Rail Engineer - Issue 125 - March 2015

Engineer

MARCH 2015 - ISSUE 125

by rail engineers for rail engineers

www.railengineer.uk

THAMESLINK

CONTINUES TO BE COMPLEX AND CHALLENGING

PAGE 13

BATTERIES INCLUDED

SIGNALLING FOCUS

MIDDLE EAST RENAISSANCE

The EMU with added IP: IPEMU, the

Our latest in-depth review of the

A look at the remarkable run of

Independently Powered EMU

railway signalling sector

railway construction

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5TH MARCH DRAPERS’ HALL, London

23RD APRIL HYATT REGENCY, Birmingham

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SWING INTO ACTION AT OUR RAIL EXEC GOLF DAY

7TH JULY WOKEFIELD PARK, Reading

GOLF DAY

MEET

DISCUSS

Exec

INNOVATE

Rail Engineer • March 2015

3

Contents

Thameslink

Infrastructure works continues at London Bridge and elsewhere.

14 And then there were 4

28 Forensic Engineering

The Technical Information Centre is called in when things go wrong.

36 Finland opts for TETRA

Resignalling London Bridge A look at 16 days of work over Christmas

18

Batteries Included Greater Anglia is running an EMU with the pantograph down.

24

Flash of Inspiration Mobile flash butt welders deliver high-quality welds more quickly

34

West Midlands SSI Data-Link Conundrum 40 What was causing intermittent signalling faults on the Snow Hill lines?

ERTMS: A New Player Emerges Hitachi’s latest signalling system assessed

44

Supplying the Next Generation of Signal Engineers Linbrooke and ntrs open a new National Training Academy

46

A System of Systems for Operation and Control Siemens is making multiple systems work together

48

RETB: A Future in Scotland The latest reworking of Scotland’s RETB radio system

52

Small is Beautiful?

TICS’ answer to Signalling Supply in 2015

56

Lineside Phones: Remarkable Survivors How GAI-Tronics is developing phones for the modern age

60

Four Lane Ends Crossing From manually-pumped gates to full obstacle detection

64

The Challenges of ERTMS on the ECML Plans to bring two popular acronyms together

68

RINM Asset Viewer Geo-RINM, ORBIS and aerial surveys

72

Middle East Renaissance The pace of rail development is increasing in the Middle East

76

A Fairytale Ending 82 Safe Start 2015 was the recent supplier event for the Midland main line

70

Harbury Hazard An initial report on the landslip that has closed the Chiltern line

We’re looking to highlight the latest projects and innovations in

Rolling Stock/Depots

Infrarail Show Issue

in the May issue of the rail engineer.

Got a fantastic innovation? Working on a great project? Call Nigel on 01530 816 445 NOW!

84

Rail Engineer • March 2015

5

Editor Grahame Taylor grahame.taylor@therailengineer.com

Production Editor Nigel Wordsworth nigel@rail-media.com

Production and design Adam O’Connor adam@rail-media.com

Matthew Stokes

All the right signals

Grahame Taylor

It’s time for our Signalling and Telecommunications feature this month and all three of our experts have risen to the challenge.

matt@rail-media.com

Engineering writers chris.parker@therailengineer.com clive.kessell@therailengineer.com collin.carr@therailengineer.com david.bickell@therailengineer.com david.shirres@therailengineer.com graeme.bickerdike@therailengineer.com jane.kenyon@therailengineer.com mungo.stacy@therailengineer.com paul.darlington@therailengineer.com peter.stanton@therailengineer.com simon.harvey@therailengineer.com steve.bissell@therailengineer.com stuart.marsh@therailengineer.com

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Part of

In his trilogy in six parts, Clive Kessell looks at a new entrant into the ERTMS arena, communications in Finland, ERTMS on the ECML, an ever-expanding company, RETB and the ultimate survivor – the lineside telephone.

Known by some for its trains, by others for its excavators and by yet others for its vacuum cleaners, it nevertheless comes as a bit of a surprise that Hitachi is venturing into ERTMS. After all there’s no ERTMS in Japan. But it has its reasons.

In the UK and Europe, TETRA has been eclipsed

by GSM-R and that’s largely to do with European interoperability requirements. Finland is in Europe, but it’s hardly a candidate for through-running to and from the rest of the EU. Their gauge ain’t right. They have more in common with Russia’s track. GSM-R is expensive. Finnish TETRA isn’t finished.

Clive teases out some of the likely issues – or snags – with introducing ERTMS on a main line. The ECML should benefit from lessons learnt in the introduction of the technology on the Great Western main line, but there is still the racing pace of radio development to cope with.

On his visit to a company that is now a major player in the signalling and telecoms design and maintenance business, Clive meets the founding fathers who had the foresight to see what the industry needed.

RETB is a wonderfully pragmatic solution to the problem of long remote branch lines. Born in the 1980s, and despite the headlong rush to new technologies, RETB is still in Scotland. Radio frequencies may have changed, and much of the kit has been renewed, but the underlying architecture is still there.

With all this radio comms around you might be tempted to dismiss the humble telephone – that’s the one with wires coming out of it – as a curiosity, a thing of the past.

But they survive. After all, when radios go down the telephone is the comms link of last, but reliable, resort.

Clive looks at what’s still available and why they will survive for a few more years yet.

David Bickell notches up three articles. Perhaps you’ve noticed a certain amount of activity in the skies above the railways recently. That’s because you were being recorded as part of a five-month long national aerial survey of the network. It’s of some comfort that you will land up in the 60TB’s worth of data. With a resolution of 4cm there’s not much that will go unnoticed.

It’s not often that Rail Engineer carries a ‘who-dunit’. Strictly, David’s tale is more of a ‘what-dun-it’, but nevertheless he keeps us in suspense right up to the end. The scene of the ‘crime’ was between Tyseley and Bearley Junction and the race was on to halt the 11,421

minutes of train delays that had already notched up.

Gripping stuff!

For sheer detail, have a read of David’s account of the new London Bridge resignalling scheme. The changes in traffic patterns facing the designers were considerable.

After all, when the last scheme was designed in the early 70s there were no Thameslink services.

Collin Carr looks at the implications for structures and track and the extraordinary alterations to London Bridge station itself. There’s probably been more demolition in the current project than during the whole of the last war!

Ah, the perils of mixing a cup of coffee with a computer keyboard! Certainly, an unfortunate spillage would divert your attention, especially if you had to remember to lower some unprotected level crossing barriers. You can see where this is all leading… Such an incident put the tin lid on Four Lane Ends crossing in the wild west of Lancashire. Paul Darlington explains how obstacle detection has saved the day.

He’s also been to Crewe to meet the folks who investigate all manner of railway mysteries. Atkins Technical Investigation Centre in Crewe gets involved handling the technically mundane right through to the most sensitive of issues. It’s not termed ‘forensic engineering’ for nothing.

Every so often, the railways are abruptly reminded about their historic context. Bell pit mining is something we have read about perhaps. To the early railway builders, bell pits still existed. Chris Parker has been finding out about one that happened to sit smack in the middle of a dual carriageway - just where the Midland Metro runs.

Stuart Marsh looks at yet another example of raw engineering writ large. Grab hold of two rail ends. Bash them together, hook up a massive generator and short circuit the lot. The result? Sparks, heat and a weld – if it’s done carefully.

Two thirds of our diesel multiple units are more than 20 years old. What to do? Build more? Or perhaps embrace the emerging battery technology and incorporate it in existing builds of electric units. The wider implications for the network are fascinating.

Just as we go to press Nigel Wordsworth has been investigating something slippery that’s on the move. No trains through Harbury for a while. We’ll see how they’re getting on over the next month or so.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

Signalling is A'Changing

7

CLIVE KESSELL

The focus of this issue of Rail Engineer is rail signalling and telecommunications. Being able to control train movements effectively and reliably has been the objective ever since railways were invented. Signalling as we know it has progressed from mechanical boxes and semaphore arms, through relay interlockings and colour light displays, to computerised control and the issue of ‘movement authorities direct to the driver’. On Metros, automatic operation is taken for granted with train frequencies upwards of 30 per hour.

