Case Study: Greater Anglia achieves major fleet performance gains and slashes delays with Trimble R2M remote diagnostics

Diagnostics for High Performance Rolling Stock

Greater Anglia, operator of the Norwich–London intercity services, was struggling with poor reliability on its ageing Class 90 locomotives and Driving Van Trailers—high failure rates and long delay minutes were harming performance. Because modern onboard TCMS retrofits weren’t feasible, the operator launched the UK’s first full‑fleet retrofit of a true real‑time remote diagnostics system to both reduce the number of failures and minimise their operational impact.

The company fitted Trimble’s R2M train‑borne diagnostics—frequent “vital‑sign” monitoring, GPRS real‑time transmission, GPS location and integration with fleet allocation and asset systems—plus an energy meter and onboard backup. The system delivers immediate fault diagnosis, recommended recovery actions and data for continuous improvement; as a result MPC (Miles per Casualty) rose substantially (≈+60%), delay minutes fell by about 40%, and Greater Anglia achieved wider benefits in safety, driver performance, timetabling and energy efficiency, with the approach now recognised as industry best practice.

Greater Anglia

Stephen Mitchell

Head of Engineering