by rail engineers for rail engineers
Is
JUNE 2019 – ISSUE 175
e r u t ? 6 u f i F i e th r W o 5G
STRAIGHTENING OUT MARKET HARBOROUGH A pronounced curve, speed restrictions, large gaps to mind, a barrow crossing and short platforms - all solved by repurposing the car park. RAILTEX REVIEWED
HUNTWORTH BRIDGE
The editor prowled the corridors of UK’s most important railway industry exhibition while everyone else attended the technical seminars.
A worn-out bridge was replaced using a thinner deck lifted in by a rail crane. Hasn’t this been done before?
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16 CONTENTS
36
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News
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Is the future 5G or Wi-Fi 6?
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Enabling better performance
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Market Harborough, hydrogen-train fleet, diesel-free worksite, Kintore station.
Paul Darlington considers the merits of the latest form of Wi-Fi for railway communications.
David Shirres investigates RSSB’s latest data sandbox research competition.
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ATO - Exploiting the Technology
Clive Kessell attended a recent seminar on the use of Automatic Train Operation.
52 26|
Park Signalling's new technical terminal
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HydroFLEX one year on
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Power conversion solutions
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Delivering the UK's temporary flood defences
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Straightening out Market Harborough
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Editor's eye for Railtex
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Mind the gap!
60|
Rail Engineer Seminars at Railtex
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Huntworth Bridge A lift that could change the paradigm
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Delivering Change
Paul Darlington discovers how a 35-year-old signalling system keeps up with the times.
The technology in BCRRE’s small-scale prototype is being applied to a full-scale testbed.
Mornsun power converters are used by Relec to power on-board equipment and systems.
Stobart Rail and Civils has the job of getting flood defences to where they are needed, fast.
Peter Stanton explains how a curved station was rerouted through the car park.
PEP provides the essential platform edge protection that keeps workers on stations safe.
Collin Carr on the unusual solution of using a rail crane to lift a railway bridge.
While walking the show at Railtex 2019, the editor spotted a number of interesting exhibits.
The technical seminar programme was as varied and as interesting as ever.
New IRSE president George Clark gives his thoughts on meeting the challenges ahead.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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EDITORIAL
RAIL ENGINEER MAGAZINE
© iStock Photo
Delivering change
This month we take the title of our editorial from the address given by George Clark, the new President of Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE), who is right to emphasise that change features large on the rail industry’s agenda, as many of our features illustrate. Introducing new technology is a particularly challenging aspect of change. In this respect, George considers that the IRSE’s engineers are both catalysts and agents for the delivery of change, and have skills that have never been in more demand than they are today. Although this statement applies to all railway engineers, one particular challenge for signal and telecommunications engineers are the complex legacy interfaces from railway projects that are upgrading what most other industries would consider to be industrial archaeology. By the standards of the electronics industry, in which systems are obsolete after a few years, the Solid State Interlocking (SSI) that BR introduced in the 1980s is ancient. Yet it remains entirely fit for purpose, with over 400 SSIs controlling signalling systems throughout the network, and is likely to be in use for many years. However, its technician’s terminal, with its green screen and command input, is now obsolete. We report on the development of modern terminal which will help keep SSI installations fault-free for years to come. An even more ancient system is Automatic Train Operation (ATO), which was first introduced on the Victoria Line in 1968. At first, ATO was used only for metro operations, but, as George states in this Presidential address, the once-clear lines between main-line and metro control systems are becoming increasingly blurred. Clive Kessell explores this further in his report on a joint IMechE/IRSE seminar “ATO: Integral to achieve a truly interoperable system.” His comprehensive feature includes a description of the complexities of Thameslink’s main line ATO system and how ATO will enable HS2 to operate 18tph in each direction between London and Birmingham. HS2 will have driver-attended ATO which is Grade of Automation 2 (GoA2). Clive’s article also describes how the diminutive Glasgow Subway is planning to introduce GoA4 (unattended train operation with no member of staff on board). George also points out that “communications technology is fundamental to train control systems and evolves rapidly.” With the need to transmit increasing amounts of data, Paul Darlington considers the development of railway radio communications and what this means for the future. It seems the choice is between 5G or WiFi 6. Read the article to decide for yourself which will be the future. Transmitting large amounts of data is one thing, getting useful information from it is another. We report on a conference that launched a further round of data sandbox research competitions.
These are run by RSSB and aim to find novel ways of improving punctuality from the vast amount of data collected each day. This worthwhile initiative is already providing useful information, although its focus is on trains rather than passengers. When service recovery involves skip-stopping and terminating short, the objective should surely be to minimise overall passenger disruption, for which data about the passengers affected by such decisions is required. Speeding-up trains through Market Harborough should improve train performance. As Peter Stanton describes, its station is on a 60mph curve as a result of it previously being a junction station. After realigning four kilometres of track over the old car park and relocating platforms to straighten this curve, trains can now go through the station at 85mph. With the old car park now buried under the new track alignment, a larger car park has been provided on the other side of the tracks. Colin Carr has been to the depths of Somerset to find out why Huntworth bridge needs to be renewed and how this was to be done. As it involved a 20-week road closure, effective community engagement was essential and included the requirement for a novel solution to get children to school. Another novelty was the use of a Kirow rail crane, which had not been used for such a bridge lift before. Its use avoided many access problems and the need for ground preparations for a road crane – it also saved £200,000. There’s always something new at Railtex, although, sadly, space doesn’t allow us to report on everything. My eye was caught by various stands that offered ways to reduce rail’s carbon footprint. Of course, for busy lines, electrification is the best way to do this. However, it is good to see Alstom and Vivarail developing low-carbon rolling stock for rural routes. We also feature the Hydroflex, being developed by the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education, which will be the UK’s first hydrogen train, even though it is only a demonstrator vehicle. It builds on Birmingham’s hydrogen pedigree which dates back to 2012 when the University’s entered the UK’s first hydrogen train at the IMechE’s Railway Challenge. The seminar programme at Railtex, once again hosted by Rail Engineer, was as variesd and as popular as ever - Nigel Wordsworth has tried to cover all the salient points in his review. Rail Engineer can also announce an environmental initiative this month as we have moved to a different type of wrapper. This is a compostable potato-starch wrap which is plasticiser-free and is completely biodegradable. However please don’t ask us DAVID which wheelie bin it SHIRRES RAIL ENGINEER EDITOR should be put in!
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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THE TEAM
NEWS
Hydrogen train fleet ordered
Editor David Shirres david.shirres@railengineer.co.uk
Production Editor Nigel Wordsworth nigel.wordsworth@railengineer.co.uk
Production and design Adam O’Connor adam@rail-media.com Matthew Stokes matt@rail-media.com
Engineering writers bob.wright@railengineer.co.uk clive.kessell@railengineer.co.uk collin.carr@railengineer.co.uk david.bickell@railengineer.co.uk graeme.bickerdike@railengineer.co.uk grahame.taylor@railengineer.co.uk lesley.brown@railengineer.co.uk malcolm.dobell@railengineer.co.uk mark.phillips@railengineer.co.uk paul.darlington@railengineer.co.uk peter.stanton@railengineer.co.uk stuart.marsh@railengineer.co.uk
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Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
Alstom has received a contract for a fleet of 27 Cordia iLint trains from the Rhein-MainVerkehrsverbund (RMV), Germany's Rhine-Main transport authority, on behalf of its Fahma subsidiary, for use on four routes in the Frankfurt area. In addition to the hydrogenpowered trains themselves, the contract also includes the supply of hydrogen, maintenance and the provision of reserve capacity for the next 25 years. Enak Ferlemann, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, said: “The purchase of 27 vehicles is a lighthouse project for fuel cell mobility, about which I’m very pleased. The federal government supports this investment in climatefriendly mobility by assuming 40 per cent of the additional vehicle costs incurred in comparison to diesel vehicles, as well as by providing proportional support for the hydrogen filling station.” RMV managing director Prof. Knut Ringat added: “This award sets two records: With the commissioning of the new vehicles in 2022, RMV will have the world’s largest fleet of fuel-cell trains in passenger transport and it is the largest
order in the history of our subsidiary Fahma. After electrically powered trains, electric buses and hydrogen buses, we are now offering our passengers a further opportunity to travel without emissions. This milestone makes me proud and is a giant step towards a mobility without pollutants.” The world’s first two hydrogen trains have been in regular passenger service in the Elbe-Weser network in Lower Saxony since September 2018. The Local Transport Authority of Lower Saxony (Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen, LNVG) will operate a total of 14 Coradia iLint trains on that route from 2021. All 27 new hydrogen-powered trains will be equipped with comprehensive passenger information systems and complimentary Wi-Fi. Each train will have 160 seats as well as space for bicycles, wheelchairs and prams.
NEWS
coming soon... Market Harborough reopens on time Market Harborough station reopened as planned on Monday 3 June after a six-day closure while the tracks were realigned. This created a straighter line through the station, enabling trains to travel at higher speeds. Several people were pleased that everything had gone to plan. Gavin Crook, principal programme sponsor for Network Rail, was “absolutely delighted that this vital stage of the Midland Main Line Upgrade has now completed and that passengers are once more able to use Market Harborough station”, while Lisa Angus, franchise programmes director for East Midlands Trains, said: “We are really pleased that Market Harborough station is back open from today and we are grateful for the patience and understanding of our customers.” Also delighted, and relieved, was Rail Engineer’s own Peter Stanton. When writing an article in advance, it’s always a bit of a worry that commissioning won’t go to plan. Peter visited the site in April and wrote the article you can find elsewhere in this issue based on the fact that the station would be open BEFORE his report went to print. It did, thankfully. There is still work to do, and the project team will be on site at Market Harborough station until December 2019, finishing things off and adding another 200 spaces to the new car park, which they could not do earlier as their own work site was in the way.
JULY 2019 STATIONS & RAILWORX REVIEW Rail Engineer reports on station construction and redevelopment, using technology to improve the passenger experience, and managing access and revenue. New roofs, improved public address, platform extensions, repurposing or improving facilities, better lighting and streamlined passenger flows - it’s all covered. Rail Engineer looks back at RailWorx and reviews what was on show. Accessibility, Architecture, BIM, Barriers, Buildings, CCTV, Car Parks, Catering, Cleaning, Escalators, Landlord Permissions, Lifts, Lighting, Maintenance, Passenger Information Systems, Planning Issues, Platform / Train Interface, Platform Screen Doors, Platforms, Refurbishment, Reporting / Software, Smart Ticketing.
AUG/SEPT 2019 ELECTRIFICATION & POWER As the UK rail network is one of the biggest consumers of electricity in the UK, it is always investigating ways to innovate, reduce costs, introduce new power alternatives and reduce carbon. Safety is also a major topic, as are ways to take possessions more quickly and to install new electrification more efficiently. Cabinets, Components, Connectors, Control Equipment and Systems, Cables, Distribution Networks, Earthing, Fasteners, Generators, Housings, Insulation, Lamps, Lightning Protection, Monitoring, OLE, Pantographs, Power Supplies, Security, Substations, Transformers.
OCTOBER 2019 RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE As CP6 gets fully underway, Rail Engineer’s expert writers take a look at what’s involved in maintaining and renewing the railway’s infrastructure and at the latest advances in technology and techniques that aim to make the process faster, easier and more cost effective. Asset Management, Bridges, Cable Hangers, Concrete, Construction, Drainage, Examinations, Lifting, Modular Systems, Painting, Plant & Equipment, Precast Sections, Refurbishment, Replacement, Rope Access, Scaffolding, Spray Concrete, Surveying Equipment, Surveying Techniques, Tunnelling, Tunnel Boring, Ventilation, Waterproofing.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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NEWS
'Site of the Future' in South Wales is 97% diesel free A worksite in South Wales has achieved a milestone 97 per cent 'diesel free' operation during a 14-day project, centred around a 72-hour possession over the early May bank holiday weekend As part of the drive to clean up emission from construction sites, Network Rail and Colas Rail used solar and battery technologies from Prolectric instead of diesel generators, saving 6,000 litres of fuel, and more than 15 tonnes of CO2 on the site at Llanwern, which covered more than 21 acres. This included access roads, the welfare cabin area, car parking and the track working area itself, where the London to Cardiff main line meets the Llanwern steelworks spur, near Newport. More than 70 rail staff were employed on the site. Three 25kW solar generators replaced conventional diesel generators providing light and heat for seven welfare cabins, including site offices, a canteen, toilets and a drying room. A total of 21 solar tower lights illuminated the site compound, car parking and work preparation areas, as well as being deployed on the trackside, where 200 metres of battery-powered link lighting was also used and column street lights were positioned along the access road to the site. New fuel-free applications were also trialled, including a new solar-powered camera
security system. Fuel was also saved by using portable lithium battery packs, recharged as necessary from the solar generators, to power dust suppression systems, water cooler stations and point motors. Network Rail programme engineering manager Nick Matthews said: “In business improvement, generally a one or two percent gain is considered significant, so to
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
achieve 97 per cent at the first attempt is simply staggering. “It’s also very clear where we have learnt the lessons from Llanwern, so we can close that small gap. We really want to get to that 100 per cent fuel free-figure by the time of our next challenge, planned for a rail renewal project later in the summer.” Ryan Ballinger, production manager for Colas Rail, added: “We have worked closely to drive
the development of suitable onsite solar tower lights and walking lights. Now, at Llanwern, we have been able to add solar generators for the first time and, moving forward, we want to add smaller plant and tools such as disk saws and band saws. “There’s no doubt these technologies are going to be a complete gamechanger. Now, we need to push on and get to the point where they are just business as usual.”
NEWS
Work starts at Kintore Kintore station, for which passive provision was made as part of the Aberdeen to Inverness (A2I) improvement project, is now due to enter service in May 2020. That was the news as Network Rail announced the appointment of BAM Nuttall to head the £14.5 million project, which is funded by Transport Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council and Nestrans. As part of A2I, the track between Aberdeen and Inverurie is being doubled, and that allows for the new station to be built. All Aberdeen to Inverness trains will call at Kintore, which will have a 170-space car park. Kintore has been without a station for 56 years. Originally opened in 1854, the first station was closed in 1964 under Dr Beeching. The new station will see a half-hourly service to Inverurie and Aberdeen and additional InterCity trains operating between Aberdeen and Inverness, the extra capacity the result of the double-tracking between Aberdeen and Inverurie. Peter Argyle, chairman of Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee and chairman of Regional Transport Partnership Nestrans, said: “Aberdeenshire Council and Nestrans have worked closely with Transport Scotland and the rail industry to secure this key investment in our regional transport infrastructure. We are pleased to see this important milestone reached, in order to secure the long waited for benefits for the community of Kintore and surrounding area.”
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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FEATURE
Is the future
5G or Wi-Fi 6?
PAUL DARLINGTON
T
here are currently two main technology choices used for railway radio communications, mobile telephone (GSM/LTE) or Wi-Fi. GSM-R private networks are used predominately for main line track-to-train voice and ETCS (European Train Control System) data applications, with LTE/5G likely to be the choice for the future. Public LTE networks are used for general maintenance and operational communications, and for providing customer data communications to trains. Public LTE also provides connections for some non-safety-critical operational data requirements and may supplement dedicated private networks. Wi-Fi networks include systems for general business communications in offices and stations, passenger data communications on trains and at stations, together with
customer information systems at stations. Wi-Fi is used by some train operators to supplement the public GSM/LTE internet connections to trains and some Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) systems for metros also use Wi-Fi for train control purposes. The future for Wi-Fi technology will be IEEE 802.11ax, also known as Wi-Fi 6. Both 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will offer Gbit of data transmission, so will the future for data wireless communications be 5G or Wi-Fi6?
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
Mobile telephone standards across the years Early mobile radio telephone systems, available as a commercial service and with their own telephone numbers, were mainly mounted in vehicles, although there were some suitcase ‘transportable’ models. Motorola launched its Mobile Telephone Service in the USA in 1946, while the first service in the UK covered the Manchester area in 1951, although with restricted coverage and requiring all calls to be connected by an operator. The first generation (1G - although this term only came into use once 2G was developed) of mobile communication networks to use wireless cellular technology was launched in 1979 in Japan and then in the 1980s elsewhere. It was a hybrid of digital signalling, that connected the radio towers to the rest of the network, and analogue radio technology for the voice call itself, although this was modulated to a higher frequency. The second generation (2G) mobile radio standard was truly digital. A GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Spécial Mobile) service was launched in Finland in 1991. GSM-R (R for Railway), the specification for which was finalised in 2000, is based on 2G GSM. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was established in 1998 to develop specifications for advanced mobile communications. The original scope of 3GPP was to produce the third-generation GSM mobile system, with increased data capability. However today 3GPP provides the complete system specifications for 4G and 5G. In March 2008, a new set of requirements for 4G were issued. Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology was submitted as a candidate 4G system in late 2009. LTE systems, in some cases, fall short of the 4G requirements for data speeds but are nevertheless known as 4G LTE. 5G is the next generation of radio offering even greater speed, lower latency and larger scale of deployment.
FEATURE
There are other radio technologies used in society and industry, such as Bluetooth, for short range communications, but they are not the subject of this article.
Standards The standardisation body for wireless phone communications is 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), which developed from the telephony industry and various governmental bodies. Originally, the technology was for voice only, with data a later addition that only really started to be prominent from the 3rd generation mobile radio systems (3G) onwards. 3GPP mobile phone-based technology developed using licensed spectrum, which is obtained for a period of time by the mobile network operators from governments. Mobile ‘cellular’ radio evolved with ever-improving standards migrating from 2G GSM/GPRS to 3G, Edge, 4G, LTE and now 5G. Confusingly, the standards body is still called 3GPP and not 5GPP.
