Similar to optic fibre networks, the power grids of the future will increasingly consist of combinations of centralised and decentralised power generation units. These units need to be connected to a grid that allow for flexible point to point or point to multipoint distribution.

Developing economies in particular are driving significant amount of infrastructure transformation through solar plants and wind turbine farms, all of which ultimately need to be connected to existing grids, or grids that still need to be built in the future.

This allows for the retrofit of fibre and power distribution networks that are built in proximity of existing or redundant railway servitudes to be used for accelerating infastructure development.

As ballastless sections are completed the roriginal ballast, sleepers, and metal can be repurposed, recycled,

or migrated to other sections of railway.

Using Optitrac® as a railway revitalisation mechanism will create additional efficiencies and lower the cost of building these networks.

Optitrac® makes it possible to approach infrastructure transformation incrementally. For example, when ports or logistics hubs are developed or upgraded, the existing railway sections can be transformed to  become an integrated and shared services environment, with power, communications, and rail infrastructure integrated into one servitude.

Similarly, new sections of rail needed to connect new mining developments to the rail networks, or redundant sections or railway or servitudes can be converted to integrated infrastructure servitudes, thus also maximising the inherent value of the servitude itself.

The global energy transformation will also require a fundamental shift in energy requirements for transport and the enabling framework for transitioning to electric vehicles and other modes of future transport, such as light weight rail. This will require a complete rethink of electricity generation as well as the distribution grids required to support a growing number of charging points needed.

In the future, similar to fibre networks needed for bringing high speed communications into urban environments, traditional overhead and underground electricity grids will need to be upgraded to bring higher power capacities to buildings, residential areas, and dedicated vehicle charging hubs.