Hardly a week goes by without some announcement of a new signalling system being authorised that will vastly improve the running of train services. Greater centralisation of control, locations and the automation of route setting is leading to a near ‘hands off’ system of train control, with signallers only being required for out-of-course running or when things go wrong. The advent of ERTMS and its component parts of ETCS and GSM-R make this a worldwide initiative where international suppliers will sell to the global market.

This is the ‘Eldorado’ vision, and both technical and public press are happy to predict this rosy future.

Maybe even the name ‘Signalling’ needs to change, the logical successor being ‘Train Control and Communication’ but this is a bit of a mouthful and something more succinct is needed. The chief executive of the IRSE (Institution of Railway Signal Engineers) was recently overheard to admit a name change is overdue, so perhaps even the diehards are wavering.

But is this Utopia based upon sound foundations? I travel many miles each year by train and am troubled by the all-too-frequent announcements that ‘trains are being delayed by signalling problems in the xxxxx area’. Every morning,

on the breakfast TV travel updates, there is some report of train service delay because of signalling difficulties. So is all this clever technology becoming a hostage to fortune that will in the end cause its own downfall?

Complicated Signalling systems are ever-more complicated. Long gone are the days when the signalman would go and hit a pair of points with his coal hammer to ‘get the detection’. Even with 1960s technology of relays and track circuits, the maintenance staff knew the systems inside out and could quickly rectify failures – you could visually see most of what was happening. The advent of computers changed all that and, increasingly, fault finding staff are dependent on ancillary equipment to achieve even a diagnosis of the problem with the hopeful change of an electronic card to put things right.

The dependence on high capacity transmission links to get the ‘instruction’ out from the signaller’s console through the interlocking to the signal head or point end will, in theory, improve resilience, but the vast distances of these links can create its own set of problems.

The advent of ‘signalling in the cab’, with radio to link from lineside to the train, not only splits responsibility between infrastructure owner

and train company but introduces the risk of interference corrupting the radio messages. The use of IP (Internet Protocol) for distribution of non-vital (maybe in time even vital) instructions brings its own threat of malicious cyber security interference.

Public criticism There is little doubt that signalling is at the core of train service operation and the impressive initiatives being introduced to improve performance have to be applauded. It is also certain that failures will occur from time to time, no matter what measures are put in place to improve reliability.

These failures, when they occur, more than likely have a draconian effect on train running over an extended geographical area. The consequences for train delay are far reaching and result in much public criticism. Being a ‘signal engineer’ is not an enviable hat to wear.

The success or otherwise of these new systems will depend on the ability of those responsible for the integrity of the operation having the knowledge, expertise and equipment to put things right quickly when it all goes wrong. This will mean having available, on a 24-hour basis, well-trained staff, both at first and second line support levels, who understand the architecture of the

system and have the wherewithal to get things corrected in doublequick time.

Cause for concern In a perverse way, the improved reliability that modern signalling is capable of achieving can be a problem since failures are much rarer and, when they do occur, staff have little experience of the usual fault analysis and rectification procedures. An obvious action is to build lookalike simulators in the main staff locations such that practice on offline systems can be achieved including the artificial generation of faults to teach technicians the kind of problems that will be encountered.

Regrettably, the current evidence is that signalling performance is getting worse rather than better with delay attribution because of signal failures an increasing cause for concern. It is up to the engineering chiefs from within the rail industry and supplier base to understand the problem and get things moving in the other direction. Come on Signal Engineers, you can do it.

The comments expressed are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor, management and staff of Rail Engineer.

8

NEWS

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Bogie overhaul capacity increased Alstom has inaugurated a new bogie overhaul facility in Manchester which is capable of overhauling up to 26 bogie sets every week.

Based within Alstom’s traincare centre in Longsight, the 3,600 m² facility started the overhaul of the Virgin’s Pendolino high-speed train fleet at the beginning of January of this year. A total of 1,148 bogies will be overhauled by March 2016.

The workshop is capable of overhauling bogies for other Alstom trains as well as those

manufactured by other companies.

63 new employees have been taken on to handle the workload.

During the overhaul, bogies are washed and stripped and the bare frames are checked and repainted.

Wheelsets, gearboxes, drop links, yaw dampers and other associated components are overhauled or exchanged. The bogies are then reassembled and tested before

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Terence Watson, president of Alstom UK, said: “This new workshop has been specially developed as a result of Alstom’s experience and learning from the overhauls the company has carried out over 20 years and it is designed

to optimise mileage between overhauls and to increase fleet availability.”

Managers from several train operators were at the launch, so the new facility could well be receiving an influx of work in the near future.

Nominations for Wing Award Nominations for the Wing Award for Safety are now open. Any employee of a railway business or railway supplier is eligible for consideration for the award.

Nominations close on 20 March 2015. The award includes a certificate and £500 to be devoted to personal development. The winner will be an individual who has made an outstanding personal contribution to railway line-side track safety.

Judges are looking for individuals who have developed a novel idea for improving safety at the lineside or are long-term champions of improving track safety standards.

Those who have made a significant contribution to the awareness of track safety in their business are equally eligible.

The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers administers the award, which will be made to the successful nominee at the Rail Safety Summit on 30 April and 1 May 2015 - organised by Rail Media. Nominations should be sent to Colin Porter at the IRSE and

should not exceed 250 words.

The Wing Award for Safety was introduced in 1994 to commemorate the life and work of the late Peter Wing, a Fellow of the IRSE and an employee of British Rail (BR). During his career he made a major contribution to the cause of lineside safety.

Peter Wing, whose career in BR spanned 31 years, spent much of his working life dedicated to the safety of his colleagues. It was his care and concern that became the driving force behind the national campaign ‘Dead Serious About Safety’ in 1992/3 . This had a major impact in reducing the numbers of lineside fatalities in subsequent years.

Know someone who deserves to win? Send your nomination to: colin.porter@irse.org or write to: Colin at the the IRSE, 4th Floor, 1 Birdcage Walk, London, SW1H 9JJ.

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NEWS

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Government plans for the Midlands Transport returned to the political arena recently as both Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne visited Bombardier’s factory in Derby.

As well as looking around the an engine for growth by backing plant, David Cameron tried his hand the core strengths of the local at driving an S-Stock train destined economy like engineering and for London Underground. The manufacturing. That is what the Chancellor joined him in the cab. long term economic plan we have Later, the two visitors presented set out for the Midlands today is all their long-term economic plan for about. Bombardier’s expansion is the Midlands to invited guests. great news for the people of Derby “What the Prime Minister and I and confirms their track record in want to secure is a great future for growing and creating high skilled the Midlands – a future as an engine jobs in Britain. for growth for the whole of the UK,” “It amounts to the biggest the Chancellor announced. investment in transport “We want to make Midlands here in the Midlands THE the RAIL ENGINEER infrastructure (130H x 90W)

in modern history. This isn’t a vague commitment. We are allocating specific sums to road and rail projects here in the Midlands.

“One of the first decisions I took as Chancellor five years ago was to give the go-ahead to a £650 million redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station. It will be completed in September this year. The £570 million extension of Nottingham’s tram network will also be completed this year, with 17.5km of new track and 28 new tram stops.

“Now we’re electrifying the Midland main line from St Pancras to Sheffield, via Luton, Bedford, Kettering, Corby, Leicester, Derby,

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Nottingham and Chesterfield. And that’s all on top of the massive investment in HS2, bringing huge benefits to the Midlands by way of enhanced connectivity, capacity, regeneration and more jobs.

“I’m also committed to improving rail connections across the Midlands – today I am asking Network Rail to look at the case for electrifying the main line between Bristol and Birmingham and Derby and Birmingham. So investment in major transport infrastructure is key to our plan for the Midlands.”

