THE Technology Research & Development Department at JR Central has developed a small and lightweight device to give high precision measurements of rail geometry.

LightRec is manually pushed along the rails on conventional and Shinkansen lines, and calculates in real time the track gauge, level, alignment and twist.

At less than US$34500, the LightRec costs around half the price of JR Central’s previous devices. It weighs less than 20 kg, about one-third of the weight of previous models, and can be operated by one person.

The LightRec will initially be used on the Tokaido Shinkansen, and will be available for purchase by other railway operators.

Central Japan Railway, Japan

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