2G GSM formed the basis of the GSM-R main line railway track-to-train radio system, which provides the radio link within the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS). This will be replaced by Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) which is likely to use LTE/5G from the mid-2020s.
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi originated for wireless computer data communications, and this year celebrates its 20th birthday. The standards were derived from IEEE 802.11, which originated in the computer industry. The IEEE has a large engineering membership, many of which are sponsored by their employer companies, and this has influenced its development. Wi-Fi is now one of the world’s most valued and widely used technologies. The Wi-Fi Alliance IEEE 802.11 standards group developed Wi-Fi standards in the unlicensed frequency bands. These have been allocated on license-free arrangements based on a set of rules,
such as limited power so that interference range is limited. The bands are called ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) and now exist in the 2, 5 and 60 GHz bands of spectrum. The Wi-Fi Alliance is a worldwide network of companies from multiple industries who collaborate to promote the interoperability, adoption, quality, performance, security, and capability standards for Wi-Fi. It has been a huge success and there are now more Wi-Fi devices in use than there are people on Earth, and more than half the internet’s traffic traverses Wi-Fi networks. This was not always the case. When WiFi was being developed in the late 1990s, the standardisation of 3G was progressing well and promising high data rates. 3G modems connected-to or integratedin devices were envisioned to provide ubiquitous connectivity. The general view was that the unlicensed Wi-Fi technology would soon disappear and that mobile data using the licensed spectrum would dominate. However, Wi-Fi developed to operate in the unlicensed ISM bands and satisfy the needs for wireless connectivity indoors, in-home or in-building, areas where 3G was not able to penetrate adequately. WiFi also rapidly increased its data rate and expanded its capabilities by moving from the 2.4GHz band into the 5GHz band, and it is expected to further increase data rates by going to 60GHz. Wi-Fi’s capability has also been supplemented with the introduction of range extender technologies and, more recently, distributed Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi Mesh) technology.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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FEATURE Opex or Capex? Mobile radio using 3G/LTE requires a paid subscription to telephone operators and, possibly, roaming charges. By comparison, Wi-Fi was, and is, almost free, as the incremental cost for Wi-Fi via a fixed telephone, ISDN and, later, broadband ADSL, was limited. Many companies and government bodies are structured to spend capital to reduce operating costs, which also helped the development of Wi-Fi. In some parts of the world, some wired operators compete directly with the wireless operators. Ironically, some wireless operators initially discouraged the use of 3G for data, due to concern for the voice service collapsing if 3G was ‘overused’, an action that supported the use of Wi-Fi for data. This is why most computers and tablets have only two radios: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (for short ranges). 3G-licensed radios and their successors were rarely integrated in computers or tablets because Wi-Fi offered a cost-effective and versatile internet connection. An integrated 3G radio, plus SIM card subscription, was just too expensive by comparison. When a mobile solution was required, a device such as a 3G dongle or, more recently, using an LTE mobile phone as a hotspot, provided a solution. One might assume that the demarcations between the two technologies would be clear: Wi-Fi for private areas such as home and office and GSM/LTE for everywhere else, but this is not the case.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
The telephone operators in 3GPP were naturally quite suspicious about the development of so-called ‘data hotspots,’ public places where people could get access to high speed internet without needing a subscription. Fortunately for the telephone operators, it turned out that running a large number of hotspots was not trivial, particularly for large retail and hotel chains, cities and trains. Public hotspot companies have been slowly absorbed by the telephone operators in some countries. The situation has also been influenced by the introduction of ‘Wi-Fi calling’ which provides a voice service capability over the Wi-Fi data-only IP connection. Consumers and companies found that running Wi-Fi networks was becoming more complex, and some telephone and cable operators used private Wi-Fi as business opportunities - helping organisations and smaller companies to run their Wi-Fi networks.
The next change was the rapid growth of data traffic, for example via video applications such as YouTube, which required operators to increase capacity. However, obtaining more frequency bands was not easy or cheap. A faster way of increasing this capacity, next to leveraging Wi-Fi, was that the successor of 3G, 4G or LTE technology can also run in the ISM band. This resulted in the concept of LTE with licensed assisted access (LAA). The 3GPP specifications now provide for both Wi-Fi and LTE-LAA to be used in the same 5GHz spectrum. Spectrum is a finite limited resource and, at the 2019 World Radio Conference, it is hoped that significant new allocations for both Wi-Fi and 5G to support the increasing demands for wireless data communications will be made.
Wi-Fi 6 The IEEE 802.11 is introducing higher speed versions, 11n and 11ac, and is in the process of completing 11ax - also known as Wi-Fi 6. 3GPP is investing heavily in 5G and both 5G or IEEE Wi-Fi 6 will be able to deliver high data rates (Gbps). 5G is claiming that it will have “way better indoor penetration”, but that is questionable with the higher frequency spectrum that may be used in some 5G networks. The standards body for Wi-Fi 6 is using the slogan “5G has arrived and it is called Wi-Fi 6.” Wi-Fi 6 is an evolution of Wi-Fi 5, but it offers new, additional capabilities that greatly improve its capacity and ability to share spectrum efficiently in high density, high load situations. So, will 5G or Wi-Fi 6 be the winner? Wi-Fi 6 is designed to host existing and emerging uses, from streaming ultra-high-definition movies to missioncritical business applications requiring high bandwidth and low latency, and to staying connected and productive while
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Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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FEATURE
traversing large, congested networks in airports and railway stations. It is understood that Wi-Fi 6 will offer speeds that are roughly 30 per cent faster than Wi-Fi 5, with theoretical maximum transfer speeds of around 10Gbps. The reach will be reduced, although this will be mitigated with a distributed Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi Mesh) architecture and the use of multiple channels to connect multiple access points in different locations to the main router. The focus of IEEE 802.11ax is to provide full indoor coverage into every space within a home or office building covered with the same high data rate. This will not be easily achieved with 5G. 5G’s higher data rates also create a penalty on its range. It is anticipated that range will probably decrease to less than half, forcing the number of base stations to more than quadruple, due to the square nature of coverage. In dense urban areas, where finding sites to place base stations is difficult, rolling out 5G infrastructure will be expensive. Both 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will use orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) to increase efficiency and to lower latency for high demand applications, multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) allowing more data to be transferred at one time, and beamforming to enable higher data rates at a given range to increase network capacity. 5G “New Radio” (NR) promises improvements in efficiency over LTE, with more use of MIMO, and new millimetrewave - very high frequency - spectrum. These improvements are also shared with Wi-Fi 6, which will deliver comparable performance. It is argued by some that Wi-Fi 6 will have more proven methods for sharing spectrum in overlapping networks, along with simpler network and device management. Wi-Fi 6 is also likely to reach the market in advance of any widescale deployment of 5G NR. 5G is likely
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
to go live in 2020, although only in some cities in the world, and its use in railways is likely to be some years away (2025) with 4G LTE able to do all that railways really require for some time. Wi-Fi 6 routers from Cisco, Netgear, Asus and TP-Link are already rolling out, including mesh options for the Netgear Orbi and TP-Link Deco, with release dates set for the second half of the year. The Samsung Galaxy S10 is reported as being the first phone to support Wi-Fi 6, and other devices will quickly follow, such as the iPhone and the next generation of laptops and Wi-Fi smart building devices.
Wi-Fi interference Wi-Fi has been used successfully for a number of metro railway CBTC systems. Although a few CBTC systems have been deployed using alternative radio bearers - such as waveguides or induction loops the majority of the CBTC implementations since 2013 have used Wi-Fi-based radio systems to bridge the train-to-lineside gap, but this is changing. The limitations that Wi-Fi presents to CBTC systems - on range, quality of service, mobility and (especially) interference - have made some rail
operators and suppliers look for alternatives. A series of incidents in CBTC systems in China instigated the China Association of Metros to stipulate in 2014 that all future CBTC deployments in China would use LTE as their radio bearer and 2018 saw the first wave of CBTC over LTE projects entering service, almost all of them in China. The deployment in Hong Kong, however, continues to use Wi-Fi as the primary radio bearer, with a mobile network operator (HKT) providing an LTE radio backup. Future CBTC over LTE projects currently in development include Shanghai Metro Lines 15 (2019) and 14 (2020), as well as the ATC project in Perth, Australia, currently scheduled for 2024. Wi-Fi was developed to provide connections to static locations, where as GSM/LTE/5G has always been designed for efficient handover from node to node, such that a moving transmitter/ receiver always has a reliable connection. Handover to a moving object is possible with Wi-Fi, but its not what it was designed for and the solutions are a compromise. So, to answer the question, is the future 5G or Wi-Fi 6? Both 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will have very particular characteristics that will be beneficial for connecting devices to the internet. Therefore, what is likely to happen is that operators and system engineers will exploit both technologies to their advantage and implement a strategy that leverages both technologies for the customer, allowing seamless migrations between the two standards when necessary. So, the ultimate winner may not be 5G or Wi-Fi, but could well be the system user.
FEATURE
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Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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FEATURE
DAVID SHIRRES
ENABLING BETTER
Performance F or the past six years, the national rail public performance measure (PPM) has fallen steadily each year from 91.0 per cent in 2013 to 85.6 per cent in 2018. According to Transport Focus, the three main causes of passenger dissatisfaction are this fall in punctuality, increased fares and not being able to get a seat on a train. These are also the reasons why many consider that the current railway structure isn’t working and, indeed, some feel that nationalisation is the answer. Against this background, the government commissioned the Williams review to consider the future structure of the industry. Although there is a political desire to change things for the better, improving punctuality requires much more than restructuring. Each year, the UK railway network carries 1.7 billion passengers. Historically, the last time such numbers were carried was in 1920, when the railway network was twice its current size. To carry such numbers each day, UK rail operates 22,000 services. The complex interactions between these services on a crowded railway allow little time for service recovery. As a result, 70 per cent of all delays are now reactionary. Running a punctual railway has never been so difficult.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
FEATURE
Data Sandbox To enable potential researchers to familiarise themselves with the available data, RSSB created a ‘data sandbox’ which included datasets from various organisations as shown below. The intention is to make these available as a long-term industry resource soon.
Network Rail »» Attributed Delay Data; »» Performance Metrics; »» Network Rail Open Feeds including SCHEDULE (daily extracts and updates of train schedules), MOVEMENT (train positioning and movement event data), TD (train positioning data at signalling berth level), TSR (Temporary Speed Restrictions), VSTP (Very Short-Term Plan), RTPPM (Real-Time Public Performance Measure) and Train Planning Network Model; »» TD (train describer) data from Dec 2016 - May 2017; »» TRUST data from Dec 2016 - May 2017; »» GPS feeds; »» Upon request station, line speed, and tonnage data.
Rail Delivery Group (RDG) »» Darwin - real-time arrival and departure predictions and platform numbers; »» Knowledgebase - National Rail Enquiries database; »» Online Journey Planner;
Improving operations For these reasons, it could be said that poor punctuality that resulted in 15 billion delay minutes last year is an inherent feature of today’s railway. Yet something must be done. This is certainly the view of Network Rail’s new chief executive. Andrew Haines, who is committed to putting passengers first, has placed greater emphasis on train operations and is introducing a regional organisation to bring decision-making closer to customers. To improve train performance, a National Task Force has been set up which brings together passenger and freight operators, Network Rail, the Office of Rail Regulation and the Department for Transport. The work of this task force has three overarching themes: better timetables, better assets and better operations. An important aspect of improving operations is ensuring that rules for disrupted working are fit for purpose. This
»» LENNON - ticketing and revenue database; »» National Rail Enquiries (NRE) data feeds.
»» Genius - diagrams and allocations of trains data; »» Bugle - description and cause of delays; »» On-Train Data Recorder - station dwells and journey events; »» Traffic Management System data; »» Train describer data; »» Nexla and Orbita - train health, door opening/interlock times and energy consumption data; »» Web Gemini - train formation data; »» Passenger numbers - airbag and passenger count data; »» Reservations/ ticket sales.
risk and so should not regard a stationary train as the safest situation, as crowded trains stopped for a long time introduce their own risks such as passengers evacuating themselves and crowded platforms. For this reason, slicker methods of degraded working are required. This review of operational rules is one of the workstreams of the Enabling Better Network Performance Research Challenge (PERFORM) which is a cross-industry initiative led by RSSB. The other aspects are rail operations and variability (such as dwell time), understanding performance trends, managing disruption and getting value from the enormous amount of operational data that is generated each day. This was the subject of a £500,000 call for research in October for which a data sandbox was made available to interested participants.
Southeastern Railway
Introducing PERFORM
»» Unit movements data »» Driver compliance System Retrieved Data »» Warning Systems Data »» Visual Cab 1 screenshot
The PERFORM programme was launched at RSSB’s recent “Enabling Better Network Performance” conference, which was attended by 150 delegates from industry, academia and the supply chain. In the opening keynote address, Tim Shoveller, then managing director of Stagecoach’s Rail Division (now managing director of Network Rail’s new North West and Central route), emphasised that the unprecedented performance challenges faced by the industry could only be solved by collaborative working. He was followed by Justin Willett, RSSB’s professional lead for operations and performance, who explained the PERFORM programme’s background, structure and governance. The conference’s solution sessions included presentations from the five industry/academia teams that had
Various train operators
Transport Systems Catapult »» Mapping Grids (upon request) »» Mobile network data (upon request) »» National roadworks data (upon request) »» Haulage journeys data (upon request)
Met Office »» Weather data requires them to take account of modern communications and relatively new failure modes such as axle-counter failures. Rules also need to consider the overall system
Tim Shoveller gives his keynote address.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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FEATURE been granted research funding from the October data sandbox research competition to develop novel datadriven solutions to improve network performance. There were also reports on other operations initiatives. After a discussion on how the industry should work together to improve performance, a further data sandbox research competition was launched.
Sandbox winners Of the five research projects granted data sandbox funding, three concerned the impact of reactionary delays and two explored how machine learning could reduce station dwell times, which can be subject to wide variations. However, as these are generally less than the threeminute threshold, they are not usually monitored, even though they can have a significant impact on train performance.
raw data to model train operation that will provide useful information to engineers and operators to enable them to act to reduce delays. Artificial intelligence is also being used by a team led by University of Southampton, in collaboration with South Western Railway. It is using a range of data sources to develop a real-time visualised alert system which could identify unexpected sites that could be targeted for mitigation measures. An interesting point raised in the discussion about these initiatives is the impact on passengers from actions taken to recover the service, which can include skip stopping and terminating services before their end destination. As such actions can cause significant disruption to some passengers, minimising train disruption does not necessarily minimise overall passenger disruption.
Typical wide variation in station dwell time. The software being developed by the University of East Anglia, with support from Greater Anglia, will forecast how trains on the network are likely to be affected by current events and takes account of consequential impact on train crew availability. This will be used to help train controllers determine the knock-on effects of primary delays. The development of a decision support tool using neural network technology to model reactionary delays is the research project led by Liverpool John Moores University, in collaboration with Merseyrail. The third reactionary delay project is a method to visualise the cause and consequence of knock-on delays under different scenarios to understand the delay dependency between locations. This is being developed by City, University of London and Risk Solutions, with support from Great Western Railway. Using machine learning to analyse train performance data to the second is the aim of a project led by Middlesex University, with support from Southeastern. This is integrating the vast amount of available
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
However, the conference was advised that the research to determine the best operational strategy to recover from service disruption is not considering the impact on passengers adversely affected by actions to recover the service.
ADCI, RAATS and T1135/54 Other performance improving projects described at the conference were automated driver competence indicators (ADCI), considering red signal approaches, improving operational decision making and planning for disruption. The ADCI project is being trialled by LNER and c2c and is based on data analysis by the University of Huddersfield using software developed by Cogitare that is now ready for industry roll out. It aims to use on-train data recorders to assess driving technique in respect of safety, energy consumption and punctuality. It will provide an app to enable drivers to assess their own performance and enables targeted support to be provided to individual drivers. The project will also identify common performance issue along the driver’s route. The industry has done much to reduce signals passed at danger (SPADs) which, until recently, were normalised by train miles. A more meaningful approach considers how many red signal approaches result in SPADs. To facilitate this, the University of Huddersfield has developed the web based RAATS tool (Red Aspect Approaches To Signals) which uses the train describer data available under Network Rail’s open data initiative. As well as improving SPAD analysis, RAATS provides valuable performance data by, for example, showing where red signals routinely delay trains.
(Below) RAATS analysis showing a particular signal that almost always delays trains.
FEATURE Enablers
Supporting front-line operators, who often have to make real time decisions based on incomplete information, is the purpose of RSSB research project T1135 which has developed the G-FORCE decision making tool which is named after the steps it involves: G- go or no go?; Ffacts; O- options; R- risks; C - choose and E - evaluate. Another RSSB research project, T1154, considered ways of planning for disruption. This has developed a best-practice toolkit which is being tested by Greater Anglia, GTR and ScotRail. It considers four levels of disruption, five defined phases of disruption, decision making processes, the overall management of contingency plans and the processes and training needed to support them.
