TagMaster, the leading producer of advanced RFID solutions for rail applications, has again, been selected by Lloyds Register Rail to provide RFID systems for the Gotcha Monitoring Systems® (Gotcha) supplied to ProRail in the Netherlands. The total value for the TagMaster equipment is in the area of 1.5MSEK. The equipment will be installed during 2010 and includes TagMaster’s LR 6-HD track-side readers.

Gotcha is an open wayside monitoring platform to measure the quality of various aspects of passing trains. Gotcha will provide real-time information about axle loads, load imbalances, the quality of wheels and train speed which gives significant savings in both infrastructure and rolling stock maintenance costs. The integrated TagMaster RFID system ensures that the actual measurements are matched with the correct train and wheel pairs as the train passes at full line speeds.

TagMaster first delivered equipment to Gotcha in 2004, when it was installed in its first version across the rail network in the Netherlands. The RFID system has since then been in reliable operation and has provided the customer with the necessary reliability track record and confidence to again select a TagMaster solution for the new upgrade of Gotcha on 41 locations.

“We are very pleased that Lloyds Rail has again selected TagMaster as the provider of RFID equipment for ProRail. This proves that the installation has fulfilled the performance expectations to the full satisfaction of the end-customer and is in itself a quality stamp of the highest level for TagMaster. The installation in the Netherlands is one of the largest TagMaster RFID systems in use on a mainline system in Europe,” says Richard Holt, director of transportation at TagMaster.