The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is a GBP multibillion railway enhancement program to double capacity, reduce carbon emissions, and cut journey times on commuter routes between Manchester, Leeds, and York. When completed, the 100-kilometer route upgrade will improve connectivity and provide economic benefits to the North of England. To bring together the large volume of data and disciplines involved, Network Rail tasked Jacobs with implementing a route-wide digital twin.

Realizing paper-based processes and Excel spreadsheets introduced unnecessary risk and inefficiency across the team, Jacobs used the Bentley iTwin platform with ProjectWise, ContextCapture, and other integrated applications. Using the digital twin meant over 1,300 staff could track, contribute, and analyze design data and asset information in real time. Improved access saved the team 20,000 hours in the first six months, worth an estimated GBP 1 million. Overall, the digital twin will save approximately GBP 15 million.