The next part of the conference considered various system and processes underpinning the ongoing performance initiatives. One such enabler is ITED (Industry Train Event Data). In his presentation, Dominic Medway, Network Rail’s operational performance and analysis manager, explained how the ITED will enable to-thesecond analysis of all aspects of operational performance. He advised that ITED is expected to go live in late summer 2019. Crew and Stock systems were the subject of the presentation by Andrew Graham, who is the digital railway operations support for the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). This highlighted the range of systems currently in use which include verbal communications and pen and paper as well as digital systems. As many systems are not interconnected, changes are advised in an ad-hoc manner and, with continually changing demands, it is difficult for operators to keep track of crew and stock alterations and to share information with each other. To address these issues, RDG has, following cross-industry consultation, recently published a concept of operations for a common crew and stock system which needs to be further developed to operate with Network Rail’s traffic management systems (TMS). The important of this requirement was reinforced by Jonathan Scott, project director for Network Rail’s Digital Railway
The way train companies deal with disruption has the biggest impact on overall passenger dissatisfaction.
programme, who made it clear that TMS requires strong operational input. Jonathan’s presentation concerned the lessons from the first TMS deployments. These are the Thales Aramis system which, was deployed in Wales in March 2019 and is about to be introduced in Anglia, and the Resonate Luminate system that went live on the Paddington to Bristol route in June 2018. He considered that there were positive indicators of operational benefits from this early use of TMS, especially in the identification of timetable anomalies, and that the biggest benefit has been the lessons learned for the deployment of other TMS, especially management of operational and business change inputs.
Data Sandbox Plus A further funding opportunity for datadriven operational research was explained by RSSB’s senior partnerships and research manager, Giulia Lorenzini. This data sandbox plus call for research aims to build on the experience of the 2017 data sandbox research and seeks solutions to the following key challenges: »» predicting and minimising operational delays »» understanding train movements »» reducing dwell time variations »» management of disruptions »» better measurement and understanding of performance and delays »» any other challenges identified by relevant organisations RSSB is encouraging the feasibility and demonstrator projects, for which funding from RSSB of respectively 80 and 60 per cent is available. There are two rounds of applications for which the closing dates are 5 July and 6 December with the winner to be announced in August 2019 and January 2020. The “enabling network performance conference” certainly made it clear that infrastructure, trains and their passengers generate a vast amount of data. Examples are: each time a signal changes or a point moves, each time a train starts, stops, passes a signal or its doors open, each time someone buys a ticket or goes through a ticket gate. The challenge is how best to use all this data. The five winners of the original data sandbox competition provided some of the answers. It will be interesting to see what solutions will come from the further research projects to be funded by data sandbox plus.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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ATO A
CLIVE KESSELL
Exploiting the Technology
utomatic Train Operation (ATO) is nowadays a given technology for metro operation and, although it is still in its infancy when applied to main lines, it is often a chosen option for self-contained industrial or freight railways. But is ATO being used to maximum advantage and what are the criteria for optimising the benefits?
A recent seminar staged in London by the IMechE and the IRSE was aimed at creating a better understanding of ATO, not only its technology but how it needs to be integrated into other systems. Some of the output proved revealing.
The London Underground perspective George Clark, the director of TfL Engineering and the recently elected President of the IRSE, reminded everyone that the ATO story began on LU when the newly constructed Victoria line was commissioned between 1968/71. This was ground-breaking technology in those days, especially as the system used was invented in house. Based around different frequency-coded track circuits, the system was operational for over 40 years, which is a testament to its good design and maintainability. The system was, however, just that - an ATO application that optimised the driving of trains.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
Things have moved on since then and LU now uses modern CBTC (computer-based train control) systems on most of its lines which incorporate ATO functionality. Such systems demand a co-ordinated approach between signal and rolling stock engineers, with the civils fraternity needing to be heavily involved so as to get the right track layouts in support of automated operation.
FEATURE
Over and above the engineering, the trainservice planners and operations managers have to decide what kind of train service they want - it is from their decisions that the functional and engineering specifications will be derived. Whilst ATO is delivering enhanced capacity and safety with maximum acceleration and optimised braking rates, other factors have to be taken into account, particularly if the railway is in an outside environment. Knowing every train’s position is essential for safe ATO operation and this can be a challenge where climate conditions and vegetation affect adhesion. The need for rail lubrication on curves and altered braking rates when rails are wet or contaminated are part of a modern ATO specification. Closer adherence to the timetable means linkage to either a traffic management system or ARS (Automatic Regulation System) to achieve a design that extends to the margins of operation. The driver (in reality, a train operator) must be assured the system is functioning correctly. Modern ATO systems require huge quantities of data transfer as part of monitoring performance, predicting maintenance, linking to information systems and updating asset databases, so Big Data and IoT must be part of the communication package. Lastly, as LU has successfully achieved with the Victoria line upgrade (now operating at 36 trains per hour in each direction), sooner or later an ATO system will require an upgrade or replacement and a means of achieving this without service disruption should be part of the initial system design.
ATO on the main line Introducing ATO on to a main line railway is several degrees more difficult. However, two linked successes can recently be chalked up. The biggest of these is the completed development of layering an ATO package onto an ETCS-equipped railway, the second is the deployment of such a system on the London Thameslink central core section. Press releases claim this latter as a main line first but, in truth, it is more akin to a metro operation with the same type of trains all stopping at the same stations. Nonetheless, it is a milestone and Imtithal Aziz from Network Rail described the need for an ATO package in order to achieve 24tph. It took five years of work to develop and test the system including live running on the Network Rail Hertford Loop test track at Watton-at-Stone.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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FEATURE The UK can be rightly proud of this March 2018 achievement that, no doubt, will be the basis for many more ATO systems in Europe and worldwide. The need to define what has to be added to ATO for it to meet the objectives emerged along the way, starting with an understanding of the Grade of Automation (GoA) levels now set down as standards. These are: »» GoA 1 - Manual Train Operation but including C-DAS (Connected Driver Advisory System); »» GoA 2 - Driver Attended ATO (as LU operates its ATO lines); »» GoA 3 - Driverless Train Operation (akin to Docklands Light Railway where a ‘Passenger Service Agent’ - sometimes called a train captain - is retained); »» GoA 4 - Unattended Train Operation (UTO) with no member of staff on board (Lausanne Metro for example). Examples of all these exist across the world, so the technology is already established. More difficult is the public acceptance of, especially, GoA 4 and what happens if a train fails or an accident occurs. Network Rail, for the present, has decided to stop at GoA 2, since it is likely that any ATO operation only covers part of a route, with normal driving taking over for some of the journey. To achieve an optimum journey experience with timetable adherence, optimum performance, maximum capacity and good safety will require other technical systems to be added in. Traffic Management is vital since accurate train regulation is required, particularly if an ATO railway has multiple junctions and routes. On Thameslink, where the TMS has yet to be completed, a 30-second update of timetable to each train is proving insufficient and real time updating
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
is now regarded as necessary. This, in turn, demands a very high data exchange rate to every train, something that is beyond the capacity of the present GSM-R system. Thus, a replacement 4G or 5G radio link may take on more urgency with Wi-Fi enhancements likely to be included as well. C-DAS is equally important for GoA 2, ideally integrating this with ETCS and ATO on to the driver’s DMI screen. Even for GoA 3 and 4, the C-DAS data may be used as the input commands for the ATO operation. Other challenges include the definition and location of timing points, automatic or manual door opening releases, train despatch procedure, station stopping positions for different length trains, transition arrangements between ATO and non-ATO operation, interfaces to the train propulsion and braking systems, and keeping the track data base information updated on the train system.
The European Shift2Rail and TEN-T programmes are incorporating ATO requirements and the ERA (European Railway Agency, now renamed European Union Agency for Railways) will be building ATO into the ERTMS/ ETCS specifications. Network Rail will be considering how ATO can be accommodated into its Hybrid ETCS Level 3 concept.
ATO as a means of predictable and efficient operation Having a supplier’s viewpoint is always useful, because they tend to have a wider perspective as to what is going on. Thomas Godfrey from Bombardier confirmed that ATO is very mature in the metro sector, many of which run as UTO. However, most systems are proprietary, with only high-level standards giving general guidance on technical requirements. The IEEE Standard 1474.1, dating from 2004 but with several updates since then leading to CBTC operation, has enabled considerable innovation. Heavy haul freight traffic in the industrial sector has benefitted from ATO, but extending this to mixed traffic lines is much more complex owing to the many types of services and speeds. UNISIG, the industrial consortium which was created to develop the ERTMS/ETCS technical specifications, is producing an ‘ATO over ETCS’ TSI (Technical Specification for Interoperability) and Network Rail is known to be working on national standards for ATO with the risk that deviating from any international standards will invariably increase costs. An ATO model will consist of both trackside and train-borne elements and must include TMS for constant updating
FEATURE
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Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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FEATURE
of regulation schedules, plus balise positioning, GSM-R and speed probes on axles. Speed measurement and accuracy is essential for successful ATO. The initial Chinese experience of ATO led to a jerky ride owing to delays in system response to commands, but this has now been evened out. Any GoA 3 or 4 application will need creep facilitation, automatic sleep and wake-up commands for effective berthing, automatic joining or splitting of trains and automatic detrainment in the event of an incident. Some of these present real challenges. The logistics of ETCS rollout will limit ATO usage as route fitment will lag behind equipping the trains. In the UK, some routes, such as C2C, Merseyrail and parts of the Glasgow suburban network, will be easier than others. A cut down ATO application for automated door opening and assisted braking may be a more practical proposition elsewhere.
Making an ATO railway work Even when ATO is introduced, there are many operational issues to be sorted out. Pradeep Vasudev, technical director at WSP, outlined the key interfaces that are demanded. A structured approach based on experience needs to consider that, whilst the signalling effectively drives the train, what role does the driver have, if indeed there is one? Door operation, start up commands, degraded mode operation, all need to be decided. Semi-automated
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
disruption planning is more difficult recovering a failed train might mean signalling a second train into the occupied section to couple up and push forward, not an easy concept for signal engineers. Operations has effectively entered the Systems domain and must consider: Operational change including disruption management; Technical integration, including connectivity and software management; Programme integration including migration methodology and operator readiness. Migration from an old ATO to a new ATO system is challenging and the experience of the Victoria line in London could become a template for others. It involved lots of sub-projects and key milestones for both track-based and trainborne equipment.
GoA 4 and the Glasgow Subway The Glasgow underground railway, which basically has a circular route, is being modernised. This includes new trains, improved stations, depot upgrade and a commitment to GoA 4 UTO operation. Stadler is supplying the trains, working with Hitachi STS to deliver the complete system. It is a complex migration and Stefan Rosendahl explained the challenges. The 17 new trains will be an articulated four-car design, with the end coaches having two bogies and the shorter middle cars having just one. Walk-through
access and information screens are to be provided, along with help points. Maximum speed will be higher (58km/h), capacity will be 110 seats and the intended frequency will be 16tph in rush hours. The Hitachi CBTC product will form the basis of the ATO, including aerials and speed sensors. Platform screen doors (PSD) will be part of the GoA 4 package. Migration from old to new is the biggest challenge, as the Glasgow authorities wish to maintain a service during the implementation period. This means equipping the new trains with a temporary driver’s area, so that old and new trains can run simultaneously to the existing GoA 2 operation. Once all the new trains are in service, a ‘lift up’ driving desk will replace the temporary driver’s console and UTO can be initiated. CCTV recording of all passenger activity in every car is a requirement, as is on-demand monitoring of images at the central control room. This, in itself, requires a large bandwidth from the trackto-train communications link. A 2’ out of 3’ redundancy design for the vital equipment is required to meet safety and reliability requirements. Ten possible operating modes are foreseen, ranging from manual driving, in both forward and reverse directions, through to UTO operation. One requirement is for a second train to rescue a failed train. Many eyes will be watching this exciting development as implementation approaches.
FEATURE ATO for HS2
Adhesion management
When HS2 is complete, it is expected to take much of the traffic from the West Coast, Midland and East Coast main lines, in part due to the requirement to free up capacity at the London end of these lines. Hence 18 tph is required on the London to Birmingham section, which demands an ATO solution. Tight timetable compliance, with boarding and alighting aimed at two minutes and only a 30 second delay allowed on all services, makes HS2 akin to a high-speed metro - so says Ben Rule, the director of operations. ATO will enable a high consistency of driving but will include the ability to manipulate the train service for gaps if things go wrong and allow for processes such as an emergency stop. Trains will be ‘flighted’ in three or four-minute groups and, whilst capable of 360kph, will normally not go this fast unless a catch-up situation arises. Many trains on HS2 will also run on the conventional rail network, which is where the biggest source of delay will originate. Current long-distance services from the north of England and Scotland will divert to HS2 to free up capacity on existing routes, especially the West Coast main line. Once on HS2, the line controller effectively becomes the driver of the train, so as to ensure optimum regulation. Carine Marin, the acting head of control and communications engineering at HS2, advised that no ATO high-speed product is yet available but anticipates that the GSM-R replacement (FRMCS) will be developed by then. This, when coupled to TMS and GPRS, will allow a suitable ATO package to be produced. A CCS laboratory will be provided to model and demonstrate the system, but a long and robust testing and commissioning plan is envisaged.
Different weather and climate conditions can play havoc to an intensely used railway, so they have to be considered. Phil Dubery, from CPC Systems, informed that positional uncertainty can lead to a see-saw action of propulsion and braking in an ATO railway if conditions are bad. Dropping the brake rate from 0.7 to 0.4 will lead to a 12-second delay for every station stop. Having a management plan to deal with this is important. The production of a real-time adhesion map is one solution, so information relating to locations where trains will struggle and the associated data on environment, gradient and weather can then link into TMS and ATO intelligence. Provision and observance of temporary speed restrictions could become part of this map.
Evolution of ATO in Hong Kong and Singapore TC Chew, now with Arup’s global rail business but well-known for his work to develop metro systems in the Far East, suggested some fundamentals in the development of an ATO-operated railway. Hong Kong, with its 11 lines, 223km of route (including the nowintegrated KCR railway) and five million passengers per day, modelled its first ATO application on London’s Victoria line. The replacement with more modern systems is well under way, with some lines now operating a GoA 4 system. Singapore Metro has six lines, building to 330km of route by 2030 and three million passengers per day. It also is updating its ATO systems, but originally opted to retain a ‘front’ driver. This decision has been reversed and four lines now operate to GoA 4.
It is important to understand that customers don’t care about the system, they just need to get from A to B reliably and safely. Both HK and Singapore aim for 99.9 per cent running on time. Funding is crucial and must embrace staff, equipment, failures, emergencies and all associated subsystems. Both networks have recently experienced embarrassing accidents that caused collisions. Some operators demand that a backup system must be in place in case of ATO failure. In HK, a backup to the backup was also specified, and that caused data irregularities at the interfaces, resulting in the collision. The need for a backup is a contentious issue, but opinion is moving towards investing in reliability for the prime system. Some misconceptions of a GoA 4 railway need to be exposed. Loss of jobs need not happen, as staff should be redeployed to passenger-assistance tasks. Fear amongst passengers is a myth, as they are not left to their own devices if an incident occurs. The cost of a fully automatic system should not be significantly higher than one where staff are retained. The two big challenges for GoA 4 are how to bring a failed train to the next station and the need for batteries for emergency propulsion if power is lost. Solve these two and there is no stopping a fully automatic technology. It is clear that there is much more to successful automatic operation than just buying an ATO package. A final discussion raised some further thoughts that will need consideration over time: industrial relations, artificial intelligence, moving block, timetable initiation, driver training, managing the infrastructure and rolling stock divide. Maybe another seminar in two or so years’ time will have answers to these.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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FEATURE
Park Signalling’s new Technician’s Terminal
I
n 2020, Solid State Interlocking (SSI) will be 35 years old. It was one of the first microprocessor-based all electronic signalling
PAUL DARLINGTON
interlockings and is considered by many to be
a world beating railway technology.
SSI was developed in the 1980s under a tripartite agreement between the British Railways Research Department and the two major UK signalling suppliers, Westinghouse Signals (later acquired by Invensys and now Siemens) and GEC (later absorbed by Alstom). The very first use of SSI was at Dingwall in 1984 as part of the ‘Radio Electronic Token Block’ (RETB) signalling on the ‘Far North’ and Kyle of Lochalsh lines in Scotland, followed in August 1985 with the first conventional SSI installed at Leamington Spa. This provided signalling control of colour light signals and point machines, initially from an entrance-exit panel. SSI is installed at over 450 sites in Great Britain, which constitute approximately 45 per cent of UK interlockings. With older parts of the signalling system first requiring renewal, it is likely to be required for many years to come. Another 1,000 systems are in use throughout the world abroad, including South Africa, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia. Despite being over 30 years old (the typical life for such systems in other industries is ten years), SSI has been a huge success and was generally accepted as being ahead of other such systems around the world. It inspired the next-generation systems developed by the two manufacturers, Trackguard Westlock from Siemens and Alstom’s Smartlock 400, which have the capability for backwards compatibility with the classic SSI application data and with trackside equipment.
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Given that SSI was developed over 30 years ago, and that many other microprocessorbased electronic systems are obsolete after a few years, the core SSI system is remarkably still fit for purpose, although, not surprisingly components such as the Technicians Terminal are now obsolete, both in hardware terms and in functionality. The original terminal only had an expected life of 10 years at the most, and its green-on-black monochrome display and command input operation is a world away from modern ‘mouse driven’ interactive terminals which we all use every day.
