-contributed resources for the future of rail.
ARTICLE
In Auckland, New Zealand, an ambitious railway project builds new infrastructure to support the industry’s changes and the city’s growing population.
ARTICLE
Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), geographic information system (GIS), and automation are enhancing railroad projects in Scandinavia.
ARTICLE
German construction and infrastructure company Max Bögl designed a fully automated urban mobility solution.
From plan to handover, support each stage of your road or highway project.
Connect multidiscipline workflows for the layout, design, and analysis of bridges and tunnels.
Own and manage all airport project data to reduce risks and save time and money.
Tackle transportation infrastructure challenges with faster, forward-looking tools.
Railway engineering is an engineering discipline relating to the design, construction, and operation of rail transport systems. It includes many engineering disciplines such as civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. In relation to the civil engineering industry, railway engineering involves the geometric design, construction, and operation of the railway alignment and track structure.
Railway engineering software aids in designing the precise and accurate geometric details of the rail corridor and evaluating the impacts of new or revised railway alignments on the existing terrain. Engineering software helps engineers create dynamic and intelligent models. It helps engineers and contractors reduce errors and rework during construction while mitigating risk. The tools and features in the software help improve design quality, efficiently communicate design intent, and facilitate communication between project stakeholders.
Owners, surveyors, and planners use rail engineering software to determine existing conditions, establish rail alignment layouts and dimensions, and evaluate maintenance operations and expansion needs and alternatives. Engineering service providers and general contractors also use engineering software to determine efficient design solutions and construction details for implementing the design intent for rail infrastructure.
The AEC Collection and the Autodesk Construction Cloud are excellent offerings for railway projects. The platforms within the AEC collection help ESPs and owners review, design, and maintain the railway corridors and systems features in all the lifecycle phases (plan, design, build, operate). The AEC Collection provides tools and features to create detailed design models, and the Autodesk Construction Cloud acts as the central storage location for design files, project criteria, and corridor models. The Construction Cloud also accommodates design review cycles, comment and issue tracking, and critical project-related communication between team members and stakeholders during the project lifecycle.
Yes. Civil 3D, Revit, InfraWorks, and several other design platforms allow designers and owners to create and view detailed project models in 3D. These models can combine all related disciplines together to review the model for potential conflicts prior to construction and to determine how the model will function once completed. The tools available help improve interdisciplinary coordination and avoid errors and rework during construction.
Digital project delivery allows the stakeholders, owners, and designers to create a compete digital model of the rail assets. This model can be used for information purposes with all necessary metadata included. The model acts as the basis for the construction plans and can be included as a reference during design review cycles. This information can also be published to ArcGIS as reference models and documents for infrastructure maintenance and for future projects.
Digital project delivery allows all the stakeholders to be connected during the entire lifecycle of the project. This accommodates better communication in review cycles and better implementation of design intent.
Autodesk is looking for ways to implement AI in the railway design process. One critical area is to make the design automation processes easier and more efficient. Dynamo for Civil 3D and Revit allow engineers and architects to run routines much faster and with greater accuracy. AI will help make these processes even more efficient to reduce design time and improve overall efficiency.
Many trends that are shaping the rail industry include the move to BIM, creating more intelligent and efficient models. Many owners are trying to digitize their entire rail network. The geometric details and metadata contained within the digital model help evaluate asset conditions and improve asset maintenance. As construction is completed and details are provided about the exact location of specific details, as-built drawings and details can be published to GIS for future use and reference. Many owners are moving to implement these processes to improve the quality of their asset maintenance and communication of asset details to project stakeholders.