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NEWS

Rail Engineer • March 2015

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Bridge beams through Hanoi Moving large beams for new and refurbished bridges around the country is nothing new, and Rail Engineer has reported on this a few times in the past.

However, an overhead monorail system is almost completely a bridge structure, and a new one is being built in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi.

A total of 254 bridge girders, each weighing 230 tonnes and 32 metres long, are being

manufactured for the project at a special casting yard. The snag is, the plant is 13km from where the new Cat Linh - Ha Dong line is being built.

The company having to move these giant beams overland is heavy-lift specialist ALE. To do

so, the company selected 17 axle lines of conventional trailers, two prime movers and two bolsters each with 200 tonne capacity. The use of two bolsters reduces the turning circle so the beams can be transported through city streets.

“One of the obvious challenges is working around the daily traffic and keeping the crew members and public safe,” commented Van

Duc Trung, ALE’s local operations manager. “For the operation, we have to work at night when the traffic is not so heavy. There is also a traffic escort team for additional safety.”

So far, around 40% of the beams have been delivered to site. The monorail project is forecasted to last 20 months, with expected completion by the end of 2015.

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NEWS

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Registration to visit Railtex now open Advance registration to visit Railtex 2015 free of charge is now open via the show website www.railtex.co.uk. Pre-registering for this event, which takes place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham from 12 to 14 May, avoids payment of a £20 entry fee on the door and gives much quicker access to the exhibition.

There will be plenty to interest visitors this year. Well over 300 firms will be ready to explain their latest developments and successes, with participants ranging from the industry’s best-known names to more than 80 exhibitors taking part

in the event for the first time.

Among the latest companies to confirm a significant stand presence is China CNR Corporation, with its counterpart China CSR Corporation poised to join it for a combined presence. The planned merger of

the two state-owned companies was announced at the end of last year, a move that will create the world’s largest train builder.

Free entry to Railtex via online preregistration also gives access to the busy programme of events taking place during the show. These include keynote speeches by leading figures helping to shape the industry, project updates, discussion forums and industry seminars hosted

by Rail Engineer throughout the

exhibition. These events will be open to all visitors, free of charge.

And Railtex provides a great opportunity for meeting colleagues and renewing acquaintances, including the opening day’s Networking Reception and the second Railtex Awards dinner.

More details on everything taking place during this year’s show is available at www.railtex.co.uk, together with the latest list of exhibitors.

Golden Pandrol clip completes Borders

Personalised safety for US track workers

Contractor BAM Nuttall has completed track-laying on the Borders Railway project.

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has received a US federal grant to develop a new lineside safety system which will be able to automatically stop trains from entering worksites.

At 30 miles, the line is the longest new railway to be built in Britain for over 100 years.

Keith Brown, Scotland’s cabinet secretary for infrastructure, and Hugh Wark, Network Rail’s project director, fixed the final 'golden' Pandrol fastclip into place recently at Tweedbank station.

Brown said: “It is a huge honour to put the final piece of track in place and travel on the first train to run into the Borders in almost half a century. The reopening of this line offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver a major economic and social boost for the communities it will serve.”

He added: “This is the longest domestic railway to be built in Britain in over 100 years and is a fantastic engineering achievement for Scotland and for the rail industry.”

The Borders Railway is set to open in September 2015.

With the track now installed, attention turns to ballast spreading, tamping, welding and the installation of signalling equipment.

Work will also continue at the seven new stations being constructed at Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange, Gorebridge, Stow, Galashiels and Tweedbank.

The Global Rail News website (www.globalrailnews.com) reported that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has provided a $5 million to fund a two-year programme which will culminate with a demonstration of the new system.

Track workers will be equipped with a device which communicates with oncoming trains and the BART Operations Control Centre.

If a worker doesn’t respond to a warning from the device, any approaching trains will be automatically stopped from entering the site.

BART board president Tom Blalock said: “We have high hopes for this project. Not only could it save lives here at BART, but we believe it can also protect track workers at any rail system nationwide once we have successfully demonstrated this technology.”

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KEVIN SMITH – PROJECT MANAGER Kevin has more than 20 years experience in the construction industry. His career, to date, has predominantly been in the building sector where he has held roles as site engineer, site manager, construction manager and, most recently, senior construction manager. He has worked on some complex, challenging projects such as Manchester town hall transformation project, Chester zoo Islands extension and MUFC quadrants extension.

Kevin adds: “I am really excited to be working for such a diverse business as Stobart Rail. I feel it will provide me with opportunities across a broad spectrum of disciplines, with energy, air, rail and property portfolios; the possibilities are great.

“I’ve settled in really quickly. The staff here have made the transition for me seamless and I already feel part of the team.”

Kevin has joined Stobart Rail as a project manager and will be overseeing the Widnes Combined Heat and Power plant biomass project and the Wood Drying Facility.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

Thameslink

continuing to be complex and challenging!

T

o succeed, major railway projects must be thoroughly and painstakingly planned. Following a protracted bidding process, contracts are let which usually prompts an intense period of activity, often involving significant change to the infrastructure. When finished, the scheme usually tends to merge into our everyday railway psyche to become the norm, complying with our everyday expectations and standards.

COLLIN CARR However, there is one project that, although it never seems to end or to merge into our psyche, still continues to amaze by nature of its complexity. It is, of course, Thameslink which started way back before privatisation.

This £6.5 billion project continues to challenge the skills and resilience of the most able railway engineers. Rail Engineer has followed this project for some time, the last article appearing last summer. A recent meeting with Chris Binns, Network Rail’s head of engineering for the project, revealed some fascinating developments since that last report.

The eyes of the world Chris started by outlining a recent conversation with his team. In the past, the Thameslink scheme has been likened to ‘open heart surgery’, but the team didn’t agree with this analogy because the patient is asleep when such surgery takes place. The consensus was that the work is more akin to rebuilding Wembley Stadium whilst there is a football match underway, watched by a capacity crowd. Given events over Christmas and the subsequent media reaction, it is an understandable comparison.

London Bridge station, used by more than one million passengers per week, is one of a number of key focal points of the project. Many of the passengers are able to benefit from the use of the newly constructed terminating platforms, Numbers 10 to 15, as the project moves to the next stage of one of the biggest station redevelopments that the capital has ever seen.

The space below the platforms will eventually provide the station with an expansive new concourse area that will extend across the width of the station with lifts and escalators serving all 15 platforms. Costain is the principal contractor for this work, and Chris explained that the completion of all six terminating platforms allows the development of the new concourse to start with the construction of the new ticket office on the south side of the station at street level.

Rail Engineer • March 2015

15

Concourse demolition progressing The newly-constructed terminal platforms also give the travelling public a first glimpse of what the station will look like when finished. The concourse, however, will have to remain behind hoardings for some time before it can be appreciated by the travelling public. Demolition contractor Keltbray is now removing Platforms 9 and 8 and their supporting archways. A haulage road has to be maintained under the completed platforms until all the demolition is completed, limiting the amount of finishing work that can be carried out on the concourse area.

On the same path as Platforms 9 and 8, situated at the west end of the station, is the newly constructed Station Approach Viaduct, cast in-situ with precast beam decking. This structure, plus the additional 40-metre-long steel-decked West End Viaduct structure built by Costain, is designed to link the existing network with the new and unused 350 metre pathway which includes Borough Market viaduct. This pathway is designed to eventually carry an additional two dedicated Charing Cross tracks in 2018.

Thinking ahead The West End Viaduct structure is supported on concrete piers founded on piled foundations that were constructed underneath the Jubilee Line ticket hall when the line was extended in the 1990s. Chris explained that all they had to do was to drill through the existing piled columns and reinforce them to comply with current standards. No additional piling was necessary or disruption to the ticket office. It just emphasises the importance of forward planning and how necessary it is to ensure that the project succeeds.