Extensive experience Park Signalling, now a Unipart Rail company, was formed in the year 2000 by key staff from the Manchester office of Alstom Signalling which had helped to develop SSI. They named the company ‘Park’ after ‘Trafford Park’ where they were originally located, although they have since relocated to Stockport. The twenty full time staff have many years’ experience of SSI-based and other signalling systems, which is supplemented with a number of associates and specialists who are called upon to provide expertise when required. Park Signalling operates in three main markets: extending useful life and enhancing performance, system upgrades and enhancements, and designing bespoke products and systems. With many of the Park Signalling engineers originally responsible for the design and development of SSI for GEC/ALSTOM, they are ideally placed to continue to design, develop and manufacture ‘smart tools’ that support and
FEATURE
improve SSI. Knowing the design of SSI from first principles, combined with extensive specialist equipment resources, allows them to identify and diagnose the root cause of reliability and performance issues. The MT04S Technician Terminal provides a smart, powerful tool to monitor and analyse SSI data links. It has been developed using standard commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components with technologies chosen for their longevity. It has now received full and final product acceptance from Network Rail.
MT stands for Maintenance Terminal and, with it being the fourth maintenance tool developed by Park Signalling, the SSI Technicians Terminal is called MT04S. The electrical interfaces are directly compatible with the original terminal, and it replicates the feel and functionality of all original and existing equipment, but with a modern graphical user interface. The terminal has been developed to be more intuitive, easier to use and to display information more clearly. USB pen drives are
Radical Innovation in Rail Technology
Park Signalling has developed a replacement Technician’s Terminal using standard Commercial Off-The-Shelf components. It is directly compatible at the electrical interfaces and is more intuitive, easier to use and displays information more clearly. For more information, visit: www.park-signalling.co.uk
Design
Develop
Integrate
Investigate
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provided for event logging and event data recovery in a controlled manner. It can connect and control up to six SSI systems. In detail, the Technicians Terminal provides the means of applying and removing technician controls, such as to control the stop/ start interlockings, track circuit occupancy, route barring, aspect/points disconnection/ disablement and temporary approach control. The terminal can display datalink telegram contents and panel requests. It provides additional functionality over the original terminal, such as built in event analysis and the labelling of trackside functional module input/ outputs when monitoring. This is far easier to use than with the original terminal. A user group is planned by Park Signalling for the product, to increase and add to the existing functionality, and to meet the requirements of the maintenance areas across the country. Already, the company has received requests for remote access and a system to only allow access to users with the appropriate competency, and to log all activity by user.
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With a modern Technician Terminal now available, these are the sort of enhancements that can be developed jointly with the industry and rolled out for the benefit of everyone.
SSI link monitoring Having fault-tolerant systems is great, but if operators can’t identify they have a problem and do something about it, they are just putting off the inevitable failure and not avoiding it. One aspect of SSI that heavily impacts on signalling availability is that the data links are remarkably tolerant of problems and performance issues. This can be masked by the SSI diagnostic processor, which only reports a complete failure. So, if a data link cable is degrading slowly, say from a faulty cable joint allowing water ingress, the corrupted data telegrams may not be noticed until the system fails. Fortunately, Park Signalling has tools to address these issues that work with SSI. There is a Remote Missing Telegram Detector system that monitors and reports missing and corrupt telegrams, providing not only a continuous count of missing telegrams, but also a count for individual telegram addresses, which is particularly helpful in diagnosing the location of specific data link faults. A second tool monitors the baseband links and (potentially) eliminates the need to carry out regular checking, providing faulting assistance when data link problems occur and allowing faster restoration of the link. Having the ability to manage assets via smart, powerful tools, analyse data and predict failures is the sort of facility which is expected and standard on any modern computer-based control system, but now, thanks to Park Signalling, it is now available for good old SSI.
FEATURE
Signalling the future Henry Williams...at the forefront of railway innovation since 1883 For all your engineering and signalling needs. • Signalling: Fully Wired Location Cases, REB’s • Power: FSPs, Switchgear, DNO’s, SafeBox • Enclosures: Location Cases, Dis Boxes, Power Annexes, ELD’s • Signalling Panels, Control Panels • PW: Fishplates, Clamps • Treadles and Treadle Gauges
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HydroFLEX ONE YEAR ON B
irmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education’s (BCRRE) research into the application of fuel cells and hydrogen in railway traction system design stretches back over the last decade and beyond. Hydrogen, in combination with a fuel cell, was identified by BCRRE and other researchers as a potential mobile fuel which would achieve combustion free autonomous capability in an effectively electric drive system. This solution would enable ‘emission free at the point of use’ vehicles to run on the non-electrified network. Importantly, moving to a fuel cell system with a more direct conversion from chemical to electrical energy immediately opens up the opportunity to have higher efficiencies compared to combustion, and also solves the problem of combustion by-products such as NOx (nitrogen oxides). BCRRE’s focus in this research was not to be an advocate of this technology, but rather to put the technology and its capability under deep scrutiny of the scientific method. Indeed, one of the seminal pieces of work, undertaken by Andreas Hoffrichter during his PhD at BCRRE, explored fully the role that hydrogen fuel cells could play in railways - where they may be suitable and, therefore, where they are not suitable. Hydrogen, for example is not a solution which could, in the near term, be adapted for high-speed trains, or very long-range trains. These factors are explored further in the work BCRRE did through RSSB to support the industry’s decarbonisation task force.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
Hydrogen education BCRRE, as part of its education remit, aims to disseminate the findings of the research to foster widespread societal benefit. Hydrogen, as is often quoted, is the most abundant atom in the universe. Whilst this is an awe-inspiring fact, the problem is that, here on earth, pretty much all of it is bound up in molecules. Therefore, there is an energy cost associated with its production and, depending on exactly how the hydrogen is made, there can also be a CO2 cost.
In its work for the decarbonisation studies, BCRRE calculated the amount of CO2 per output kWh for hydrogen fuels. This ranges from something comparable to existing fuels to near-zero for hydrogen produced by renewable means. Once hydrogen has been isolated as a gas, it has the following key properties which affect how the railway could use it. First, per kg of the gas, it has the potential to release approximately three times as much energy as the equivalent mass of fossil or liquid bio-fuel. However, one kg of hydrogen, at standard temperature and pressure, takes up around 11 cubic metres, making for difficult storage. The state-of-the-art in storage for mobile applications is by compressing the gas to 350-700 bar and putting it inside carbon-fibre-reinforced storage tanks. This results in a system which can store more energy per kg
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FEATURE than the best battery systems by quite some margin, but is not comparable to a simple diesel tank. Calculations indicate that adequate range can be achieved for a tri-mode vehicle on representative routes with a daily refuelling assumption. This poses a problem for the railway industry looking for a like-for-like replacement of diesel fleets as they are often only pathed back to refuelling depots once every two or three days. These challenges are currently being investigated by the team at BCRRE as part of the RSSB Intelligent Power Solutions to Decarbonise Rail programme of research.
Hydrogen innovation Birmingham University’s sixth-scale demonstrator, the Hydrogen Hero, was one of the many highlights of last year’s Rail Live exhibition, where it had an audience with the Secretary of State for Transport, as well as other leading railway figures. Around the time of the visit from the SoS, during a fortuitous conversation with the Porterbrook innovation team, BCRRE realised that it had the capability and expertise to rapidly upscale the demonstrator to mainline scale. This collaboration between BCRRE and Porterbrook was cemented at the signing of a memorandum of understanding at InnoTrans on 19 September. Riding off the back of Porterbrook’s FLEX project, BCRRE realised that much of the engineering regarding conversion of an EMU into a train which can take any power source had been undertaken. Its engineering philosophy was to reuse much of this innovation and create a slim and elegant interface between the new fuel-cell/battery system and the existing
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
train, without significant modifications to the driver’s desk or controls. Ultimately, the traction motors do not know what produces their traction current, the team just needed to create a modified tractioncontrol interlocking system in order for the train to accept the fuel cell and battery power. This modular approach could quite easily be translated to other rolling stock or new build. The intention for the initial prototype was to develop and build a system with enough power to operate the vehicle at low speed, in notches one and two. In the main, development followed established railway engineering practices although, for those areas where there are no railway precedents, then best practice from other sectors was followed and the team also engaged with both the ORR and RSSB. The project kicked off in earnest in November 2018 and concept designs led to detailed design and manufacture. Orders were placed with key suppliers and an effective project management strategy was put in place to ensure the project remained on schedule. Static and dynamic testing is taking place in June and during this year’s Rail Live show, one
year on from those initial discussions, a number of demonstration runs will enable delegates to witness the first ever UK mainline-scale railway vehicle being propelled by hydrogen. As part of the approach in building a demonstrator vehicle, the fuel cell, battery, hydrogen storage tanks and other related equipment are being housed in the motor vehicle. This ‘lab in a train’ will enable the team to refine their traction system controllers in a suitable environment, and accelerate the engineering required to develop the traction system for full mainline application. There is still much work to do to get mainline ready, but the prototype demonstrator will accelerate the industry efforts and ensure railways meet future decarbonisation and air quality obligations. The HydroFLEX team comprises lead partners BCRRE and Porterbrook Leasing Company, working with Ballard Power Systems Europe, Fuel Cell Systems , Luxfer Gas Cylinders, Denchi Power, Jeff Vehicles, DG8 Design & Engineering, Chrysalis Rail Services, Aura Graphics, SNC-Lavalin, DEU and Unipart.
FEATURE
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Long track record
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URBD 1D R3 converters
T
he UK rail network is under continuous improvement
by the operators, which creates certain demands on the type of DC-DC power converters required. Especially critical is the requirement for suitably isolated units.
The extensive range of DC-DC converters and filters from Mornsun are ideal for the demands of on-board monitoring systems. Train manufacturers and operators share the same goals of striving to make rail travel as safe as possible with the development of data recording equipment covering four principal application areas: »» On-train data recording (OTDRs) and Remote Condition Monitoring (RCM); »» Driver Safety Devices (DSD); »» Driver Interface Units (DIU); »» Interfacing and accessing on-train electrical and data channels on legacy rolling stock. The URB1D family of converters from Mornsun is just one of a wide range of DC-DC converters Relec Electronics supply to Arrowvale, which is one of the UKs largest designers and manufacturers of data recording and monitoring devices to the rail industry. Recorders and monitoring devices are used to support accident investigation and have to meet the requirements of systematic safety monitoring procedures, vehicle system analysis, driver training and condition determined maintenance policies.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
The URB1D family, a relatively new addition to the portfolio with increased isolation, provides an ideal solution for this type of application. The units have a 40-160VDC ultra-wide input voltage with 2250VDC reinforced insulation, meeting the requirements of EN60950 and EN50155, and are suitable for operation on 72V, 96V and 110V railway traction supplies. They are typically used to power electronic equipment such as monitoring equipment, and also air-conditioning control and information displays. They have an operating temperature range of -40°C to +85°C and offer multiple levels of protection (input under-voltage and output short-circuit, over-current, over-voltage protection). The converters come in 2” x 1” standard package with two industry standard pin-out positions available. They can also be supplied in A2S (Chassis mounting) or A4S (DIN-Rail mounting) packages, which have reverse voltage protection built in. Key features: »» Ultra-wide voltage range: 40-160VDC; »» Power rating 6 - 20Watts; »» 2250VDC reinforced isolation; »» Operating temperature -40°C to +85°C; »» Low ripple and noise; »» International standard pin-outs; »» Reverse voltage protection available with A2S (chassis mounting), A4S (35mm DIN -rail mounting); »» Compliant with EN50155/EN60950 and EN50121-3-2.
The Railway industry demands especially high performance, flexible yet rugged products and Relec, together with Bel Power Solutions, can look back on over 40 years’ experience in providing power conversion products. Indeed, the roots of the product range and expertise are to be found in the brand name Melcher, which was originally a Swiss electronics specialist until it became part of the Bel Power Group. The range centres on high performance AC-DC, DC-DC converters, DC-AC inverters and displays and EMC filters compliant with national and international railway standards EN50121-32, EN50155. AC-DC converters are often deployed in lineside applications whilst DC-AC inverters are used to permit onboard AC equipment to be powered by the train’s DC power supply. Available in a variety of power levels, with a wide range of input and output voltages, the products are designed to operate under extremely wide temperature ranges and include self-cooling enclosed cases. Operating under what are often very arduous conditions the products have high immunity to electrical, humidity and mechanical stress attributes all of which contribute to delivering extremely high reliability.
Case study This brief case study illustrates how the experience of the team at Relec was applied successfully to an urgent requirement. A customer needed to simulate the 110VDC train-borne supply voltage from an AC supply. The solution needed to be quickly available and relatively easy to implement for an urgent requirement. The solution also needed to be robust enough to be installed in a mobile transit case without posing a reliability risk.
The solution After extended discussions, a solution utilising the Excelsys Ultimod configurable power supply family was selected. The Ultimod series offers field proven reliability, a five-year warranty for peace of mind and, thanks to the flexible/configurable design of the product, the customer could receive their customised solution within 24 hours.
FEATURE Compliance essential Product information on the Relec website is comprehensive and the particular standard to which a product is compliant is listed. In addition, the product may also benefit from having been listed by Network Rail PADS (Parts and Drawing System).
Rugged high performance It is easy to think that displays, hand-held or large, mounted units are ‘standard’ in design and capability, as the majority of us are so used to treating the display on our laptop or PC as typical design standard. Not so! Relec has over 30 years’ experience in providing monitors and displays for the most arduous of applications. Typical industries and applications served include rail, offshore, defence, marine and construction. Displays are usually tailor-made to the application and may range in size from 4 inches to 42 inches and may include custom built machined cases. There is also a vast range of display technologies available to ensure that the product performs whatever may be thrown at it - sometimes literally. The medical industry will demand anti-bacterial coatings, for obvious reasons.
Monitors deployed in high-use areas will need anti-finger-marking treatments and, of a more general nature, other treatments include resistive touch, PCAP and antireflective coatings.
EMC filters - essential components Relec is able to provide the major essential components in order to satisfy the requirements of a typical rail/industrial communication application, a great advantage in being able to provide the client with a broad range of highly qualified technical expertise at a single source. EMC filters are often required to enable equipment to achieve compliance and operate in demanding environments, and Relec has a comprehensive range of the best EMC filters and chokes available. The range of filters covers duties from 1A to 1100A for a variety of single and three phase applications, chokes and inductors for noise suppression and transient immunity protection, as well as power entry modules (PEMs) to combine IEC power entry with EMC noise suppression filters and immunity.
Power supply solutions Relec Electronics is a specialist supplier of electronics solutions specifically selected and designed for applications in
the railway industry. With over 38 years’ experience, the company has a highly qualified engineering and QA team to ensure that the most suitable products are selected and can also offer customised design and manufacturing options to give greater flexibility to the range of solutions offered. The company has been very deliberate and targeted in selecting a strategy of providing specialist products for demanding industries and ensuring that they can offer the best technical support both at the design stage and in after sales service and above all the ability to offer industry compliant products to ensure safe and reliable operation.
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DELIVERING THE UK’s
temporary
flood defences O
wing to changing global weather patterns, potential flood events are becoming increasingly unpredictable. In response to this, The UK’s Environment Agency (EA) continuously studies weather forecasts and water telemetry to detect emerging threats. When a flood risk occurs, priorities often change on the ground. The EA’s strategy is therefore to go big and go early, delivering a comprehensive equipment resource to the response teams so they have everything they might need to erect the best possible defence. This strategy needs wellorganised logistic support. The flood barriers are a modular, interlocking system, packed onto stillages for efficient transport - each stillage holding everything needed for up to 50 metres of defence. They have to be delivered to site, where the local response teams often move them within the overall flood risk area to where the barriers are most needed.
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As a result, once the flood risk has passed, the barriers are often not where they were originally delivered, resulting in further challenges for the logistics team that has to recover them.
Logistics challenge The Environment Agency’s major incident response programme is working with Stobart Rail & Civils in order to provide this emergency flood resilience for communities around the country. Stobart’s 24/7 storage and logistics solution manages the EA’s temporary flood defence assets that includes 40km of barriers, high capacity pumps and a range of ancillary defence equipment.
FEATURE When the EA identifies a potential flood risk, its national incident room integrates with Stobart’s major incident response management team to mobilise delivery of the required assets to site. Stobart and its transportation partners then deliver the equipment to the flood risk location and work with the EA’s front-line response teams to deploy the protection. To assist in keeping track of the equipment, Stobart and the EA worked with BT to implement an Internet of Things (IoT) GPS-based track-and-trace solution, which uses small transponders permanently affixed to the stillages that continually report their position to an online management platform that can be viewed on any mobile device. This maximises the efficiency of Stobart’s logistics planning and ensures that the recovery teams can readily locate and collect every stillage, wherever they might have been moved to.
For added security of these expensive assets, the system’s geofencing capability will issue an alert if a stillage is moved away from the defined area. When the flood risk event subsides, Stobart repatriates the deployed assets to strategically located resilience centres and EA depots around England. Stobart then ensures that all of the equipment is
ready for its next deployment by checking every item before re-packing into the stillages. The data that the track-andtrace solution provides helps minimise this quarantine period to ensure the early availability of barriers for the next flood event, significantly reducing asset down time, and the repatriation and maintenance costs.
