The challenge
ProRail aims to improve the performance of the rail network without adding new infrastructure. Under the Spoor naar morgen strategy, digitalisation is no longer a supporting function. It is a strategic lever.
The ambition through to 2040 is clear. Enable more train movements, increase reliability and safety, and keep costs under control. The issue is not whether the network should expand, but how to make better use of the assets already in place.
That requires more than technology alone. It calls for a different way of working, steering and collaborating across the organisation.
The approach
ProRail is building a long term roadmap in which data and AI are structurally embedded in maintenance and planning. At its core is the shift from reactive and time based maintenance to predictive and prescriptive maintenance. Not repairing once something fails, but anticipating when intervention is needed and acting with precision. KPMG supports ProRail in turning this strategy into tangible results through a series of successful initiatives.
The maintenance approach is strongly data driven and focused on maximising asset availability at predictable cost. A concrete example is the video inspection train, which captures the entire rail network twice a year using high resolution cameras. These images, together with environmental and process data, are processed on an Azure based big data platform designed and developed in collaboration with KPMG.
Within this platform, AI models automatically recognise and assess assets. Using computer vision, sleepers are identified and analysed for condition and degradation. Where physical sensors are unavailable or not cost effective, ProRail applies soft sensing. These virtual sensors use machine learning models to predict asset condition based on existing data, without the need for additional hardware.
To ensure reliable use in production, an MLOps approach has been established. The full model lifecycle is managed, from training and validation through to deployment and monitoring. This ensures models remain scalable, reproducible and suitable for sustained use in operational decision making.
Digital Twins and advanced planning algorithms enable ProRail to translate these insights into concrete maintenance and capacity decisions. Data is therefore not only valuable for analysis. It is an essential management instrument.
At the same time, employees are actively involved in adopting new ways of working. Digitalisation is not an IT project. It is an organisation wide development in which learning and continuous improvement are central.
The result
Through the focused deployment of data and AI, ProRail uses its existing infrastructure more intelligently. This leads to greater reliability, more predictable maintenance and increased capacity within the current network.
It also creates space for employees to apply their expertise where it adds the most value. In this way, digitalisation strengthens not only operational performance, but also ProRail’s wider societal role as steward of vital infrastructure.
The team that made the difference
The KPMG team, comprising Data Scientists, Data Engineers and functional experts, supported ProRail from the Netherlands in developing its digital roadmap and translating AI ambitions into working, scalable solutions.