Skanska has also carried out strengthening work on three bridges between Waterloo East and London Bridge during 2014, which involved closing Charing Cross station. The work included the removal of a bridge girder to accommodate new S&C and realigned track. On an adjacent bridge, longitudinal timber beams were removed and the deck reconstructed and waterproofed. This essential work was required to help comply with Route

Availability level 8 standards and to create a proposed track alignment required by the service requirement of 24 trains per hour between Blackfriars and St Pancras stations.

An even more intense period of work started on 20 December and continued for 16 days without a break, finishing on 5 January 2015. This was made possible by the suspension of the Southern and Thameslink services calling at the station. More than 1,000 engineers worked over 11,500 shifts, renewing track, signalling and power supplies. Chris was pleased to point out that no significant accidents were reported during this intense period of work. Details about the signalling installations and power supply are covered in a separate article in this edition of Rail Engineer.

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16

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Not only was a high level of safety maintained throughout this Christmas period, but the project delivery team was also busy monitoring over 320 milestones, ensuring that all the key activities were completed within the time allocated. So, although there was serious disruption to trains when the station reopened, along with much adverse publicity, this was primarily due to operational problems - getting trains through the modified and very constrained stage layout. The engineering work carried out was, in fact, completed on time and in accordance with the project plan.

New track layout Balfour Beatty Rail carried out the S&C and plain line track renewal work. It installed 20 S&C units during the 16-day blockade and completed around 400 track welds. In addition, 45 new S&C units for the low level works units had previously been installed along with the renewal of more than 7,200 metres of plain line. The track design was standardised and installed using Kirow cranes and the tilting wagon system. The project had invested in an additional eight tilting wagons, boosting the national fleet by 33% in order to secure resources for this work and future key weekends.

From London Bridge station eastwards to Bricklayers Arms, close to Millwall football ground, the railway formation is supported on masonry arches, metallic and brick arch structures. In order to keep loadings within acceptable limits, rather than use the large Kirow 1200 (125 tonne capacity) rail cranes, Balfour Beatty Rail used much lighter Kirow 250 (25 tonne capacity) cranes working in tandem. To further reduce the loading, a new lightweight lifting beam was developed so that Kirow 250 cranes, lifting in tandem, now have the capacity to lift a concrete bearer FVS switch panel without using props, thus speeding up installation.

Creating space for the dive-under The significance of much of this track reconfiguration work is that it has cleared the way for the construction of the Bermondsey dive-under. Bricklayers Arms junction, near New Cross Gate, has been remodelled, severing the Up and Down Sussex Fast lines and the Down Sussex Slow, which means that Southern’s trains to the London Bridge terminating platforms are temporarily constrained to use the three-track Bermondsey Spurs.

Also, de-construction work on Platforms 5 and 6 means that Southeastern’s Charing Cross trains will no longer stop at London Bridge station.

This arrangement is planned to last for 20 months and will be followed by similar nonstopping arrangements for the Cannon Street services when Platforms 1 to 4 at London Bridge are demolished. The reward will be a fourtrack dive-under for Charing Cross trains that will be able to stop at London Bridge station’s new platforms 6 to 9, and then travel over the Borough Market viaduct and on to Charing Cross.

Thameslink trains will enjoy two dedicated tracks that will go over the dive-under in the same direction toward London Bridge station and the new Platforms 4 and 5, but that’s a while off yet.

Skanska is the principal contractor for the dive-under construction, which is a significant undertaking in itself. Already in 2014, using 500 and 250 tonne cranes, Skanska has lifted in tandem three large steel span sections onto four previously-constructed reinforced-concrete

piers. Then, 28 precast concrete L-shaped units were fixed onto the steel structures secured by 1000 shear studs that were welded on site.

This work took place alongside the brick arched viaducts carrying six main lines. It forms the start of a transitional structure that will eventually span from the existing brick viaduct to the Bermondsey dive-under. There are around 35 arches on each of the dive-under lines that must be demolished and track slewed before the dive-under can be constructed. The plan requires Skanska to commence demolition of the arches carrying the newly-severed Up and Down Sussex Fast Lines in June, with the dive-under box to be completed in 2017.

Further afield, fitting out work in the Canal Tunnels situated between Kings Cross and St Pancras has now been completed along with the necessary track connections into the respective main line routes. Final testing will take place in 2015 but the tunnels will not go live until 2018.

Siding work and gauge clearance work to Bridge 184 at Peterborough is complete to ensure that all will be ready to receive the new Class 700 Siemens trains that are currently travelling at 100 mph on test tracks in Germany.

Retaining expertise The longevity and complexity of this Thameslink project demands a very high level of commitment and ability from all its engineers involved. There could be a concern that this highly-skilled and very-experienced engineering team may start to get restless and look for new challenges as those associated with the Thameslink project start to ease off. Chris Binns’ response was immediate – he doesn’t want to lose that talent and experience so work is already underway to look at where the Network Rail Thameslink team can best be redeployed afterwards.

Meanwhile there is still plenty to keep them all occupied until 2018.

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18

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Resignalling London Bridge

T

he sixteen-day blockade of the London Bridge south central lines and terminal platforms came to an end at 03:40 on Monday 5 January 2015 when the Three Bridges Rail Operating Centre (ROC) began signalling trains for the first time. Two new Siemens Westcad workstations were commissioned, taking over control of the whole of this route from London Bridge Area Signalling Centre (ASC).

The works were part of the ongoing Thameslink programme, due to be completed in 2018. This package of work included the commissioning of a Westlock signal interlocking, all new signalling as far as the country side of New Cross Gate station, and re-control of existing relay interlockings thence to Peckham Rye. In total there are 68 new point ends, 70 new signals and 192 new track circuits.

Civils and track work involved connecting up the new Platforms 10 and 11, closure of the old Platforms 8 and 9, installation of new scissors crossovers in the inner and outer throat, the complete relaying of Bricklayers Arms Junction, installation of four new gantries, three cantilever structures and refurbishment and alteration to nine gantries and four cantilevers. Electrification work included provision of point heating, conductor rails and alterations to power supplies and substations.

The main contractors for the scheme are Siemens Rail Automation for the new signalling, and Balfour Beatty Rail for track, electrification and civil engineering. Signalling fringe works and stagework alterations to the existing systems are being undertaken by Network Rail’s in-house design capability, Signalling Design Group at Croydon.

The 1970s resignalling A short history lesson will explain why such drastic surgery is in progress at the ‘Bridge’. The layout for the 1970s resignalling was designed to segregate the flow of traffic into three distinct corridors.

Traffic serving Cannon Street was granted exclusive use of Platforms 1, 2 and 3, trains being sorted by destination/origin via crossovers at the country end between Spa Road and New Cross.

Coming from Charing Cross, the four lines converge into two at Metropolitan Junction before entering London Bridge station. In the Down direction, Platforms 4 and 5 are available whereas Up trains stopping at London Bridge are generally limited to using Platform 6. The reversible Platform 5 could be used for Up trains but, in so doing, they would block the path of Down trains.

There is a second line for Up trains but it has no platform. This Up passenger loop is something of an anomaly, created during the 1970s station rebuild. The space where Platform 7 should be is, by necessity, otherwise occupied by a retaining wall structure separating the through lines and low-level terminal platforms.

DAVID BICKELL

Charing Cross trains can be sorted using the crossovers on the eastern approaches but many trains take the main line towards Tonbridge.

Also connecting to the Charing Cross 2/4 line split at Metropolitan Junction is the single line reversible spur to Blackfriars. In the 1970/80s, this was not used for regular passenger traffic and thus of little concern from a traffic regulation point of view.

Lastly, the terminal platforms generally provide for stopping services heading to/from the Brighton main line, South London line and branches.