INNOVATIVE INNOVATIVE AND AND EFFICIENT EFFICIENT CIVIL ENGINEERING. CIVIL ENGINEERING. We are focussed on being a leading provider of
We focussedservices on beingtoathird leading provider of civil are engineering parties and delivering civil engineering services to third parties and delivering unbeatable support services for our clients. unbeatable support services for our clients. OUR CORE SERVICES INCLUDE: • Buildings & Civils OUR CORE SERVICES INCLUDE: • Vegetation Buildings &Management Civils • Drainage Vegetation Management • Earthworks Drainage • Lineside Civils Earthworks • Structures Lineside Civils • Track Structures • Training Track • Special TrainingProjects • Innovation Special Projects • Innovation
CONTACT lauren.douglas@stobartrail.com CONTACT www.stobartrail.com lauren.douglas@stobartrail.com www.stobartrail.com
t @stobartrail 1 facebook.com/stobartrail t @stobartrail 1 facebook.com/stobartrail Scottish Advert March 19 A5-Landscape-1.indd 1
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Scottish Advert March 19 A5-Landscape-1.indd 1
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Protecting communities BT’s IoT track-and-trace technology, as deployed by Stobart and the Environment Agency, has proved an invaluable tool in the UK’s national flood defence capability. The ability to understand exactly where assets are located anywhere in the country is both essential when responding to flood incidents and helps Stobart deliver efficient strategic planning that ensures assets are always located close to where they might be needed. The EA’s major incident response programme is making a real difference to people’s lives by protecting communities from increasing flood risk, and the innovative solutions that Stobart has introduced are helping the EA do this more effectively than ever before. Toby Willison, executive director for operations at the Environment Agency, said: “Being prepared for flooding is one of our top priorities, so
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having the right equipment in the right place at the right time is key. We work very closely with our delivery partners to ensure that our temporary barriers and mobile pumps are ready to go anywhere in the country, allowing us to respond rapidly and flexibly to help protect communities, homes and businesses.
“Climate change is the biggest risk we face and we are continually looking for ways to build greater resilience into the work we do so that we are prepared for the future. New technology such as the GPS tracking of our mobile flood barriers marks an important step forwards in achieving this goal”
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Gedo IMS
Modular system allows you to upgrade the GEDO as your requirements change – your existing Gedo 2.0 can be upgraded to IMS Scan with a choice of supported Faro and Trimble 3D laser scanners. Use the same, familiar Gedo Office software suite to process the data and generate your deliverables, minimising training. Capture high definition survey detail at over 2,000 metres per hour with a single TMD allowing site time to be maximised, while reducing the impact to other rail professionals.
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Premier Rail Services OUR SERVICES
RAIL EQUIPMENT HIRE
Level Crossing Upgrades and Maintenance – comprising Strail, Polysafe, Rosehill, Timber Installation of RRAPs
RRAP’s – comprising Strail, Rosehill, Foam, Heavy Duty Metal and UTAS (Universal Track Access System)
Fencing, Gates, Access Steps and Handrailing
Rail Dig Ramps
Site Clearance and Preparation / Tree Felling and Vegetation Clearing
Illuminated Safe Height Goalposts Temporary Pedestrian Access Steps
Ballast Retaining Walls / Debris Netting to Bridges
Track Way Mats Pedestrian/Vehicular/SAC’s
Carriageway Resurfacing / Verge Works
Temporary Site Fencing and Interlocking Road Barriers
For more information call us on 01302 738020 Email : info@premier-rail.co.uk
Website: www.premier-rail.co.uk
Premier Rail Services Ltd, Unit 23 and 25, J3 Business Park, Carr Hill, Doncaster, DN4 8DE
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n a route which has had mixed fortunes in terms of investment and speed improvements, the works at Market Harborough - the design and construction of which is led by Amey - are part of a major boost for the Midland main line.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
were replaced with modern designs in the 1960s, although the original station building was retained and then was restored in 1981. Currently, Market Harborough is served by fast and semi-fast East Midlands Trains services and, with a journey time of
around an hour, the frequency of trains is effectively appropriate for commuting to London, necessitating ample car parking facilities. The strategic importance of the station is reinforced by good bus services across the county. However, the station’s history as a junction station, and one originally built for a different route than the current Midland main line, has resulted in a station located on a large curve and with a 60 mph speed restriction.
The classical style of the station building was retained as a focus of the remodel. PHOTO: NETWORK RAIL
A significant stopping point on the route from London to Nottingham and Sheffield, the original Market Harborough station was opened on 1 May 1850 by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), situated on its line between Stamford and Rugby and thence on to London Euston. The Midland Railway shared the station from 1857 when it built its extension from Leicester to Bedford and, in 1859, the branch line to Northampton was opened. Thus, what is now a main-line through station was once quite a busy junction hub. The original station building was replaced in 1884 with the current attractive structure, designed by LNWR architect John Livock and built by Parnell and Sons of Rugby. The services on the original LNWR line were drastically reduced and then withdrawn in the 1960s while the line to Northampton closed in 1981, at which point the station ceased to be a junction. The platform canopies and buildings
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Passengers to and from London enjoyed picturesque views from the Welland viaduct between Harringworth, Northamptonshire, and Seaton, Rutland.
All about line speed The Midland main line from St Pancras to Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham has not received any significant investment for some considerable time. The southern part of the line to Bedford was electrified in the early 1980s and British Rail Inter City made a decision to deploy a portion of its Class 43 HST fleet to the line, also in the 1980s. Signalling was modernised at the southern end for the electrification while the northern end had been upgraded in the late 1960s. Mechanical signalling remained, covering the gap between Bedford and Trent Junction, until the 1980s, when Leicester Power Signal Box was completed, at which time the opportunity was taken to upgrade the overall linespeed to 110mph. For such a strategically important route, the end-to-end speed remained low until proposals for electrification and line speed improvement came to the fore in more recent years. A major plank of these proposals was to remove the route’s long-term speed restrictions, that at Market Harborough being one of the most significant. While the key aim of the project is to increase the line speed to 85mph through the Market Harborough station area, the scope of this ‘Line Speed and Station Improvement’ project also provides customers with many other improvements. Those gains include a new, replacement car park on the east (Up) side of the station, opened in June 2018 with 300 spaces but being enlarged to 500 later in 2019. Coupled to that will be an improvement in accessibility, giving step-free access from a new entrance and, significantly, a footbridge with lifts. Previous inter-platform access had been by subway or barrow crossing, the latter being unacceptable in the implementation of new higher line speeds.
A further gain to travellers is the reduction in stepping distance between platform and train and, at last, platforms, which can actually accommodate the length of all calling trains. The new track formation allows for crossovers just north of the platforms to facilitate flexible working when necessitated by traffic constraints.
The programme As much of the new alignment was to be to the west (Down) side of the current Platform 1, much of the work could take place without disturbing the railway and disrupting travel. However, between Tuesday 28 May and Sunday 02 June (inclusive), the railway between Kettering and Leicester was closed whilst 3.8km of newly aligned track was connected into the main line. North-south passengers were diverted via the Oakham-Kettering line, enjoying a picturesque run over the Welland viaduct at Harringworth but adding about half an hour to their journey. Market Harborough passengers could use the bus-replacement services from Kettering and Leicester.
Progress to April When Rail Engineer visited the site in April 2019, considerable progress was visible. Trains were still using the old platforms, but the new works were advancing at a good pace back from the current railway alignment. Probably the most visible progress to be seen from a passing train was the disappearance of the goods shed, demolished early on to make way for the new car park, and the clearance of much vegetation on site. The former engineers’ sidings had also been shortened and then removed, replacements being available further down the route at Knighton, towards Leicester. The old Down-side car park had become the alignment for the new platforms and associated track. As well as a significant portion of the new platforms, which were being built offline, permanent way works south of the station had been cleared, new crossovers made up of standard components had been put in place north of the station and, of course, the barrow crossing had been removed. Significant volumes of signalling and telecommunications work had been undertaken, as had civil engineering
Proposed new alignment and station arrangement compared to the existing layout.
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FEATURE work including strengthening of the bridges on Scotland Road, Kettering Road and Rockingham Road. The new footbridge was in place, and could be used as a viewing platform, with both lift shafts and stairs erected. However, at the time, there was no railway underneath it!
April/May There was still work to do before the May/June blockade. This included further platform work together with completion of track installation and track drainage. The project teams needed to complete the footbridge installation, install the lifts, and finalise some strengthening work on Great Bowden Road bridge. The new alignment was tied into the existing infrastructure during the blockade. This will then allow the build of the remainder of the new Up platform and the demolition of the old Platform 2 and its associated infrastructure post commissioning. The resumption of train services on 3rd June saw the new platforms brought into use and trains using the newly laid track on its straightened alignment. Finally, the project will be able to complete the last 200 spaces of the new car park on the route of the old up London line, bring the underpass back into use and fully commission the station with full project completion in December.
Arrangements for the new footbridge giving full cross platform access for persons of reduced mobility. Electrification
Impact on customers
The original proposals for the Midland main line route improvement envisaged full electrification of the route through to Nottingham and Sheffield. However, due to changes in government priorities, the scheme was de-scoped to include the main line only to Kettering and the branch to Corby. Trains north of the junction will continue under a form of bi-mode operation. However, power supply considerations in the original full design allowed for the grid intake to be adjacent to Market Harborough and a subsequent decision has been taken to extend the overhead line contact system to Market Harborough station itself. The station design retains passive provision for a fully electrified route.
Such major works significantly impact the users of the station as well as other stakeholders, so the team has taken action to minimise that effect. East Midlands Trains has been closely involved with those arrangements and all partners have produced a strategy to achieve the best outcome. Station users will have noticed the temporary closure of the ladies’ and accessible toilets on Platform 1 since early February, although the waiting room has remained open. Those arrangements have been replaced by portable facilities on the station forecourt. The station underpass will be closed from 28 May until December 2019, but accessibility was maintained for all station users via the new footbridge when the station reopened on 3 June.
The new footbridge spans a building site rather than a railway - 26 April 2019.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
Creating better journeys We deliver innovative and versatile asset management, engineering design and operational solutions to Network Rail, Transport for London, train operating companies, passenger transport executives and other rail providers. Through standalone provision and joint venture partnerships with Sersa, Inabensa, and Keolis we’re helping to enhance performance and efficiency for our customers to improve service levels for the public.
amey.co.uk
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FEATURE The station booking office remained open during the six days of the blockade to assist passengers and the coffee shop continued trading throughout!
Blockade scope - the statistics Signalling installation »» 14 location suites »» 16 signals and associated four-foot equipment »» 28 track circuits »» 14 lineside signs »» 1 time-division multiplex link to East Midlands control centre »» 1 interlocking
Signalling removal/recovery »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »»
32 track circuits 14 AWS units 12 signals 13 sets of TPWS 12 treadles 16 signs 40,000 metres of lineside cables 5 equipment cases
Permanent way »» Switch and crossing tamping - 4 pointends »» New line construction - 1,632 metres »» Construction tamping - 2,979 metres »» Design tamping - 3,258 metres
Bulk Volumes »» Spoil »»Up Fast 3,612 tonnes »»Down Fast 2,460 tonnes »»Drainage 100 tonnes »»Total 6,172 tonnes »» Sand - 250 tonnes »» Type 1 aggregate - 380 tonnes »» Bottom/top ballast - 5,204 tonnes »» Shingle - drainage - 50 tonnes »» Platform demolition - 906 cubic metres »» Platform 2 additional dig and trackbed 241 cubic metres
Relationships and stakeholders As with any major project, particularly one in a populated and fast-growing area, a number of stakeholders and organisations were involved. Both Network Rail and East Midlands Trains placed great emphasis on engagement and communications. A dedicated website informed both the local population and travellers of progress, while bi-monthly lineside neighbour letters were sent out to residents living within 200 metres of either side of line
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
for a six mile stretch of route. More localised letters were issued as other potentially disruptive work is done. Public and stakeholder meetings formed an important part of the communications strategy and these have taken place within the community as well as adjacent to the site. The active Market Harborough Railway Association has been closely involved in the consultation and has made its views clear for sharing with the project. Site visits have also been arranged with the Local Economic Partnership, the local Member of Parliament and the media (press and trade) before and during closure. Environmental considerations have quite rightly taken a high profile with the project - there are several different initiatives in hand contributing to the integration of the works with the surrounding locations. Firstly, immediately north of the station, an area of land is it to be used for habitat enhancement and an ecology area will be produced. The remaining soil left on the site will have dips, piles and other textural features laid into it to create various habitat types. The existing seed bank from the area will be reinstated and reptile refuges are to be created. Wildflower and other bee-attracting features will be installed to enhance the area and create a haven for many species. Network Rail has asked locals to get involved with the scheme, including local schools and community groups. Litter assumes a very high profile around the railway and can become a focus for discontent around major works sites. The project has therefore provided eight members of staff to engage with a local community group to help clean the adjacent area. The Infrastructure Projects East Midlands framework has an ongoing commitment to sustainable communities, so the project team contacted the Market Harborough
Environment Group (MHEG), a voluntary organisation which works to improve the local environment by: »» Organising individual and group litter picking; »» Spreading information about recycling, through stands at local events; »» Encouraging and providing re-useable bags to their local community; »» Giving talks and information to individuals, groups and organisations in the area. MHEG was keen to set up an event in collaboration with the project team in order to benefit the local area. As a result, the Market Harborough project team met with six members of MHEG outside the access to the old station carpark on 7 September 2018. Once on site, the leader of MHEG briefed the team on the task and safety information and the two routes which had been chosen to receive the clean-up: 1. Out on Rockingham Road from the station towards Gores Lane and Kettering Road; 2. Along the river in to Symington’s Recreation Ground and back along St. Mary’s Road. The teams were split so there was a mix of project and MHEG members on both routes, the local knowledge of the MHEG was invaluable to the event and everyone got to know each other during the afternoon. After a couple of hours work both teams met back at the station with a collection of 10 full bags of rubbish. This was then stored at the access point and the MHEG team had this picked up the same day by a local council contact who is familiar with their work.
Chippings One unavoidable biproduct of the devegetation work that took place was a considerable quantity of wood chippings which, due to limited space on site, required removal. However, traditional
FEATURE
methods, such as waste disposal, would have proved costly economically and environmentally. Virgin timbers such as these are not classed as waste, according to the Environment Agency’s briefing issued in September 2014, so they are not subject to waste regulatory controls and can be used for gardens/pathways, composting and to create or maintain habitats. The Market Harborough team decided to donate the wood chippings to local community groups. So, on 25 September 2018, three members of the team spent the day delivering wood chippings to various locations around the project site. Great Bowden Pre-School had recently been discussing with the church to make an outdoor/nature area in the playground at the back of the church hall. It received a rubble bag full of chippings for the base of this project. The Market Harborough and Bowden’s Charity runs several projects throughout the area and uses wood chippings in the pathways of its allotments. Two pick-up loads were delivered to the Northampton Road allotments. Waterloo Community Gardens was set up by Waterloo Cottage Farm in Great Oxendon village as part of Sustainable Harborough, giving local people the chance to enjoy horticulture. The gardens required one pick-up load of chippings to use for paths and bedding. Lubenham Primary School had recently been quoted over £1,000 to refill the wood chippings in the playground, so the project’s donation couldn’t have come at a better time. One pick-up load was delivered immediately, and a further five deliveries have been made to replace the lost chippings.
Farndon Fields Primary School is undergoing significant building works. The school required one pick-up load for landscaping purposes for the finished build. Further chippings were delivered around the area and the remaining chippings were taken to a local stable with which the project had prior connections. The aim of having all chippings removed from site for reuse purposes was successful and saved the project approximately £5,000 and 290kg carbon dioxide, based on the 16-17 grab wagons that would have been needed to remove all the material off site. It also saved the various community groups and schools a substantial amount of money.
Successful team The success of this project is largely due to the close cooperation between the major players - Network Rail and East Midlands Trains, principal contractor
Amey, and a highly effective team of subcontractors including AMCO Rail, Arup, Atkins, Galliford Try, Murphy, Siemens and SPL Powerlines UK. Amey fielded a team which really benefitted from the ‘early contractor involvement’ philosophy all the way through from the ‘approval in principle’ stage. Amey ensured that the original team was able to develop and work consistently with the project, even during the changes in industry contracting structure that have occurred. Senior engineer Bruce Adamson, Amey’s engineering manager, paid tribute to the team which has seen the works through and taken maximum advantage of that early contractor involvement. He commented that the very welcome process led to “No surprises”, even though the scheme involved Amey taking over from a previous main contractor (Carillion), a challenge that was met by strategic staff moving through to join the Amey team.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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Mind the gap!
W
ith more and more work being undertaken ‘adjacent line open’, Network Rail and its contractors have had to become more inventive in finding ways to protect the workforce from passing trains while still having room to carry out the necessary work. Rail Engineer has reported on various initiatives. From magnetic fencing that can be erected quickly and safely to complete mobile maintenance trains, complete with workshops and a car with no floor and extending sides that track maintenance teams can shelter in while working. But none of those solve the problem of stations. With an open edge, passing trains, and a drop of about one metre onto the track, platforms can be risky places for maintenance workers. Standing a fence right on the platform edge doesn’t work. They either fall off the edge or become displaced so they could be struck by passing trains. Pulling them in a few metres doesn’t work either as that can mean much of the platform surface can’t be worked on. What it needed was a new solution.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
Novel design Having worked together in the UK rail industry for a number of years, close friends Mark Swanepoel, Mike East and Jurgens Fourie got together and formed Platform Edge Protection, dedicated to protecting railway staff from the dangers of platform edges. The trick was to develop a clamping system that was quick and easy to install, and that didn’t need special tools or, even worse, holes drilling. What they came up with was simplicity itself. A plate on top of the platform, from which extends a vertical post, is connected to a metal tube, drilled with equally spaced holes, that hangs down over the edge of the platform coper. A bar, which retains the bottom half of the clamp, slides up the tube and into position, and is then pinned in place through one of the holes, with the drilled
tube allowing plenty of variety in coper thickness. The whole clamp is then tightened by manually turning the clamp’s T-bar. Rubber pads top and bottom of the clamp account for any unevenness in the surface. Installing these clamps is the only time workers are at risk. They have to access the track under a safe system of work to attach the clamps, two metres apart along the platform edge. Once the clamps are safely in place, horizontal poles can now be clipped to the row of vertical posts. As the poles cross the posts on the side away from the track, they can’t be forced out of the clips and allow anyone to access the track. A row of kickboards is now placed along the bottom of the poles and the fence is complete. The posts, poles and kickboards are made from pultruded glass reinforced plastic (GRP), so they are lightweight, have no problem with corrosion, and are electric insulators so can be used on an electrified railway without the need for any additional bonding.
