QT-PRI is a collaboration between RSK, Atkins, Network Rail and the University of Birmingham (UoB) to establish the Quantum Technology (QT) gravity sensor market opportunities against assessment of current geophysical technologies. Our aim is to detect and assess the condition of assets buried beneath the railway network, such as the drainage network, as well as water flow through the railway earthworks.
There are over 190,000 railway earthworks and buried assets exceeding 6,000 km. The incomplete asset inventory significantly limits the development of frameworks as investigations need to be carried out in order to determine where these assets may reside. This can have an impact on the day-to-day operational running of the rail network.