Opened in 1975, the state of the art London Bridge Area Signalling Centre (ASC) was a product from Westinghouse (now Siemens Rail Automation) that included innovative Train Operated Route Release (TORR), and closingup signals to improve headway. Facing each other across the operating floor were the separate signaller control consoles, close to the vertical indication panels for the south eastern and south central routes constructed from Westinghouse M3 mosaic 80mm x 40mm tiles.

The south central panel controlled the routes from the terminal platforms to North Dulwich, on the Sutton and whole valley lines, and Anerley on the Brighton main line and has now been

Three Bridges ROC - London Bridge south central TRE signaller training work station.

Rail Engineer • March 2015

switched off and superseded by the new Westcad workstations. The remaining and larger south eastern panel controls the routes from Charing Cross and Cannon Street out to the Kent suburbs as far as Woolwich Arsenal, Eltham, Mottingham on the routes to Dartford, fringing with the North Kent workstations at Ashford, then to Elmstead Woods on the main line interfacing with Ashford IECC, plus branch lines to Bromley North and Hayes.

The technology included Westpac MkIV geographical relay interlockings, time division multiplex TDM69 and frequency division multiplex for remote control. The Cannon Street and Hither Green interlockings have since been converted to Solid State Interlocking.

Much of the original South Eastern lines’ signalling infrastructure continues in service today and remains a showpiece. However this will be entirely resignalled or recontrolled by 2018.

Panel boxes were generally considered to have a life expectancy of 25 years but London Bridge has exceeded this by a large margin, providing exceptional value in relation to the original investment. Nevertheless, replacement is about due and this has conveniently coincided with the significant layout re-configuration necessary to accommodate the planned Thameslink throughput of 18 trains per hour through the station from 2018.

1980s - Thameslink arrives The 1970s signalling predated the creation of Network South East (NSE) and the re-opening of the Snow Hill line for Thameslink services in 1988, running through the core from Kentish Town to Blackfriars and thence through London Bridge to gain the Brighton main line.

The concept of segregated routes was spoilt by virtue of this new regular flow of trains to and from Blackfriars having to proceed through the two-track bottleneck at Metropolitan Junction and share Platforms 4, 5 and 6 with Charing Cross trains.

Up Thameslink trains proceeding towards Blackfriars block all four Charing Cross lines. At the country end, Thameslink trains foul up other

services in the process of using crossovers to/from the Brighton main line. Since the inception of Thameslink, the capacity limitations through London Bridge have prevented these trains passing through at peak periods, necessitating diversion of Brighton services via Elephant & Castle, a slower alternative route.

Incidentally, further down the Brighton main line at Windmill Bridge Junction, north of East Croydon, Thameslink trains conflict on the flat with those serving Victoria. Options are currently under consideration by Network Rail as part of the Sussex Route Study. That’ll form a story for another time!

NSE recognised these shortcomings and planned the Thameslink 2000 project which would sort the problem.

19

London Bridge ASC showing platforms 5+6 (centre) and lines 3+4 (to right) greyed out in readiness for rebuilding the high level station.

London Bridge in-bearer clamp locks.

20

Rail Engineer • March 2015

London Bridge final layout (2018) showing segregated traffic flow Southeastern South central – resignalled 05/01/15 Thameslink

Bermonsey Dive-under Borough Viaduct

London Bridge final layout (2018) showing segregated traffic flow.

Alas rail privatisation, planning and funding issues have seriously delayed the scheme. The solution is a simple one - provide a segregated two-track route throughout between Blackfriars and Bermondsey for exclusive use of Thameslink trains, thereby removing the various conflicts.

Implementation of this segment of the overall Thameslink programme has, however, involved significant multi-function, highly complex and costly engineering works consisting principally of a new two-track viaduct at Borough Market, a diveunder at Bermondsey, extensive track remodelling, total resignalling, and rebuilding the station to create three additional through platforms.

Enabling works The footbridge linking the high and low level platforms carried signalling cables linking the ASC to track functions on the Down side of the line and to Cannon Street and Charing Cross. As this bridge was to be demolished as part of the rebuilding, a new cable route was created by drilling down underneath the ASC and utilising the space within the arches that support the railway track above, thereby regaining the existing cable routes on the down side. This also required the provision of a new 11kV substation within the arch to re-feed ASC. The work of rebuilding the terminal (low level) platforms, which was concluded during the recent blockade, has been progressing since 2013. Initially, the three highestnumbered platforms were taken out of service for rebuilding, followed in turn by the other platforms, leaving six in service at any one time.

This work has necessitated some alterations to the track layout in the throat.

The signal interlocking alterations were accomplished by modifying the existing geographical relay interlockings and also building a temporary rack consisting of a dozen or so

London Bridge Station reconstructed

refurbished Westpac units, some of which were displaced from the initial platform closure works.

The final configuration is of six terminal platforms (10-15), instead of the original nine, thereby creating space for additional through platforms.

The indication panels of the ASC are original, apart from complete replacement of the troublesome filament bulbs with maintenancefree LEDs, done about a decade ago, and replacement of the cathode ray tube train describer (TD) displays with LED equivalents. The original GEC-GS TD was replaced many years ago with a Vaughan system. As the latter is now also obsolete, and train descriptions are a vital information system for signallers and railway operations in general, the project team decided to de-risk this functionality by installing a new Siemens TD system at the outset of the current project.

Unlike the indication panels, signalling thousands of train movements over the years has taken its toll on the separate signallers’ consoles. Accordingly, a maintenance project to replace the faceplates, buttons and switches was undertaken by control panel specialist TEW Engineering Ltd of Nottingham over the last

Westcad workstation cubicle with ETCS.

To East Croydon / Brighton

few years. As TEW has been on site during the resignalling work, it made sense to incorporate the alterations to both indication panels and control desks as the stagework layout changes progressed.

A week after the big blockade shut Platforms 8 and 9, Platforms 5 and 6 were also taken out of use as the work of rebuilding the through platforms got under way, facilitating an increase from six to nine (1-9).

National Operating Strategy (NOS) As described in issue 120 (October 2014), Network Rail’s NOS envisages that all signalling control will be achieved through twelve Rail Operating Centres. Control of the whole of the London Bridge ASC area will migrate to the Thameslink ‘POD’ (a rectangular enclosure of ten desks) at Three Bridges ROC. The former south central ASC area transferred there on 5 January and consists of two identical workstations with two signallers working to an agreed protocol, replicating the entrance-exit route setting and point movement functionality of the ASC, albeit with keyboard and mouse replacing buttons and switches.

Rail Engineer • March 2015

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

Automatic Route Setting (ARS) was removed from the scope to avoid rework when the full Traffic Management (TM) requirements become available. TM introduces the train graph interface and it is likely that drop-down menus will be the norm for route and point setting. Within TM, automatic route setting is performed by Immediate Route Setting (IRS) rather than ARS. It may seem strange that what is ostensibly part of the Kent route should be installed in the Sussex ROC. However, the strategic importance of the Thameslink spine, including the Brighton main line, favours control from a single ROC. Although the newly segregated routes through London Bridge are reflected in the configuration of signallers’ workstations, there are several crossovers that will allow trains to cross from one domain to the other in the event of engineering works or disruption. Setting routes between, say, the Charing Cross and Thameslink corridors will require an initiation and acceptance process by the respective signallers who, sitting within the same POD, will be able to swing around in their chairs and discuss issues face-to-face.

The Thameslink core workstations within Victoria and West Hampstead signal boxes are scheduled to migrate into the POD this month.

Similarly, the London Bridge ASC south-eastern area is due to be resignalled or recontrolled and handed over to the POD by 2018. In due course Three Bridges ROC will also take over control of the routes currently signalled by the existing Three Bridges and Victoria ASCs. A training suite is provided at Three Bridges for signallers using the TREsim control and operations simulation software for Westcad supplied by TRE of Wiltshire, a Hitachi Group Company. TREsim was also used earlier in the project by Network Rail to demonstrate the 2018 segregated traffic flows to key stakeholders.