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Testing and application The new Platform Edge Protection fencing system has been assessed for track gauging and has been tested to BS EN 13374 Installations have taken place at West Drayton, Slough, Guildford, Riddlesdown and Romford stations, where reports say that the PEP system will revolutionise safety when working on station platforms. James Malin, construction manager for Amey on Crossrail, said: “Having worked in the railway industry almost all my life, I’ve never seen a more complete safety product than the PEP. Edge protection on platforms has always been a problem and there was nothing
on the market that could be used that ticks all the boxes as PEP. It’s quick and easy to install and, most importantly, it protects my workers by eliminating two of the biggest risks in our industry” Alex Wason Jnr, foreman for Volker Fitzpatrick: “My team and I have never felt safer when working on a station platform. I always had concerns about falling off the platform or coming into contact with a road-rail vehicle passing through a worksite, but PEP eliminates those risks, ensuring we can go home safe each day. It’s a fantastic system and should be used everywhere.” With Network Rail having a healthy budget to both
refurbish stations and improve them under the Access for All scheme, as well as build complete new stations on existing lines – Horden Peterlee, Warrington West, Reading Green Park, Bow Street, Portway Parkway – there will be many teams working on platforms next to a live railway. This new development from PEP should keep them safe.
Improved safety for workers on stations
Platform Edge Protection provides a safe working environment for personnel working on railway station platforms: • • • • • • • •
Eliminates the risk of falling from platforms Ensures a safe distance between workforce and passing trains Lightweight construction for quick and easy assembly Unique clamping mechanism removes need for drilling Non-conductive, so safe to use near overhead wires and third rail Kick boards prevent items rolling off the platform edge Simple to remove once the work is complete No tools required
PEP Half Page advert.indd 1
Contact info@pep.ltd for more information.
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Platform Edge Protection is tested to European Standard BS EN 13374 and Assessed for Track Gauging Requirements. 10:57 Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | 03/06/2019 June 2019
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COLLIN CARR
Huntworth Bridge A LIFT THAT COULD CHANGE THE PARADIGM
PHOTO: BRIDGWATER MERCURY/STEVE RICHARDSON
Huntworth bridge was in a poor state and could not be brought up to standard.
Stranded! The bridge still stands but its approaches have gone.
I
n the depths of the Somerset farming community is a narrow thoroughfare called Huntworth Lane. It is agricultural in style, narrow and winding, but it is an important link to schools, the M5 motorway and the town of Bridgwater for the small local communities in the area. One of the reasons why this is such an important route is because the road crosses over the main line railway from Bristol to Exeter at Huntworth. The bridge is the original structure, built in the middle of the 19th century, consisting of three wrought-iron spans with a central span of 10.5 metres and two side spans of 10 metres. It has a single carriageway and no footpath to speak of. Due to the condition of the bridge, there is also a weight restriction of 22 tonnes imposed on it. In 2014, Network Rail put plans in place to carry out significant steelwork repairs to bring the bridge up to EU loading standards of 40 tonnes and a ÂŁ500,000 contract was let to AMCO to carry out the necessary repairs. However, subsequent examinations and assessments indicated that the condition of the bridge
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
was such that, even with the planned repairs, the bridge would still not meet the EU standard.
PM visit Now, readers might remember the hugely disruptive floods that took place on the Somerset Levels. During that
time the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, visited the area personally and promised the local community that he would invest in equipment that would increase the removal of the floodwater from the area by threefold. This would mean, of course, that new, state of the art, heavy pumping equipment would need to be imported to the area and, you know what is coming, access over Huntworth Bridge would be an essential requirement to deliver the Prime Minister’s promise.
FEATURE Normally, a design would be developed that would enable the new bridge deck to be built alongside the track and lifted in with a high capacity road crane, but was this a feasible option in the back lanes of Somerset?
The superstructure of the new bridge was assembled on site.
Suitable access
As a consequence, a decision was taken to cancel the repair work and to reconstruct the bridge instead. An application for a 20-week road closure was submitted to Somerset County Council, although Network Rail was aware that this would not be popular with the local community as it would require a 22-mile detour. There was another factor that had to be considered when applying for such a road closure and one that would not be easy to resolve - Somerset County Council Highways Department has a policy that no commute for school children should take longer than 40 minutes. It’s an admirable policy, one would think, but, in this case, a nightmare for the Network Rail project team. Scott Pillinger, the programme manager for the scheme, explained how this problem was resolved.
electronic gates and monitoring systems plus a reliable fleet of seven taxis to get children to school within the allotted time and without upsetting the road owners. Network Rail representatives, including Scott, had to face a grilling from more than 300 residents who packed into a local village hall to discuss plans to close the main road to Bridgwater for 20 weeks. At one stage during the proceedings, the BBC, equipped with cameras and microphones, invited themselves into the meeting. It became a major communications initiative and regular newsletters were distributed throughout the project work. So, once approval for the road closure was in place, the project team was then able to concentrate on the notinsignificant engineering issues that needed to be considered.
A detailed survey of the approach roads to the bridge was carried out and it soon became evident that it would not be possible to get a suitable road mobile crane to the site and, even if it was, the available space around the site was limited with cuttings and woodland present. In fact, there was only enough space to erect a superstructure. Therefore, the decision was made that, after demolishing the old bridge, the team would build two new abutments and then transport individual components of the newly designed steel superstructure, which would be constructed on site alongside the railway. This would then be lifted using a rail mounted Kirow crane and positioned on the abutments. Once the superstructure was in position, reinforcement would be placed and concrete poured to form the deck of the new bridge. The design work was carried out by Crouch Waterfall and Balfour Beatty was contracted
Balfour Beatty’s Kirow crane lifts the new superstructure into place.
No through road! Scott referred to a map of the area that highlighted a number of routes that could be taken that would ensure compliance with the 40-minute rule. However, when one looked closer, it was evident that some of the roads were privately owned by farmers and other land owners. Fairly intense negotiation had to be embarked upon, with twelve different interest groups representing the road owners. As can be imagined, this became quite a challenge for Network Rail, given the options available to them, but, eventually, a solution was found that involved the installation of
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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The new deck is in place but access is still difficult – unless the paving-slab steps count!
to carry out this work as the principal contractor, with a contract value of £1.5 million. The steelwork was fabricated by Centregreat at its works in Cardiff. This all sounds sensible and normal, but a Kirow crane had never been used to carry out this kind of lift so it was a first for Network Rail. Preparatory work began on 11 February 2019, and the new deck was installed using a Kirow crane owned by Balfour Beatty on 17 March 2019, using a 52-hour possession that was in accordance with Rules of the Route. Although this all sounds like routine practice, the benefits of adopting this approach are quite significant.
Benefits For example, the Kirow crane arrived on site at the beginning of the 52-hour possession. When it was ready, the crane lifted the superstructure, travelled a short distance of 35 metres, then placed the steel-framed superstructure in position. This process took 55 minutes, then the crane left the site. The only preparation required was to attach the strapping from the lifting beam to the superstructure. Compare this with using a road-going mobile crane. First, consideration would have to be given to providing adequate road access to the site. Once on site, it is more than likely that significant ground work would
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
have to be carried out to ensure there was a stable platform for the crane. In many cases, this would probably involve the installation of concrete bases and it is also likely that substantial areas of earth would need to be moved and transported away from site. The crane would then need to be carefully set up, inevitably commanding a significant area of land and, because the planned lift is carried out from a distance, reliable communication channels would become necessary - and they are often complex. Once ready for work, large road mobile cranes are more exposed to weather variables, especially wind and flooding, so careful weather watching is required. Using a rail-mounted Kirow crane dramatically reduces these concerns and risks. As a consequence, there are significant financial savings. In this instance, Scott indicated that doing such work using a Kirow crane saved the project at least £200,000 and, if all the supporting issues of bringing materials to site and removing materials from site are taken into account, the savings could be more significant. Having said that, using a rail-mounted Kirow-style crane does require precise planning. Everything has to be ready at the right time to ensure that the crane does what is required. It then must disappear out of the possession on time, ensuring hand back to traffic is as planned, with the lift completed successfully.
Superstructure design critical The design also has to be right. The lift carried out by the crane was 22 tonnes. A walking route was incorporated into the design to ensure that quick and safe access could be obtained as soon as the superstructure was in place. There must be thousands of Victorian overbridges throughout the rail network that will need to be replaced. In the past, there were standard bridge
designs such as the Western Region Box Girder or the Z-type decks for underbridges. Is there a standard design emerging for rural overbridges like Huntworth and are they being designed with rail cranes in mind? At Huntworth, at the time of writing this article, the superstructure was installed after five weeks and the reinforcement was in place ready to receive the concrete infill. The finished structure will consist of a new road carriageway, and a pedestrian walkway which did not exist before. In addition, a road safety audit raised concern about the approaches to the bridge, highlighting that there was no protection for the railway from road vehicles. So, as part of the project, the approaches, 25 metres either side of the bridge, now have restraints consisting of 12-metre deep piles with an integrated pile cap. As Scott explained, it is a project that has included many challenges frequently associated with access but, as always, there is a unique element to each project that hasn’t been experienced before. This project, to help overcome these challenges, managed to adopt a methodology that could change the paradigm for renewing the ageing stock of Victorian overbridges for years to come.
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RAILTEX REVIEW
Editor’s eye
DAVID SHIRRES
F
for Railtex
or three days in May, the rail industry’s showcase that is Railtex filled the 20,000 square metres of the National Exhibition Centre’s halls 3 and 3a. With over 420 stands from 22 countries, there was much to see. Indeed, it is perhaps only such trade exhibitions that show the huge variety of products and services needed to run a railway.
With so many stands, the opportunity to chat with friends and colleagues and to attend almost 70 seminars and presentations, including those run by Rail Engineer, a day at Railtex soon passes. The result is a full bag of promotional material and freebies, much learnt and sore feet. What follows is a description of the stands that caught your editor’s eye, an unashamedly arbitrary selection of exhibitors, to illustrate what I learnt and give a flavour of the show. The large area with orange sleepered track displaying the latest rails that British Steel have to offer couldn’t fail to catch the eye. This included their Zinoco® coated rail, which provides corrosion protection in aggressive environments such as coastal areas. Although this has been around for a few years now, it is now available in longer, 216-metre lengths.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
Also difficult to miss was the large stand of Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CRRC, which is the world’s largest supplier of rail rolling stock. The stand had models of all types of rolling stock ranging from wagons to high-speed trains. I spoke to a wagon engineer who advised that CRRC had benefited from the huge increase in rail freight between China and Europe and that the company was developing a bogie that can change gauge between standard and Russian gauge. He also advised, in the UK, CRRC was to supply London Underground with 71 wagons for engineering work.
RAILTEX REVIEW
Saving carbon A much smaller rolling stock company is Vivarail which, in 2015, took delivery of hundreds of coaches of surplus London Underground sub-surface D78 stock for conversion to affordable rolling stock on lowspeed regional rail routes. On their stand, it was fascinating to talk to the company’s chairman, Adrian Shooter, who explained that the Class 230 was, essentially, a brand-new train of a modular design. The DEMU variant has two 180hp powerpack modules, whilst the motor cars of the battery variant have a 200kWh battery, giving the train a 60-mile range. Hoppeke supply both the batteries for the train and its recharging system. On their stand it was explained that Vivarail’s battery train is recharged in seven-minutes from short sections of third and fourth-rail that are only energised when the train is over them. This charging system does not need a high-current power supply as the recharging
rails are fed by a bank of lead acid batteries that provide the heavy recharging current and only need a trickle-charge. Alstom were displaying a model of their Breeze hydrogen train concept, which provides another alternative to diesel trains. This will use surplus Class 321 EMUs for a UK variant of their hydrogen-powered iLint train, which is in service in Germany. Alstom’s Mike Muldoon emphasised that these trains were only suitable for rural routes, for which discussions are being held with various interested parties. It seems likely that the UK could see a few small fleets of hydrogen trains in a few years’ time. The most prominent exhibit on the MTU stand was their hybrid power pack. This has a 390kW diesel engine and a traction motor with a peak power of 270kW, powered from a separate battery pack. MTU have been testing hybrid drives on the continent and have achieved fuel savings of
between 15 and 25 per cent. Working with Porterbrook, MTU is to trial this hybrid drive on a Class 170 DMU next year. Turbo Power Systems (TPS) was the only stand I saw that promoted use of siliconcarbide power electronics, a recent development offering higher power density, greater conversion efficiency and less waste heat. These were being used in the compact, naturally cooled unit 13.5kW auxiliary power supply unit they had on display that TPS is developing for London Underground’s new Central line stock.
(Left) Vivarail 180hp diesel powerpack module.
Unusual components An unusual feature of the wheelset on display on the Lucchini Unipart Rail (LUR) stand was that one wheel was a freight wheel and the other a passenger wheel - the difference between them being that, unlike the passenger wheel, the freight wheel disc has a curved cross section which reduces track impact from the harder suspension of
(Right) Auxiliary power supply for new Central line stock.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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Freight wheel on the left, passenger wheel on the right.
freight vehicles. The wheelset had a radio frequency identify (RFID) tag to easily identify individual wheelsets and their history. Its axle was also coated with a 4mm-thick Lursak impact protection coating. From underneath to the top of a train, Wabtec’s stand featured the intelligent pantograph that has been under development for some time - indeed, it won an innovation award at the 2014 RIA innovation conference. This pantograph uses a fibre-optic cable to measure real-time wire contact force and so can monitor the overhead line equipment. It has been trialled on the highoutput electrification train for a year and will be fitted to a Class 90 locomotive later this year, after which approval for general use is expected.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
The various odd-shaped ducts and other components produced by 3D printing (or, to use the more accurate term, fused deposition modelling) on the Stratosys stand showed the design freedom this technique offers as well as its ability to produce lightweight components. Further evidence of its potential is that the required 3D model can be produced within a week, compared with about eight weeks for a traditional mould. I learnt that one application is producing lightweight tools for the aero industry which cause no harm if dropped. Train Bits and More is an intriguing company name which attracted me to its stand where I learnt that the company offers train servicing
including on-site toilet tanks cleaning and seat cover dry cleaning. It also offers powdercoating of internal fixtures using the highly durable Omnikote Nylon R-AG+ process. A motorbike powered by a steam jet to accelerate it at 50 mph per second certainly attracted visitors to the IMI Precision Engineering stand. Although the bike uses some of the precision valves produced by the company, it was built by Graham Sykes performance engineering. Samuel Taylor Ltd (STL) also make small railway components, or rather parts for components in the form of contacts used in switches and relays. They had a wide range of these tiny parts to display in this specialist engineering field. With many signalling relays still in use, it will be some time before the digital railway reduces demand for their product, especially as rail accounts for only five per cent of STL’s business. Silver Fox also produces small electrical parts in the form of cable labels which it can produce in the form of ladders of heat shrinkable tubes that can easily be removed for fitting onto cables. It offers specialist software to prepare and print labels.
RAILTEX REVIEW
Sensors and earthworks Both Acorel and Dilax offer rolling stock sensors to detect and count passengers. Each company offers software to analyse passenger flows for passenger counting and offered case studies explaining the benefits of monitoring passenger number and flows. Trimble Nexala Solutions specialise in measurement, the collection of data and its analysis. For rolling stock, it uses data-processing algorithms to get effective use of data from train sensors and its automatic wayside train inspection systems that use sophisticated machine vision and non-contact measurement technologies. This provides remote diagnostic information that can be used for pre-emptive maintenance and is used by many UK train operators including South Western Railway, Eurostar, Arriva and Greater Anglia. This information was also one of the data sets for the Data Sandbox research referred to in our “Enabling better performance� feature in this month’s magazine Also on the Trimble stand was its GEDO Scan System, which gathers high-resolution data about track and surrounding features. It has a helical scanning mode to capture ceilings and walls to produce accurate 3D models of tunnels and overpasses. This is a productive tool for track surveys and incorporates GPS, inertial
measurement and related sensor technologies. The integration of rugged hardware with customized software can compute indicative track design with continuous smooth horizontal, vertical and cant alignment. It can also create cross-section drawings, automatically detect gauge infringments and calculate OLE heights and staggers. Battery-powered sensors to detect earthworks movement are amongst those produced by Findlay Irvine. 7,000 of their wireless tilt sensors have been installed at 180 sites on the UK network. When a site alarm is triggered, day/ night cameras transmit a site image for an operator to determine what, if any, mitigation action is required. These sites are currently under trial and full approval of this system is expected soon.
(Left) Trimble GEDO Scan System.
