A Journey into Rail Engineering

Fabha Murtaza is a System Engineer for Hitachi Rail in the United Kingdom. She primarily works on urban signalling projects, where she leverages every opportunity to drive innovation and uses iterative feedback to provide effective solutions for customers and enhance the passenger experience.

In a recent Q&A, we interviewed Fabha to get an insight into her career. Read on to find out more.

How did you end up in engineering, and specifically in the rail sector?

I've always been passionate about innovation and exploring the future potential of technology. In school, I loved Maths and Physics, and I was interested in reading about new inventions and how they were improving the world.

When the whole IoT idea became a phenomenon, I was so inspired to learn about how the systems work and the infrastructure behind smart technology. This led me to study BEng Computer Systems Engineering and since I enjoyed it so much, I decided to pursue a Masters in Computer Systems Engineering.

I started my Graduate Engineer journey with Telent Technology Ltd and worked mainly on transport projects that led me to work in rail. I have really enjoyed working in the rail sector as a network engineer and systems engineer for 6 years now, and it has been an amazing journey to learn so much about how railways work.

Tell us about the most memorable project that you have worked on.

I'm at my best when I'm learning new things, and therefore my most memorable project has been working on the Northern Line Third Generation Vehicle Control Centre (NL3GVCC). It's been incredible to experience the full engineering lifecycle of the project from the bidding stage to installation and testing. I learned about completely new areas of design and installation, and had the opportunity to be on site, so it gave me a true sense of accomplishment.

Most importantly, this project allowed me to work in an agile way, giving and receiving continuous feedback and using that to improve processes and outcomes, which is something I'd like to bring to other projects. If there is one skill you need to master in being a successful engineer, it's agility and being able to quickly respond to a myriad of challenges.

You're currently working in the urban signalling space. What is unique about urban signalling?

We're an extremely diverse team, in every way, which is unique to urban signalling. We partner with various technical and non-technical experts within our UK and Canada teams, yet we operate as one team to deliver project deadlines.

I have really enjoyed meeting so many new colleagues at Hitachi Rail globally. Additionally, the signalling part of the rail sector was very new to me, and I learned so much from my colleagues across the world who have such rich experience in signalling, as well as other disciplines. Our projects are typically phased, and I know that there is always someone who deeply understands the ins and outs of each phase, and that they'll be willing to support and help take our work to the next level.

You have an interest in how AI can be applied in rail. What excites you about the role of AI in the future of rail?

I believe there is major scope for AI within rail, and I love being part of an organisation that's also committed to a bold vision in this space. Recently, we partnered with NVIDIA to launch the 'HMAX' suite, which offers digital asset management solutions for the entire rail ecosystem - trains, signaling and infrastructure - and is being pioneered with transport operators globally.

There are some very immediate applications of AI that can make railways more efficient.

Of course, it will take industry as a whole time to assess and implement AI in a safe and impactful way, but there are some very immediate applications that can make railways more efficient. I often think about how AI can shift the needle on various aspects of operations, sustainability, safety, security and even customer service, ultimately creating a better passenger experience. The possibilities are endless, and this excites me a lot.

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