New signalling kit The workstations are of the Siemens Controlguide Westcad PC-based control and display system. Totally-independent and diversely-routed duplicated fibre optic Data Comms Networks, DCN(A) and DCN(B), utilise the Fixed Telecom Network (FTN) and, using Cadlock protocol, link the Westcad at the ROC with the Westlock interlockings located at the London Bridge equipment room built within the arches.

DCN is the forerunner for IP-based systems.

The flexibility of the data communications facilitates re-scaling or relocation of workstations in the event of a major issue. Of course, the level of security provision of ROCs and the new equipment rooms is commensurate with the business criticality.

The first of five Siemens Trackguard Westlock interlockings was commissioned on 5 January, covering the south central area. The principle

Stagework Westpac MKIV 'GO-I' signal unit.

of segregated routes also applies to the signal interlockings. Still to be commissioned are Cannon Street, Thameslink, Charing Cross and Hither Green. Westlock has a much greater capacity than SSI, hence only one Westlock is required to replace the four SSIs at Hither Green. This also obviates the tricky design issues associated with SSI boundaries.

The new south-central Westlock communicates with Track Function Modules (TFMs) conventionally using two base-band data links and three with Long Distance Terminals (LDTs). The five data links are separately interfaced with Westlock via a Trackside Interface (TIF) which acts as a protocol converter between the Westlock network communications and SSI data links. However, it is envisaged that a Siemens object controller system will deploy zone controllers instead of TFMs, with IP addressing used for communication rather than SSI data link protocol.

Existing remote relay interlockings at Forest Hill, Old Kent Road and Peckham Rye have been re-controlled to the ROC using Siemens Westronic 1024 via a Westcad Signalling Interface (SIF). The existing FDM system in the recontrolled areas was also replaced by new Westplex systems.

Bombardier EBITrack 400 track circuits are used for train detection with Cembre rail terminations. EBITrack 400 is the next generation digital version of the TI21 family for use in DC or AC electrified areas. Axle counters were not considered suitable for use in a layout with many short sections, reversible working and a variety of train length configurations, not to mention performance issues associated with reset procedures.

Unipart Dorman integrated lightweight signals (iLS) are used. They have a threedegree narrow beam well suited to the multiple parallel tracks on the approaches to London Bridge where SPADs have occurred

in the past through misreading or readingthrough. In-bearer clamp-lock point operating mechanisms are used. Signalling power supplies are 650V DC dual-end-fed with auto reconfiguration, Class II. In addition to the London Bridge equipment room, 34 relocatable equipment buildings (REB) will house much of the lineside equipment for the complete scheme, 10 of which were commissioned over Christmas. Due to the limited space, clearances and access issues on the Victorian viaducts upon which the trains run, the REBs are mostly contained within the arches. This provides a much better environment for faulting and maintenance staff, limiting exposure to both the running lines and the elements.

As well as 11 new signal gantries, for which planning consents have had to be obtained, some existing gantries have been re-used, where appropriate, for the scheme and refurbished with improved access for staff.

The project, in conjunction with Cemex, has developed the innovative EG53 and GV54 cable management sleepers which have now become a national ‘favourite’, enabling both DC traction and signalling cables to cross the track without cluttering up the ballast cribs and removing the risk of tampers damaging cables.

Welcome back Thameslink Come 2018, the principal of segregated traffic flows of the 1970s resignalling will be restored.

Thameslink, once perceived as an unwelcome interloper disrupting the flow of traffic through the station area, will be providing a new highquality and capacity service fit for the twentyfirst century.

Thanks to Network Rail’s Simon Pears, Andy Hatton, Gary Murphy and Roy Bell for their help in the preparation of this article.

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24

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Batteries included E

lectric multiple unit number 379 013 looks perfectly normal. It may be a tad cleaner than a few around the network and the interior is suspiciously immaculate. It may have a few more yellow-jacketed folk crawling over it on occasions. But otherwise, there’s nothing to differentiate it from any other of this rather handsome Electrostar class made by Bombardier.

The lights are bright. The doors open and close.

In the brisk East Anglian air of mid-winter it is comfortingly warm inside with the gentle click of heaters and the background hum and hiss of air conditioning. It can be seen trundling up and down between Harwich and Manningtree as a perfectly normal train on a normal passenger train service. (And that’s Harwich as in ‘Harwich for the Continent’ proclaimed by the famous LNER holiday posters– leaving Frinton for the incontinent.)

To the fare-paying passenger there really isn’t anything out of the ordinary. It starts and stops normally. It makes EMU-type noises. It trundles effortlessly along at 60mph. Their journeys are uneventful.

But, having expended over a hundred words extolling its normality in an article which is meant to address railway engineering, there must be something odd about this train.

Added IP The only clue that there is something unusual going on is the position of the pantograph.

As the train goes on its daily routine, the pantograph is... down.

It’s an EMU, running under the wires and yet it is not connected to the overhead power supply – and there’s no third rail either!

There is another clue though and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out what it means. Emblazoned on the sides of the unit are the words, “batteries included”. What else do you need? Perhaps we should have started there.

Yes, this is an EMU with added IP. It’s an IPEMU – Independently Powered EMU. And the independent power comes from eight tonnes

of batteries positioned under the frame of the motor car. Unit 013 has been quietly running in passenger service since 12 January this year as part of proving trials to validate the whole principle of independent power using battery technology. So far it has proved itself to be eminently... ordinary.

Passenger expectations The idea of sticking batteries in a train isn’t exactly new. London Underground uses battery locomotives. Battery trains were used in ammunition dumps to avoid the possibility of sparks. But none of the applications so far have addressed that minor issue of passenger comfort and passenger expectations in the twenty-first century. The punters want to be warm (or cool), they want good lighting, doors that open, toilets that flush, air-conditioning that works and they couldn’t care less what powers it all. The draw on power in a modern train is considerable and a class 379 EMU is one of the heavier users of power – hence its selection for the trial.

GRAHAME TAYLOR

We’ll come on to the actual engineering in a moment, but it’s worth looking at why this train exists at all. Why bother? What’s the point?

Well, there is little point if all the train can do is sit in a station and spin its air-conditioning fans.

It needs to do considerably more. The aim of the current exercise is to have a unit capable of sustaining all the hotel loads and to do a round trip of at least 30km without running out of puff.

With that sort of performance being a reality, a number of intriguing scenarios start to play out. Non-electrified branch lines linked to an electrified main line can benefit from electric stock and even from through services. Sections of non-electrified railway that link electrified lines can become part of new through services.

Depots no longer need to be wired.

Unit maintenance can be carried out without the need for isolations or special overhead precautions. Routes which are prohibitively expensive to electrify because of infrastructure constraints can be partially electrified with the dead sections no longer an obstacle to electric trains.

Rail Engineer • March 2015

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Risks and gains mismatch In the past, perhaps the easy solution – and indeed the only solution bearing in mind previous battery capabilities – was to build, run, maintain and fuel diesel units. But about 66% of diesel units are more than 20 years old which means that there is a bow wave effect for replacement. What to do? Build more diesel units? Or perhaps keep building electric units which have the capability of being modified to take an independent power source?

This whole exercise is not about a special build of special units. The exercise on the Harwich branch has involved an ordinary EMU - so ordinary that hardly a new hole has been drilled in it. As we’ll see in a moment, this has been more about ‘hole drilling not being permitted in someone else’s train’ rather than a desire not to drill. It’s been a good discipline though.

The current structure of the railways is not sympathetic to the development of an independently-powered train. After all, looking at who gains and who takes the risks reveals a complicated and awkward mismatch. The company that might gain from a new passenger flow will have a finite franchise length. The maker of batteries will need to spend a great deal on development work. A rolling stock manufacturer needs a firm contract. The testing of trains to full approval involves a huge number of interfaces.

