Client/Sector: Costain / rail safety / Network Rail
A simulation-led proof tool that made an abstract rail safety proposition tangible enough to support stakeholder buy-in and commercial decision-making.
Project Snapshot
01 Challenge
Costain needed a compelling way to demonstrate the value of a rail safety product for unguarded level crossings to Network Rail, using something more persuasive than slides or static visuals.
02 Approach
I created the Meerkat simulator as an interactive virtual environment that made risks, behaviours, and safety responses visible in a way stakeholders could immediately understand.
03 Execution
The simulator recreated a realistic level-crossing environment, including track context, vehicle interactions, hazards, and safety visualisation layers. The aim was not just realism, but clarity: helping decision-makers see the product's operational value through direct experience.
04 Outcome
The work supported Costain's bid position and helped the company win the contract for installation with Network Rail, turning the simulator into a meaningful commercial proof tool rather than just a technical demo.
Technical delivery
This was a simulation-led sales and engineering tool: it had to translate a specialist rail-safety proposition into something stakeholders could see, operate and discuss. The technical work therefore balanced operational credibility with the clarity required in a commercial demonstration.
The simulator needed more than a convincing rail scene. Operational steps, equipment behaviour and user actions had to be represented as states with clear transitions so a demonstration could show what happened before, during and after a safety intervention. That made the experience repeatable instead of dependent on a presenter improvising around a 3D model.
For engineering stakeholders, spatial relationships and equipment behaviour had to feel plausible. For commercial stakeholders, the value needed to become obvious quickly. The build focused fidelity where it supported the proposition—environment, sequence and consequence—while keeping interaction and explanation simple enough for a meeting or bid environment.
The deliverable gave the team a shared visual reference for discussing safety, deployment and operational impact. It demonstrates an important part of my work: using real-time technology to reduce ambiguity between technical specialists, decision makers and buyers rather than treating simulation as an isolated visual exercise.
Project summary
The essential product, role and delivery context behind the work.
Short answers for people comparing vendors, project approaches and similar technical work.
The Meerkat Simulator was an interactive rail safety simulation used to communicate project value and operational safety concepts.
Simulation helps teams explain risk, procedures and operational context in a way static documents often cannot.
This case study supports VR training development, safety simulation, Unity development and interactive product searches.