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US company Propex was offering its Armormax engineered earth armouring system as a way of preventing such earthworks failures. This reinforces natural vegetations and so costs less than traditional concrete and rock solutions. Although their system is widely used in the United States, this system has yet to be used on a UK railway, so the company hoped that their cost-effective, environmentally friendly solution would attract interest at Railtex. One innovative earthworks technique that does have product approval is Concrete Canvas, which is a flexible geosynthetic cementitious composite mat which is essentially concrete on a roll and is often used for channel lining and erosion control. An 8mm concrete canvas has the same strength as 100mm of reinforced concrete. Also, one bulk roll is equivalent to the concrete supplied by two 17-tonne mixer truck. My visit to the Lindapter stand convinced me that I was wrong to think that bolting steelwork together is simple matter. Many railway projects have the complexities of adding modern steelwork to historic structures, for which the company has developed its innovative steelwork connectors.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
Of course, a lot of railway engineering work takes place at night. That used to mean at least one generator and a cluster of powerful floodlights. Now, with LEDs, batteries can be used as they are both silent and environmentally friendly. Even hydrogen fuel-cells can be brought into play. So it was interesting to see Peli’s area lighting systems, which now feature an ‘intelligent control’ panel. This adjusts the light output according to the length of light duration required and provides a real-time display. Just set the hours and minutes (maximum is 24 hours – minimum 6 hours) of light required and the unit will calculate and adjust the output. Sales manager David Smith explained it to me: “We have harnessed the new technology to develop a smarter product within the overall design of the existing unit. This real time display allows the user to plan their time and shifts accordingly. The importance of the intelligent control system shouldn’t be underestimated as it enhances user safety and ensures jobs can be completed every time without plunging sites into darkness.” Telent, with more than 30 years’ experience of successfully delivering and maintaining communication systems for the rail sector, is perfectly positioned to deliver the innovative digital technologies that are so important to ensure the UK’s congested rail networks run smoothly and to create smarter, more reliable services At Railtex, Telent presented Arbitex, a remote CCTV-monitoring platform, reduces maintenance costs and increases asset reliability that is already in operation for Transport for London and is currently being implemented as part of Telent’s major stations CCTV contract with Network Rail. This solution was exhibited alongside MICA, which enhances communication, Supervisory Control and
RAILTEX REVIEW Data Acquisition (SCADA) and building management subsystems, integrating CCTV, public address systems, passenger information displays, help points, fire and intrusion detection systems and more. The telent stand , TRAMMS – Telent’s end-to-end maintenance management system – enables the monitoring and measurement of fault levels and trends across a wide range of assets in many environments. Together, the tools are at the heart of telent’s Reliability Centred Maintenance methodology and have a proven track record in helping the UK’s rail networks increase asset reliability, reduce customer costs and improve operational efficiency.
Level crossings From bolts to hinges, the Mk III Hinge of the Aluminium Lighting Company (ALC)’s Echalon column enables it to be easily and safely lowered by one person. These columns can be up to eight metres high and, in a collaboration with SEA, are now used to carry the ROADflow signal system that detects cars that fail to comply
with stop signals at level crossings. By the end of July, 88 columns with this equipment are expected to have been installed on South Eastern and Anglia routes. Signs at level crossings and on Network Rail’s infrastructure are produced by Britain’s Bravest Manufacturing Company, which is a social enterprise of the Royal British Legion. The company is Network Rail’s only approved supplier of trackside signage. It also provides great employment opportunities for
people with disabilities and injured ex-service personnel who make up 70 per cent of their workforce. One risk at level crossings is the flange gap - a safety hazard for cyclists and wheelchair users. Strail’s veloSTRAIL eliminates this hazard. This incorporates an easily replaceable flangeway element which butts against the rail head and deforms when a wheel flange passes over it. It is approved for use for trains up to 75mph (120km/h). As it is intended for use with conventional track, it is not suitable for tram tracks. A novel method of train detection at level crossings, displayed on the Wavetrain Systems stand, uses a complex algorithm to analyse the signal from an acoustic sensor to activate the crossing at the required time. The system is CENELEC SIL 2 certified by Lloyds Register, based on lab testing in Norway and field tests in UK, Norway, Finland, France, South Africa and Australia. It is expected to receive approval by Network Rail soon. As the system is independent of the signalling system and can be installed within 20 metres of the crossing, it offers low-cost detection. It also provides a more consistent warning time than sensors activated at a fixed distance from the crossing.
ALC’s Echalon hinged column.
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Supporting UK rail To help rail sector suppliers understand opportunities outside the UK, the Railway Industry Association (RIA) and the Department for International Trade (DIT) jointly ran a series of pre-arranged 20-minute business focused meetings between interested companies and the DIT trade experts covering the rail sector based in British Embassies/High Commissions around the world. These covered fifteen countries including India, Kenya, Canada and the UAE.
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One group of countries, the Baltic states, had its own stand. Rail Baltica is a new 870km rail line which will integrate the Baltic states with the European rail network. The project is now in its design phase and the new line, which will connect Tallinn to Warsaw, is expected to open in 2026. Another stand that supports the industry was that of the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE), which is the largest university-based centre for railway research and education in Europe. Their stand featured various research work, including that from its Centre of Excellence in Digital Systems, which is part of the UK Rail Research Innovation Network (UKRRIN). During Railtex, I naturally saw much of the Rail Media stand to rest my feet, have a coffee and store promotional material from
the stands. During the show my colleagues on the stand gave out 2,500 magazines - we like to think that this supports the industry by highlighting good work done and providing features about current developments. Railtex itself also provides a valuable service by showcasing products and services, providing an opportunity for people from throughout the industry to meet face to face, make connections and do business. Of necessity, this perspective of the show is only a small part of it and omits many other worthwhile products and services. Do get in touch if you have an interesting story about an innovative product that we missed at Railtex. Rail Engineer looks forward to seeing what’s new at Railworx in Peterborough on 11 to 13 June and at Infrarail in Olympia on 12 to 14 April next year.
RAILTEX REVIEW
Thank you for attending Railtex 2019
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We shared our expertise; presenting ‘Trusted’ Reliability Centred Maintenance. These tools help the UK’s rail networks increase asset reliability, reduce customer costs and improve operational efficiency.
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NIGEL WORDSWORTH
Rail Engineer Seminars
R
ailtex is a great show, featuring exhibits of all shapes and sizes by the railway industry supply chain, from (models of) complete trains to the smallest springs and washers.
But there’s more to Railtex than that. There are networking events, put on by show organiser Mack Brooks (Tuesday) and by the Railway Industry Association (Wednesday) and, on a smaller scale, by several of the exhibitors themselves. There are also many opportunities to listen to experts in various fields explain the latest technologies or expound on their current theories. No less than three conference areas could be found at the show this year. The RIA’s Knowledge Hub tackled such topics as the skills shortage, the Rail Sector Deal, station design, opportunities in Turkey, diversity and decarbonisation. Then there was the Future Focus Conference, which took place only on the middle day of the show – Wednesday. Also organised by RIA, there were three panel discussions – on Championing UK High Speed Rail Internationally, The Digital Journey and Decarbonisation in Rail. Rail Engineer editor David Shirres was on the panel for that one.
AT RAILTEX
Rail Minister Andrew Jones popped in late on Wednesday afternoon, giving a speech and touring the hall, and Nick Kingsley of Railway Gazette chaired a discussion on the issues of recruitment, training and retention of staff in ‘Securing the Next Generation’ on the Thursday morning.
But Rail Engineer’s focus was on the Seminar Theatre, where once again presentations were made by exhibitors, explaining to show-goers their latest ideas, technologies, developments and products.
Opening day Half an hour after the doors opened, letting in the first of the 6,700 people who would attend Railtex over the three days, the opening ceremony took place in Rail Engineer’s Seminar Theatre. Mack Brooks managing director Nicola Hamann welcomed visitors to the show, noting that, with the start of Network Rail’s Control Period 6, 2019 was “a year of exceptional opportunities”. “Railtex affords people the opportunity to forge lasting relationships, meet colleagues and renew acquaintances,” she continued. RIA chief executive Darren Caplan was upbeat about the show. “Great to be opening the 14th Railtex – the leading exhibition for the UK industry,” he enthused. “As you can see, there is a vast array of products and services for us all to see, it’s a really exciting three days in store.” Darren then returned to a topic he spoke about two years earlier at Railtex 2017- smoothing boom and bust in rail
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RAILTEX REVIEW Listening to the railway
investment. “At the start of a control period investment goes up, then it comes down,” he said. “It makes it 30 per cent more expensive to run the rail sector, it means big companies lay off teams – don’t invest – and small companies can’t survive to the next boom. It’s really important that we sort out boom and bust.” Anna Delvecchio, commercial director at Amey, co-led the rail sector deal on behalf of the industry. She said that she was proud to have been asked to open Railtex 2019 – a show she said that she had come to for the last10 years. “Railtex is a great showcase for rail capability,” she said. “There’s also no better time to be in rail, given the growth plans that we have.” She then urged visitors to not only visit the stands and attend the various seminars, but to network with colleagues. “When we collaborate, there’s no better people than the people who work in rail.” The opening was completed by Gordon Wakeford, CEO of Siemens Mobility UK and also co-chair of the Rail Supply Group. “A visit to Railtex, for me, is always a bit of a highlight. It’s the place we can see the complete range of products and services that we have available here in the UK.” He reminded delegates that there was an eye-watering amount of money being spent
on the rail industry at present. “It’s up to us,” he said, “the UK rail supply industry, the big tier ones as well as our suppliers, to make a fist of that and make sure we have as much local value-added as we can here in the UK, employ as many people as we can and, importantly, recruit and inspire new people to come to this industry.” With Gordon’s encouragement for them to “have a good show”, the delegates dispersed to look around the stands.
Or at least most of them did. Some stayed for the start of the Rail Engineer seminar programme, which was to run throughout the show. Deep Desai, business development and strategy manager for Frauscher Tracking Solutions, was first up with a presentation entitled Predictive Maintenance Strategies for Continuous Track Monitoring. He explained that Frauscher tracking solutions are underpinned by a technology called DAS – distributed acoustic sensing. This uses the fibre-optic cable that is already alongside the track, either buried in the ballast or in troughing. When a pulse of laser light is passed along the fibre, this converts it into a series of microphones that sense vibration. These vibrations can then be used to detect defects on the train and on the track, and also for monitoring the position of the train. “It’s a powerful tool,” Deep summarised, “to derive information throughout a monitored section. It supports
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smart maintenance of rolling stock and track. It’s efficient, wayside, no-maintenance, low-life-cycle-cost – once the system is installed, it’s going to be there for years. As long as there are trains and tracks, this technology is going to work.”
A song in his heart Gordon Wakeford then returned to the stand for his keynote speech. He started by saying: “I was wondering how to I can make a presentation on government, industry, industrial strategy for rail sound interesting. Anybody out there remember the Beach Boys?” He went on to display the lyrics for the song ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice?’ and to suggest some small changes so it would read: Wouldn’t it be nice if we were bolder? We wouldn’t have to wait so long. And wouldn’t it be nice to work together, In the kind of world where we belong? He then explained: “It’s a bit corny maybe, but wouldn’t it be nice if we had an agreed and joined-up approach to delivering the digital railway of tomorrow? “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all share the data available in our entire network to be an enabler, rather than a tool to defend ourselves and in some cases, even sue each other? “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could eliminate boom and bust from our marketplace?
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“And wouldn’t it be nice if we could increase the value of rail-related exports from its relatively low level of today? “And in doing all of this, wouldn’t it be nice to engage the entire supply base, especially the SMEs, to ensure their voice is heard and their future requirements for growth and prosperity are understood? “And wouldn’t it be nice, in parallel, to upskill and attract new employees to our great industry? “And finally, wouldn’t it be nice, for once and for all, to demonstrate that we can be a cost-effective and productive industry?” Gordon then went on to assure his audience that there is a plan, and a way to move forward, to meet all of these aspirations. These “wouldn’t it be nice?” topics all feature in the Rail Sector Deal, and Gordon went on to explain that in more detail. “This really is our opportunity to transform the industry to be better for all,” he concluded.
Now what was the question? Gordon’s Siemens colleague Ian Jones followed, presenting “CBTC/ETCS – The Answer is ATO”. He started off by asking another question – What is ATO? Ian then answered his own question: “ATO is the perfect driver for mass transit and main
line, every time. It automatically drives the train in an optimal way.” He then continued to explain the two types of optimal driving – for time or for energy efficiency – and to discuss the differences between its application on metros and on the main line. Mike Hewitt, chief technical officer of ADComms, asked another question – How can we digitise the journey to benefit the customer? With challenges to rail coming from new technologies such as ride-sharing applications, autonomous vehicles, dronebased taxis, and personal vehicles, it’s no longer just about getting from A to B - the passenger demands connectivity, information, and reliable infrastructure to get them from their home to their destination. In his presentation, Mike Hewitt was at pains to point out that he wasn’t going to talk about the Digital Railway, but about “the digitisation and digitalisation of systems related to how we look after our passengers”. He then proceeded to look at the challenges that connectivity presents, and the opportunities it enables, and also at the application of new technologies, and collaboration that will enable innovation.
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Technology and innovation Gioconda was established in the UK in 2006, specifically to develop desktop signal sighting tools for the UK rail market. In his presentation, Simon Gardiner explained the process used to capture, process and report on cab stand back to stop board validity. Simon chose the title “Thameslink Stand-Back Assessment” for his talk, and he quickly explained the problems which Thameslink faced. “We’ve got a new train, which has a central driver position, and the cab layout is a bit different to what we are normally used to. One of the key problems is that the driver can’t look out sideways, he hasn’t got a widow beside him, so he can’t line himself up with the STOP boards. “Network Rail had already identified the problem, recognised it was a projectwide issue, so they were looking for a method to capture the whole network, quite quickly, so they could do the necessary assessments.” He then explained how to use simple train-borne video, correlated to aerial imagery, for a stage 1 check, the options for a more detailed, higher accuracy, stage 2 check, and the modelling process that is used where remedial action is required. This process can also be used in an underground situation, and Simon talked about the varying limitations imposed by operators when arranging to capture data using in service and special train services.
The topic of energy efficiency carried over into the next seminar, as Steve Brew of ZF Rail Drive Systems talked about the direction ZF Friedrichshafen is taking from a technology perspective. Efficient mechanical transmissions are already available as part of the product range, they now want to align these with ZF’s plans in terms of future technologies and digitisation and how that can all be “stitched together to the operator’s advantage”. Condition monitoring forms part of those technologies, including built-in diagnostics and onboard analytics to advise operators of the transmission’s performance. “This kind of smart connectivity is going to be essential for all of our products in the future – it has to be inbuilt from the beginning,” Steve said. “A really flexible
system is a system that is open platform, so we are hosting the data and analytics on our own system, but we’ll share that on an OEM level and an operator level. Because of this open-platform approach, the data that we are gathering from our sensors is not only available from a single package from an OEM – there is complete flexibility for the access to that data.” The smarter that technology becomes, and the more digital, then the need for cyber security becomes ever more essential. Steve Little is cyber lead for Frazer-Nash and he explained that countering cyber threats, and the risks they pose, requires a whole-system approach and understanding of PPITF (People, Processes, Information, Technology and Facilities) and the interdependencies between them.
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RAILTEX REVIEW “There have been a number of cyber attacks,” Steve continued. “In 2016, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, there was a ransomware demand. They were trying to extort money to ‘unlock’ some of the hardware assets that they had frozen.” Steve then gave a couple more examples, before offering some suggestions for improvement. In tackling this challenge, the rail sector could learn lessons from other sectors, and he gave examples of what other sectors are doing, balancing the new with the legacy, ensuring any mitigation or response is both appropriate and proportionate.
Driving greater reliability Wednesday’s programme in the Rail Engineer Seminar Theatre started with Reg Cook, director of asset management at Telent Technology Services, who asserted that reliabilitycentred maintenance is a good way of driving operational and cost efficiencies. “There’s a lot to talk about on reliability-centred maintenance, and in half an hour I’m going to have to cram quite a bit in,” he started. However, he managed to cover all of the ground he wanted to. He explained how Telent is driving greater reliability through remote monitoring tools to identify deterioration in asset performance and
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intervening before costly service affecting failures occur. He then explored how this award-winning approach not only provides best value but improves safety and reduces carbon footprint. Remote asset condition monitoring is a key component of reliability centred maintenance, he continued, as it enables systems engineers to predict how long components and systems will last and when they might fail. Sam Bussey, business development manager of Instrumentel, was joined by David Munro, Unipart Rail’s head of digital, to talk about the impact of the fourth industrial revolution on the railways. The Digital Railway is now upon us, they said, and the technologies that are available are now being deployed, including Instrumentel sensors in assets, with data being visualised on Unipart’s ‘Paradigm Insight’ system. First of all, Sam explained why they used the term ‘conditionbased maintenance’ rather than ‘remote condition monitoring’. “The main difference for us is, to monitor something, you’re provided with data. To provide customers with information that they can act upon, that is usable and actionable, is so much more valuable, which is why we call it condition-based maintenance.” But there’s a long way to go to transform the industry, not just at the lineside and in asset monitoring, but in the supply chain too, and the
speakers explored some of the technological concepts that are now being used - and others that are soon to be introduced. While new products that are available for installation on trains and infrastructure were all around at Railtex, delegates were told that technologies that are ‘hidden’ but transform supply chain operations are just as important - especially in today’s ‘just in time’ modern society.