Who is likely to take up the challenge and take the risks – in the offchance that the idea is practical? After all, this isn’t part of a normal gentle evolutionary process often found in the development of a product. This is a step change – certainly for the railway industry.

Cross-industry collaboration The whole exercise has been an example of macro cross-industry collaboration with rolling stock ownership, maintenance and operation all lying with separate companies.

It’s been where Future Rail, in a collaboration between Network Rail and RSSB, has been able to deliver the project by supporting the whole industry - both the supply chain and those that operate the trains on a daily basis.

As David Clarke, director of innovation at the RSSB, puts it: “Research is relatively inexpensive, but the costs involved at the next stage of piloting and demonstration can be vast. And this is true in any industry. What we are about is de-risking innovation through demonstration.”

The trial running of the IPEMU in passenger service has been the culmination of a complex process coordinated by the project team which has representatives from Network Rail, RSSB, DfT, Bombardier, Valence, Abellio Greater Anglia and Future Rail.

After some initial work on the concept, vehicle performance simulations were commissioned along with battery performance design and testing in parallel with detailed stock conversion design. A Class 379 was selected as it was only four years old and already had dual-voltage capability.

Network Rail let a contract to Bombardier for this part of the work along with the physical conversion which was followed by performance testing at Bombardier’s test track in Derby and then at Old Dalby.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

Existing timetabling The limitations have been formidable. The remit is to produce a train capable of delivering a passenger service to an existing timetable. This means that the range needs to be at least 50km (30 miles) travelling at speeds generally between 60mph and 100mph. The acceleration should emulate that of an existing DMU – something like 0.5m/s² so that it can keep up with existing timetabling.

Incidentally, the acceleration of the Harwich EMU was certainly respectable although obviously fairly restrained for an EMU. The expectation from an EMU seems to be much greater than for a DMU. Diesel acceleration is accompanied with a great deal of noise and general fuss. Take away the noise, and diesel acceleration isn’t quite as impressive.

The duty cycle is pretty demanding too. 30km on batteries followed by 50km on OLE. The achievements so far? James Ambrose, principal engineer working for Network Rail and the guy project managing the whole exercise, is upbeat: “The range has been 77km (48 miles).

Speeds have been as-planned, as have all the other parameters, with the battery life still ontrack to deliver five years – which ties in with the normal EMU heavy maintenance overhaul schedule.”

379 013 in passenger service.

Note that the pantograph is down.

How many batteries?

Free your mind...

Counter-intuitively, the batteries are not large. The basic building block is a 3.2V lithium ferrous phosphate cell manufactured by Valence.

Each one is about 3” long. There are 12 cells connected in series to make a row. 33 rows are then connected in parallel to give a 38.4V battery. 20 batteries are connected in series in a pod to give 768V. Two pods are connected in parallel to make a 768V module and finally, three modules are connected in parallel in a 768V battery raft. Two of these rafts are slotted neatly under the frame of the motor coach in a space formerly occupied by auxiliary batteries, giving about 450 kW.hrs of capacity. Do the maths.

There are an awful lot of batteries!

Why are the basic batteries so small? It’s all to do with heat dispersal. Too big a battery would lead to more heat being generated and the need to engineer a way of getting rid of it. This has weight and space implications – neither being available in the limited envelope of the train.

Despite the doubts and doubters, despite the industry structure, it has been proved that independent power using batteries is a practical proposition. In March of this year the updated Route Utilisation Strategy will be published. It will acknowledge that IPEMUS could be used on some parts of the network, so avoiding costly electrification schemes and promoting new patterns of passenger services.

Free your mind of previous restraints.

Branch lines might need just 100 metres of electrification at the buffer stop ends to recharge batteries. Electrify just the heavy gradients. Through electric trains between Manchester and Cardiff – not impossible.

Retain a core electrification unit that dripfeeds schemes piecemeal across the network instead of having peaks of expenditure followed by famine. The prospects are intriguing and, despite its seeming normality, the IPEMU is just the start...

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28

Rail Engineer • March 2015

GRAEME BICKERDIKE

And then there were

4

I

f you’d stood in the doorway of Lower Mainwood Farm at Ringway a century ago, the view ahead would have been green and agricultural. Try the same today - not that I’d recommend it - and you’d probably be wiped out by a Boeing 747. Wrecking balls have long since razed the farm as part of the development of Manchester Airport, its history now buried beneath the north runway’s tarmac. From modest beginnings in the Thirties, the airport now handles more than 22 million people and 170,000 aircraft movements annually, an expansion which has elevated it to become the third busiest in the UK.

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(Main picture) Looking towards the new turnout for the Platform 4 which diverges to the right.

(Inset top) The view across to Platform 4 with the Metrolink station beyond.

PHOTOS: FOUR BY THREE

Rail Engineer • March 2015

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

In partnership With the intention of trams and trains sharing the same station, it soon became clear that much would be gained by bringing forward the fourth platform’s proposed 2018 completion date, combining the works with those for Metrolink and thus taking fullest advantage of the access opportunities established. Train operators also favoured this approach as it would further enhance the benefits arising from the North West electrification programme. M-Pact Thales acted as designer and principal contractor, its client being Transport for Greater Manchester but with Network Rail using the same contracting mechanism to fulfil its requirements.

PHOTOS: NETWORK RAIL

(Above) Installation work on the overhead line.

(Right) Progress is made with the new track.

Opened in May 1993, the airport’s railway station acts as a key gateway with around 15% of passengers arriving or departing from there. Not surprisingly, the site it occupies is tight - hemmed in by hotels on three sides - and overflying the middle of it is a bridge carrying the dual carriageway that serves the terminal buildings. Called Outwood Lane, this follows the same alignment as it did when Lower Mainwood Farm was still a going concern.

The station was originally built with two platforms, each able to accommodate two four-car units either side of an island. However, service reliability relied on trains arriving in the right order, a reality which brought knock-on effects at Manchester Piccadilly where scarce platform capacity was often absorbed by trains waiting for paths. The installation of a third platform in 2008 largely resolved this, offering much greater operational flexibility.

May 2009 saw plans announced for a Metrolink route to the airport as part of its Phase 3 expansion project, connecting to the existing network at St Werburgh’s Road. Then, in July 2012, the government announced its support for a fourth mainline platform, creating capacity for more Manchester Airport services via the new Ordsall Chord. This forms part of the Northern Hub scheme, bringing more than £1 billion of investment to the North’s rail network. There has also been mooted the provision of a through route, extending the railway westwards - under the airport - to join the Northwich line, but let’s not go there right now.

The chosen design option - driven by physical and operational constraints - involved constructing the three tracks and platforms along the north side of the existing station on land previously occupied by an embankment up to ground level, the railway sitting in a six-metre deep cutting. Immediately beyond this is an airport building, known as No.4, and the Hilton Hotel which served as limits for the potential development footprint.

From Network Rail’s perspective, this package of work effectively formed Phase 1 and was undertaken during the spring of 2014. Delivered was most of the construction activity for

M56 CAR PARK ACCESS BRIDGE

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the new platform was delivered (the need to relocate several location cabinets prevented its completion) as well as the associated rebuilding of Outwood Lane bridge to include a new portal for the Metrolink line whilst extending the existing Platform 3 span to accommodate the fourth platform. This involved the lifting-in of 28 reinforced concrete beams and 11 parapet units whilst 118 wagon-loads of arisings were despatched for recycling. A temporary services bridge also had to be assembled.

The need for a 17-day road closure proved a challenge for all concerned due to its impact on airport access off the motorway network.

Possession also had to be taken of Platform 3, with 30-hour blockades needed at the top and tail to dewire and then restore the platform’s overhead line. Despite these complexities, 5,000 trains continued to serve the station using the remaining two platforms and the work was successfully concluded ten hours early.

PHOTO: FOUR BY THREE

Rail Engineer • March 2015

time of year that would cause the least possible disruption to the travelling public. The station was closed from 17 January to 9 February 2015, with Platform 3 further out of service for the previous week.

