Case Study

RailView / Field Operations Platform

A rail maintenance company ditched their spreadsheets and never looked back.

A rail grinding company serving 15+ North American transit systems (Sound Transit, BART, NYCT, SkyTrain) replaced their spreadsheet-and-email workflow with a single platform. It changed how they win and retain contracts.

RailView map interface showing Sound Transit network with color-coded EastLink, NorthLink, and SouthLink lines

RailView: live map showing completed work across the Sound Transit network

Deployed for Rail Transit Maintenance
Scale 15+ North American transit systems
Integrations Sound Transit, BART, NYCT, SkyTrain +

§01

Sound Familiar?

The work gets done. The reporting doesn't keep up.

Diagram showing the typical field reporting workflow: infrequent and inconsistent data collection, flat files with long turnaround, poor version control in email, and incomplete data reaching decisions

The typical field reporting workflow: inconsistent collection, flat files, email chaos, incomplete decisions

The real cost isn't inefficiency. It's the contracts you can't win because you can't demonstrate operational rigor.

§02

What Changes with RailView

One platform for every shift, every segment, every delay. When a client asks what you did last week, the answer is a link. Not a research project.

System How data flows from the field to every stakeholder
RailView architecture: field data intake, automated processing and storage, interactive web app serving technicians, engineers, and executives
100% Shift data captured,
structured, and auditable
Instant Client reports delivered
automatically on submission
Real-time Coverage maps, analytics,
and delay tracking

01

Every Shift Documented. No Exceptions.

  • Structured mobile forms with auto-populated fields and guided entry
  • Validation catches missing data and impossible time sequences before submission
  • Automatic client notifications the moment a crew submits
RailView mobile reporting form showing guided step-by-step shift report entry

02

Show Clients Exactly Where You've Been

Hand them a map, not a spreadsheet. Each transit system's network, segments, and reference system is already configured.

  • Coverage heat maps: heavily worked, barely touched, or overdue
  • Work overlays by category and date range
  • Mileposts and chainpoints mapped to your clients' reference systems

03

Walk Into Client Meetings With Answers

Real-time dashboards. No more scrambling to build a monthly summary.

  • Production: track covered, utilization rate, trend lines
  • Time breakdown: travel, productive work, machine delays, client holds
  • Delay analysis: root causes ranked by impact. Push back with data when delays aren't yours
  • Trends: period-over-period comparison by line, crew, or work type
RailView production analytics dashboard showing total track ground, utilization rate, time breakdown chart, and production trends

Production analytics: KPIs, time breakdown by category, and trend tracking across 261,255 ft of track

04

Win a New Contract. Onboard in Hours.

Already serving 15+ transit authorities from one deployment. Going from 15 to 16 is configuration, not development. The platform can be white-labeled with your brand, your domain, and your client-facing identity.

  • White-label ready: your logo, your colors, your domain
  • Five-tier access control from admin to view-only stakeholder
  • Client-scoped catalogs for equipment, personnel, and segments
  • Complete audit trail for compliance reviews

§03

Before & After

The Old Way With RailView
Shift reports arrive late, incomplete, or not at all Every shift documented, validated, and stored before the crew leaves the site
Client asks "what did you do last month?" Answer takes days Real-time dashboards and exportable reports, always current
No way to show coverage. Work described in text Interactive maps with heat maps, overlays, and gap analysis
Delays invisible. No way to identify patterns or push back Categorized delay tracking with root-cause analysis and trend data
Reporting depends on individuals following conventions Structured data capture with validation. Consistent by design
New contract = weeks of admin setup and hope New client configured and live in hours
No audit trail. Compliance questions are a scramble Full history with timestamps, attribution, and edit tracking

§04

Built for Rail. Ready for Your Industry.

Built for rail. But the problem it solves, the gap between work done in the field and work that gets documented, exists in every field services company. The platform adapts to your data model in weeks.

Road & Highway

Pothole repair, milling, striping, guardrail work. Coverage maps show what's maintained vs. neglected. Delay analysis surfaces equipment, weather, and permitting bottlenecks.

Utilities

Pipeline inspection, line clearing, meter replacement. Work along linear assets with reference systems. Compliance requires knowing exactly what was done, when, and by whom.

Municipal Public Works

Street sweeping, storm drains, sidewalk repair. Geographic coverage tracking and crew productivity metrics to justify budgets and respond to constituent complaints.

Environmental Services

Vegetation management, erosion control, corridor monitoring. Regulatory reporting demands structured data with audit trails, not folders of spreadsheets.

Under the Hood

Simple by design. One backend language, one database, serverless hosting. No DevOps team required.

Layer Technology
BackendPython (Django), REST API
FrontendReact, TypeScript
DatabasePostgreSQL + PostGIS (geospatial)
MappingMapbox GL JS
HostingGoogle Cloud Run (serverless containers)
AuthJWT with role-based access control
Background TasksPostgreSQL-backed queue (no Redis/RabbitMQ)

Your next client will ask how you track your work.

Make sure the answer isn't "spreadsheets." RailView adapts to your industry, your data, and your clients. Typically in weeks, not months.

[email protected]

Case Study

See how RailView replaced spreadsheets for 15+ transit systems.

Enter your email to read the full case study.