Cordel Group PLC has secured a major new contract with Network Rail valued at £3,000,000, covering the large‑scale processing of point cloud data to deliver structure gauging outputs across the national rail network.
The contract runs until December 2027, with an optional extension to December 2028 valued at a further £1,336,000, reinforcing Cordel’s growing role in supporting Network Rail’s digital transformation and safety compliance agenda.
Under the agreement, Cordel will provide a Structure Gauging Service Booster, processing raw LiDAR data captured from Cordel hardware installed on Network Rail’s Infrastructure Monitoring Units. The data will be converted into compliant gauging outputs in line with Network Rail Standard NR/L2/TRK/3204.
The award builds directly on Cordel’s achievement in June 2024, when the company announced that it had secured formal Network Rail certification for all three gauging clearance file types: Structures, Station Platforms and Track Intervals. These approvals have enabled Cordel to move from pilot deployments to delivery at national scale.
As part of the contract scope, Cordel will establish and operate processing workflows, update the National Gauging Database, configure the Track Intervals Module, and deliver fully validated SC0, SCP and SCX files. The programme is designed to support the recovery of national gauging compliance by addressing historic data backlogs, reducing operational and safety risk, and ensuring accurate clearance data is available to support safe railway operations.
All data processing will be delivered through Cordel’s automated AI platform, which has already been proven on rail networks worldwide and is specifically designed to manage high‑volume, high‑complexity infrastructure datasets at speed.
Cordel CEO John Davis said, "We are delighted to be selected to deliver a bulk data refresh into the National Gauging Dataset, which we already store and manage for Network Rail.”
The procurement marks a further step in Network Rail’s efforts to deploy fully integrated digital solutions to improve asset knowledge, enhance safety assurance and support more efficient railway operations at scale.
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