Digital systems Talking of trains, Nick Hughes, from Hitachi Rail, updated his audience on Hitachi’s progress in supplying several fleets of new trains for the UK. He also reminded them that Hitachi is about far more than just trains: “People normally associate Hitachi very strongly with rolling stock solutions, and you can understand why that is, but the product range is much wider than rolling stock, and I want to update everyone on how we are positioning ourselves globally in this very interesting and dynamic marketplace.” In Japan, the company’s digital signalling systems have been running for decades, allowing bullet trains to run at unprecedented speeds and frequency, and that technology is now being installed in the UK. Returning to the topic of technology, Chris Parr of Sella Controls described how to integrate systems for safety critical applications. He first of all defined what a safety-critical system is, as, in one way, almost every system on the railway is safety-critical in some way.
RAILTEX REVIEW “A safety-critical system is a system that implements safety functions necessary to achieve or maintain a safe state. But there is no point having a safety-critical system unless it’s reliable, so linked to a safety system is its reliability.” Chris then went on to explain the techniques and measures used to ensure safety critical systems are designed, specified and commissioned such that they provide the level of reliability and functional safety required. Using real world examples of projects, he detailed the types of safety studies that are required to identify and mitigate hazards and the design techniques that can be used to ensure the software and hardware are appropriate for safety critical applications. In addition, he covered the increased use of certified commercial-off-the-shelf components in safety critical applications on level crossings, and explained how this can lead to a streamlined safety assurance process. LB Foster chief technology officer Dr Mark Aston returned to the subject of the digital railway. At the start of his presentation, he said that his talk would try to answer the question: “How do suppliers, manufacturers and operators of rail networks translate this magical term ‘digital railway’ into something that is useful and actually benefits the operability of the railway, the running costs of the railway and the passengers that use it?”
He considered how technological innovations on the digital railway are helping to optimise network lifetime costs for operators and network owners through breakthrough technologies - from remote performance monitoring of trackside and onboard friction management to digital asset monitoring and digital asset maintenance – that are releasing real lifetime value through proactive and preemptive management.
Bridges and fences The next presentation was on a completely different topic. Bridges with hot-rolled sections for railway lines was the subject chosen by Dennis Rademacher, bridge development leader for ArcelorMittal Europe - Long Products. He reminded the assembled audience that filler beam bridges, using hot-rolled steel sections at close centres and filled with concrete, meet all requirements of small and medium-span railway bridges. Therefore, filler beam bridges have been used for many years with considerable success, particularly where construction depth restrictions are relevant for the design. Moreover, they are perfectly suitable for use on high-speed railway lines. He continued: “Another advantage is that you don’t have any formwork or falsework under the bridge during the construction phase, so the traffic disturbance during construction is very low.”
With the introduction of the Eurocodes, some of the standard designs adopted by various railway infrastructure owners have become outdated. However, as this design of bridge lends itself to quick and economical installation, new designs tools are urgently needed. Amongst other things, Geobrugg supplies the fences used to protect spectators at the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix. However, regional manager Duncan Ecclestone’s chosen subject lay closer to home - stabilising cuttings using steel mesh on Network Rail’s Cambrian programme. The mesh in question is manufactured from stainless steel, and Duncan presented a case study on the use of the stainless steel TECCO® System in the protection of rock faces on the coastline in mid-Wales. In a project led by the Network Rail’s design delivery team from Bristol and contractor Alun Griffiths, the designers chose this more-expensive material in order to achieve the best possible design life and solution available. “Galvanised material was only going to give them around a ten-year lifespan,” Duncan explained. “By looking at a stainless-steel product, they were able to get the 120-year lifespan that they wanted. “Including the higher up-front cost, over the 120 years that they were costing it for, the solution was much cheaper in
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the long term. They are getting the lifetime savings that they were looking for.” The sustainability theme continued into the last presentation of the day as Farah Syed, principal consultant with CEEQUAL at BRE, outlined key megatrends that can be expected in the future and how CEEQUAL is responding to these trends and challenges for the rail industry. She also highlighted examples of rail projects that are demonstrating best practice and are implementing real solutions to the challenges they face. Following her presentation, Farah presented three CEEQUAL Awards. These went to the Crossrail Surface Works - Stations West (Phase 1), Crossrail - Old Oak Common Paddington Approach – OOCPA and Bond Street Station Upgrade project teams from Network Rail, Crossrail, Arcadis, Laing O’Rourke, Costain, Jacobs and Taylor Woodrow, celebrating their achievements and illustrating high environmental and social performance. Congratulating the three project teams, Farah stated: “Something to remember, CEEQUAL is not just for the major projects. It’s for any types of projects of any size.” So, hopefully, the next awards will go to a few small projects.
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Daniel Pyke of British Steel opened up the Rail Engineer Seminar Theatre on day three with a talk on real track – real performance. The theme of the talk was how to do more with less: to run more trains with less headway, obtain more life from the railway for less cost, and to have quicker trains that cover more distance in less time. All this places demand on the track, and British Steel has been developing new rail grades to meet these challenges. HP335 high-performance rails are designed for heavy freight lines and elsewhere. On a heavily used freight line at Drax power station, Daniel showed a photograph of some conventional rail that was only two or three years old and had “some gross plastic flow – the rail has been smeared over like butter” and, in addition, pieces had started to flake off. Replacement by HP335, and the introduction of a rail grinding regime, solved the problem. Continuing with a theme of case studies, Daniel described two other British Steel products. Zinoco® coated rail can prevent corrosion, particularly in wet tunnels and across level crossings where the salting of roads in winter can corrode track, and multi-life
grooved rail for tramways that can be repaired in situ, without having to dig up the road. TSP Projects, perhaps betterknown for platform extensions and steel structures, chose to speak about innovation in collaborative ground risk management using geospatial information systems. Gerard McArdle, senior engineering geologist, and Callum Irving, geotechnical data manager, were the joint speakers for this one. As the development of digital ground models has become more widespread over the last few years, TSP Projects has developed innovative ways of using available technology, working with industry partners, such as the British Geological Survey, to improve how information and ground data is managed, assured and shared across organisations. Callum Irving introduced the concept of “dead data” – data gathered by one project that doesn’t get shared with the rest of the industry. “So, in 10 years’ time, when another contractor takes up that job, perhaps installing OLE instead of extending platforms, he doesn’t have the information. He has to go out and redo that ground investigation, even though somebody’s already done it before!”
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If project information and ground management objectives are set and aligned at the start of a project, improved project outcomes can be realised, such as reducing the programme by early identification of ground risk, increasing productivity in design and construction and developing more accurate cost projections from early project development stages. In examining these challenges, the speakers considered the tools and systems used, such as 3D geological modelling, identification and management of geological and geotechnical hazards, management and assurance of data for use by various parties, efficiencies in collection and the dissemination and use of ground information.
Looking forward Stuart Calvert was appointed interim managing director of Network Rail’s Group Digital Railway back in February. With Network Rail becoming more devolved over the next few months, into five regions controlling 13 routes, Stuart could arguably be thought of as having to work himself out of a job. However, the Digital Railway Programme will remain, working with the various technologies and supporting the routes as they improve their signalling and train control. Stuart also discussed Network Rail’s wider plans and explained where he saw the organisation going through the next control period in a thoroughly entertaining talk.
“The whole rail industry has probably been introspective,” he suggested. “And we’ve actually lost focus on what running the railway is all about, which is to provide a great service for the millions of passengers we serve every day. Our intention is very much to put that right.”
Electric trains Technology continued to be the topic for discussion as Stuart was followed by Mike Muldoon, Alstom’s head of business development, who explained how hydrogenpowered trains work and suggested what use they might be on the UK network. “Today, 2,500 vehicles, typically with a diesel engine underneath, are chugging their way around the country,” he said, “criss-crossing the country every single day,
providing essential services, but not in a very environmentally friendly way. That didn’t strictly matter, until Jo Johnson got up in February of last year and announced the decarbonisation challenge for the railways with his specific objective of removing diesel-only trains from UK railway.” Alstom, of course, already has the iLint in service in Germany, and now a Class 321 is being converted here in the UK in a joint project with train owner Porterbrook. The ‘Breeze’ concept train could replace diesel multiple units in some circumstances, but it all comes down to cost, an available supply of hydrogen and the government’s intentions regarding train emissions. Of course, electric trains are already seen as being ‘clean’, and Lee Brun, engineering manager of Faiveley Brecknell
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Wills, described the closedloop pantograph, currently undergoing service trials in the UK, which is fitted with fibreoptic sensors that are paired with GPS and video equipment. “The reason we use fibreoptic sensors,” Lee explains, “is that we are operating in a 25kV environment, and electrical sensors don’t like that. So, we have a bunch of fibre-optic sensors that we can add to a pantograph that tell us how the pantograph is performing and also tell us about the infrastructure it works on.” The sensor system measures various pantograph and OLE interface parameters which can then be used to determine the condition of the pantograph or the overhead line with which it interfaces. This data, which is then presented via a user dashboard, can be used for condition monitoring of either the pantograph/OLE or to actively control the pantograph for optimum performance and current collection.
An alternate view To round off the Rail Engineer Seminar Theatre programme at Railtex 2019, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Andy McDonald spoke to a full auditorium. “It’s really good to be getting away from Westminster for a little while,” he said, “and step into the real world.
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“I’m really amazed at the range of businesses here this week,” he continued. “It’s a strong turnout and speaks volumes for the strength and resilience of the UK supply side. “I’m always impressed by the passion and enthusiasm of railway people. You’ve a special pride and connection to the work you do, and Railtex is a reminder of the very real strength in innovation and technology that we have in UK rail. “A few months ago, I gave a speech setting out labour’s priorities for the Department for Transport, and I said Labour’s primary transport objective is to create an affordable, accessible and sustainable transport system, for the many and not the few, founded on the principle that transport is an essential public service.”
He then went on to discuss how Labour would propose to make sure those objectives were met. “It’s beyond doubt that rail urgently needs reform,” he concluded. “Labour wants a railway with rising patronage. We want a railway with rising investment, and we want a railway that cost-effectively uses public money that supports it, and I hope very much to be working with you in pursuit of those objectives in the years ahead.” So, the Rail Engineer Seminar Theatre had seen a varied programme, well supported by speakers and show visitors alike, with almost a quarter of all visitors to Railtex 2019 taking in at least one session. Now the planning starts for Infrarail 2020, which will take place at London’s Olympia on 12-14 May. See you there!
RAILTEX REVIEW
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FEATURE
Delivering Change T George Clark delivers his IRSE
Presidential Address
he Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) appoints its new president at its annual general meeting every year. The 95th incumbent, Transport for London director of engineering George Clark, took up his post on 26 April 2019, joining an honourable list that includes Rail Engineer writer Clive Kessell (1999). Immediately after appointment, George’s first official engagement was to deliver his presidential address to the members of an institution that “continues to play a significant role in a modern railway industry that is facing huge challenges and exciting opportunities.” Looking forward to his year as president, George Clark considered the challenges faced by the industry. “This is a year when change features large on the agenda of so many countries and major cities,” he said. “In the UK, whilst we debate the form of our future relationship with Europe, we have a transition from one national rail five-year plan to the next, with over £50 billion to be invested in maintaining and upgrading our main line railway. “Network Rail also embarks on a period of radical organisational change to ‘put passengers and freight
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
users first’ and to address concerns about poor operating performance. “Closer to home for me personally, in today’s economic climate, Transport for London faces unprecedented pressures to modernise and deliver ambitious transport strategies cost efficiently. “This is a global trend. In Sydney, we see the arrival of the metro as this form of railway expands further around the globe. It has been over 20 years since my mentor and guide Eddie Goddard (chief engineer London Underground 1993-2009 and IRSE president 2010) led the institution into the world of the metro and focussed on the
challenges of providing an integrated high-capacity railway system. “I recall he often said the ‘S’ in IRSE should be for ‘System’ - these challenges are still just as evident on railway delivery today as, all too often, railway systems (be they for railway, train or station control) and their complex interfaces are overlooked until too late in major infrastructure projects. “This can often feel like they are a cause of failure, when, in fact, these systems are at the very heart of the railway and must be given adequate focus throughout the whole lifecycle, to bring it to life and deliver the major social and economic changes that transportation enables.”
Annual theme As the theme for his presidential year, George has taken ‘Delivering Change’, with particular emphasis on how the institution, with its thousands of dedicated professional members, can rise to meet the challenges and enable the opportunities ahead. “As engineers, we are catalysts and agents for the delivery of change,” he continued, “and our skills have never been
FEATURE in more demand than they are today. We deliver new tools, techniques and technology systems to colleagues (fellow engineers in other disciplines, signallers and operators). We lead in so many areas: data analytics, human factors and design, safety assurance and integration/ commissioning.” Engineers introduce new technology, which is a key enabler to delivering change and always comes with its own inherent challenges and risks. But George Clark is concerned that the wider people, process and interface changes are often even more significant and the root cause of delays and cost. He believes that, not only must engineers deliver the required functional performance enhancements for system capacity and asset availability, they must also significantly reduce whole-lifecycle costs through radical changes to maintenance and operation. While not unique to railways, one challenge is that many railway upgrades start from a base state that most other industries would class as ‘industrial archaeology’, with complex legacy interfaces that are rarely adequately understood. Many industries face huge technical complexity and challenges, but few, if any, must contend with the full range of challenges faced by railway system engineers. The once-clear lines between main-line and metro control systems are becoming increasingly blurred. Whilst there are common requirements to increase capacity on constrained infrastructure, a main-line system would traditionally have one set of characteristics, with fixed block multiple-aspect colour light signals,
and the metro would have another with continuous ATP/ATO (automatic train protection/automatic train operation). “Today,” George Clark continued, “we increasingly see mass-transit rail, such as Thameslink or areas around Waterloo, but with main-line technology. Crossrail is fundamentally a mass-transit railway
in the centre but operates on legacy main-line systems on the outer areas. ERTMS and CBTC (European Rail Traffic Management System and ComputerBased Train Control) use common components and, whilst both in high levels of performance are very similar, they have different requirements. For example, interoperability for ERTMS or optimisation of capacity for CBTC. “From a supplier perspective, each CBTC supplier is seeking to optimise with their own commercial edge and adapt to the specific application, whilst ERTMS drives a standardised approach. “Communications technology is fundamental to train control systems and evolves rapidly. Railways are not the first to implement this and should be able to learn the lessons from others who have gone before us, but equally rarely seem to. “We need to break the pattern of current technology solutions by pushing at the door of concepts such as common shared networks and industrial clouds, with primary aims being quality of service, affordability and ’cultural’ change to maintain pace with our travelling customer’s growing demands.”
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
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FEATURE The need for a business case Despite the powerful cost pressures on railways today, and the disruptive potential of autonomous vehicles, data analytics and artificial intelligence to challenge fundamentals of the railway’s position in an integrated transport system, there is little evidence that the cost and time to deliver railway control systems, and the transformational changes they enable, is responding as quickly as is needed. At this stage, George referenced a Rail Engineer article - ‘Affordable Trains, Expensive Infrastructure’, David Shirres’ editorial in issue 168 (October 2018) which described how over 7,000 new rail passenger vehicles are to enter service between 2014 and 2021, representing more than half the UK fleet. These orders are due to a combination of factors including cheap finance, lower manufacturing costs, franchise quality requirements and new trains having lower operating and maintenance costs. However, while the price of new trains hasn’t changed significantly (at today’s prices) over the last few years, signalling costs have continued to rise, with a ‘signalling equivalent unit’ having more than doubled over 10 years. So, although the barriers to entry and change for rolling stock and the ‘walls’ of safety standards are high, they perhaps seem relatively manageable when compared to the challenges railway control systems and their intricate interfaces present to operating railways and organisations.
Rail Engineer | Issue 175 | June 2019
George Clark believes that professional engineering and innovation has an opportunity to deliver the improvements to create a more compelling business case for change, by challenging standards in organisations and exploiting newer technologies before implementation is overtaken by obsolescence. “This is not only a challenge for client organisations,” he stated. “Many of our suppliers are global businesses, working across industries, innovating and racing to market with the very same technologies that might disrupt rail’s traditional dominant position.”
Engineering the future The signal engineering fraternity is beset by the same, or an even worse, skills gap as the rest of the industry. It has therefore been the goal of successive IRSE presidents to address this.
“In the UK, engineering graduates make up only around 0.1 per cent of the population and women only make up 22 per cent of engineering graduates,” George stated. “We cannot expect a diverse workforce solving our future challenges unless we can attract a diverse range of children from all corners of the talent pool into subjects that will inspire and equip them to go on to be the engineers we need to tackle future challenges. “A great example here in the UK is the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy. The ‘Two Years On’ report (Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce, 2018) shows we need 50,000 people in rail by 2033. In the UK, we have seen rising numbers of apprenticeships from transport employers, in contrast to the wider national trend in apprenticeship numbers this year, a trend we need to ensure is generally continued - and specifically for railway control. “But just attracting the people will not be enough and we also need to change the way we are working. We must expect that the way that engineers need to organise to deliver, and hence the skills they need to be equipped with, are also changing. “When I started my apprenticeship in 1976, the idea that railways could ever be challenged by other modes on cost, capacity or environmental impact seemed hard to imagine. However, today, it feels not only possible, but increasingly likely. “If we stand behind the traditional walls of safety standards and do not harvest the opportunities that these winds of change present, there is a risk that railways could be rendered obsolete as technological and social transformation goes on without us. “So, our role as engineers is to deliver change as never before.”
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