The safety notice reads:"The Technology shall not be used as a virtual fence for worker notification on ALO ."Problems were identified during trials at Network Rail's Milton Keynes offices in January 2024.
A geofence is a virtual perimeter around a given area. In this instance, workers have a wearable device that keeps track of their position using data provided by a Global Navigation Satellite System , such as GPS. Stray into the wrong place, and the device will alert the user that they've wandered out of a designated safe zone.
We're sure nobody would dream of following the example set by certain online retailers of tracking workers' movements for purposes other than safety. Keeping an eye on workers aside, the technology as implemented appears to have some serious flaws, starting with"Geo-fence area within the system not aligned with intended physical boundary," according to Network Rail's advisory. Other issues include problematic response times for alarms and the worrying"Inconsistency between system dashboards and physical locations."
Network Rail - the owner and infrastructure manager of the majority of Britain's railway network - described the issues as"general" and noted that each supplier had at least one of the problems.Network Rail, told us:"We are keen to expand our use of geofencing technology on the railway and are undertaking testing to support that ambition.