Hitachi Rail acquires Omnicom Rail

Hitachi Rail has announced the acquisition of Omnicom, a leading provider of digital rail monitoring solutions, from Balfour Beatty.

Hitachi Rail’s targeted acquisition will strengthen its new digital asset management business, HMAX.

Omnicom produces hardware and advanced software for surveying, inspecting, and monitoring rail infrastructure, including gauge clearance measurement, line visual inspection and scanning infrastructure. It can also offer installation of its systems on trains that can provide near real-time track detection.

Hitachi Rail confirmed that Omnicom’s technology, which collects vast amounts of data daily, will be integrated into the HMAX platform.

“This is a strategic acquisition for Hitachi Rail” said Hitachi Rail CEO Guiseppe Marino.

He added, “Plugging Omnicom’s pioneering track monitoring tools into our digital asset management platform, will further strengthen our global offer to optimize customers’ rail services and the surrounding infrastructure.”

Balfour Beatty meanwhile has said that it intends to focus on its core capability of track maintenance in the UK.

Mick Rayner, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty’s UK Rail business, said: “In order to capitalise on its unique technological solutions to the rail market, Omnicom requires an owner with a truly global reach and a complementary culture.”

The company is based out of offices in York and Derby and employs 100 engineers and is hoping Hitachi Rail will help it develop its systems and services.

“This acquisition strengthens Omnicom’s ability to collaborate, innovate and deliver AI-enabled systems and services whilst further enhancing the safety, efficiency, and reliability of rail infrastructure, building on our proven data driven solutions which help predict and prevent railway asset failures. I look forward to Omnicom’s continuing success as part of the Hitachi brand” commented its managing director, Sanjay Razdan.