All together now Although AmeySersa - delivering the track Phase 2 has involved fulfilment of the track, works - was appointed principal contractor, the signalling, overhead line and remaining platform project actually adopted an alliance-style hubworks, together with installation of the customer and-spoke arrangement with the various firms information system (CIS) and CCTV. Again, the engaged through Network Rail: Buckingham access strategy was subject to discussions with Group for civils, Siemens for signalling, OCR the airport and train operators, the preferred (Network Rail’s in-house team) for the overheads approach being a one-hit winter blockade - a and Manchester Airport for the CIS/CCTV. Dura 190x133mm ad_v1.qxd:Layout 1 25/06/2014 16:47 Page 1

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With nothing available close by, the team secured land a mile east of the station through Manchester Airport Group, establishing a compound there in October 2014. This offered sufficient space for offices and materials storage, but would demand a very disciplined approach to workforce management and the provision of minibus shuttles to get them to and from site.

Over the weeks that followed, surveys were undertaken to validate the designs (Parsons Brinckerhoff for track, Mott MacDonald for OLE) as well as regular whiteboard meetings to ensure the robustness of plans for the blockade, with appropriate contingencies.

Where possible, progress was made with the installation of concrete bases for the new overhead line steelwork. This took place at Christmas and during the airport branch’s limited Rules of the Route access periods which afford five-hour possessions for four consecutive nights every six weeks.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

PHOTO: FOUR BY THREE

PHOTO: NETWORK RAIL

(Above) Work continues on extending the new platform to its final length.

(Left) New ballast is laid for the Platform 4 track.

Possession of the remaining station and the branch back to Heald Green North/South junctions was taken over the following weekend, allowing the rest of the wall and the concrete bases for the old OLE steelwork to be removed.

Combined with a 30-hour isolation of the Metrolink route, the opportunity was created to crane in a couple of dozen overhead line structures from car parks adjacent to the railway - a contrast to the conventional installation method using roadrailers. This allowed an early start to the process of changing over the wires and then taking out the redundant steelwork whilst keeping the wires in the air.

Also lifted in was a cantilevered signal gantry from the Hilton Hotel car park to the end of platforms 3/4. On the face of it, this appears hugely over-engineered for its purpose, but it allows testing and maintenance of the signal heads to take place without the need for an OLE isolation.

Time of the essence Complicating the track work planning was the route’s curvature, the presence of an overbridge 170 yards off the platform end and the ability to approach the site from one direction only.

Getting the timings right for arrival, departure and movement of the 14 engineering trains therefore demanded a sharp focus.

The track and drainage work proceeded eastwards from the new bufferstop, with the panels mostly brought in by tilting wagons to increase productivity before installation was carried out by a pair of Kirow cranes. In terms of layout, the Platform 4 line joins the existing Down Airport via a single turnout just before the overbridge, beyond which is an existing trailing crossover. To provide a route from the Up Airport into Platform 4, new S&C has been established on the curve approaching Woodhouse Lane overbridge. Whilst this created engineering and design issues, the proximity of booster overlap zones for the overhead line made this the optimum location.

In parallel with the track activity, Siemens staff were running in cables for the signalling and telecoms equipment. To meet current standards, two RA and OFF indicators have been provided on each of the platforms; previously there was only one. The route’s conventional signal heads have also been replaced with LED units from Unipart Dorman. The scheme has involved a data change to the route’s SSI (Solid State Interlocking)

signalling but the most complex aspect has been the associated works in Piccadilly Power Box where wiring into the existing system, given its size, proved quite challenging.

Registering the overhead line to the new track alignment occupied much of the blockade’s final week. The wires were installed under tension using Network Rail’s wiring train, the longest run being around 1,500 metres. Again, this approach was adopted in an effort to minimise the amount of disruptive access needed.

The final weekend saw the whole system brought back into use through testing and commissioning; handback came on the morning of Monday 9 February. Platform 4’s first passengers will arrive in May as part of the new Spring timetable.

Different worlds “Project by project, the upgrades being made to provide a better railway across the north of England are being completed,” insists Network Rail’s Area Director Ian Joslin. “The new fourth platform at Manchester Airport station is the latest example and will contribute to an improved rail service to the airport.”

And it will need that improved service as work on the £800 million Airport City property development gathers pace over the next 15 years, during which time the intention is to offer new office space, hotels, advanced manufacturing, logistics and warehouse facilities on a site north of the station. The promotional blurb describes it as “a vibrant economic hub”, much as Lower Mainwood Farm was a century before.

34

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Flash of inspiration

Sparks fly during the forging process.

STUART MARSH

I

t’s an odd fact that some of the best inventions are based on the simplest of ideas. We might look at some brilliant new solution and wonder why no one thought of it before. But then, perhaps they did?

Sometimes the real trick in problem solving is in bringing together old ideas. A valuable new addition to Network Rail’s arsenal of plant machinery makes use of a very old technique… with some added oomph!

Nothing added Forge welding has been used to join metals for millennia. Blacksmiths since ancient times have been familiar with the technique of heating metal parts to a high temperature and then hammering them together. In today’s technospeak we might term this a solid-state diffusion process.

Importantly, the result is a welded joint that comprises only the original metals, with no fillers or bridging materials. Since the industrial revolution, this method has been superseded for convenience by gas and electrical welding processes that add material. This added material may have different physical and chemical properties to the metals it joins.

The welding of railway lines might seem to be a modern idea, but continuous welded rail (CWR) has been used in the USA since the late 1890s. Here in the UK, though, it didn’t find favour until the 1960s. Welding techniques and the rails themselves have improved steadily over the past five decades, but aluminothermic welding remains the most popular method. Molten iron produced by an exothermic chemical reaction is cast into a ceramic mould that surrounds the rail ends. In other words, metal is added to fill a gap. An advantage is that no complex or heavy equipment is required, but great care needs to be taken to eliminate voids and slag inclusions. Even a perfect alumino-thermic weld has properties that differ from those of the rails themselves.

Saving time The time available for track maintenance and renewals is ever-moreconstrained by the drive to increase capacity on the rail network. Accordingly, in Control Period 4, Network Rail made a commitment to order ten Mobile Flash Butt Welders (MFBW). Finance came from the £220 million seven-day-railway fund, established to support schemes offering substantial improvements in network availability.

The MFBW equipment uses an electric current to heat up the rail ends which are then hydraulically pressed, or forged, together. Sean Heslop is Network Rail’s programme manager for rail services (Network Operations Delivery Services). As he puts it: “It used to take up to four shifts to fix a defective rail because of the time it took to weld and stress the new sections of rail in the short midweek possessions that were available.”

Rails are normally delivered to site in 216 metre lengths where they have to be stressed - stretched to the length they would be at 27°C - and welded together to form CWR. “We knew there was a piece of equipment out there that could deliver this work in a fraction of the time,” said Sean. “But there were a lot of problems with older types of MFBW. They couldn’t do the stressing job and there were also issues with them interfering with the signalling and telecommunications systems.” The equipment was also large and difficult to transport. With Network Rail undertaking approximately 60,000 welds per year (2012 figure) there is clearly a need for MFBW equipment that is selfcontained, fast to operate and easy to move from site to site.

Road/rail The Holland K945 welding head.

The MFBW solution now being adopted by Network Rail marries the latest K945 flash butt welding head developed by Holland Company of Illinois, USA, with a modified Doosan DX170W wheeled excavator. An on-board Marathon Electric Magnaplus three-phase generator, powered by a Deutz V6 diesel engine, provides the electricity for the boom-mounted welding head.

The vehicle’s rail controls are managed through the GOS ‘Rail Safe’ Canbus system which controls the rail lighting (four white and four red LED sets) complete with auto directional switching, auto horn sounding when the machine starts to move, speedometer, extra boom services and extra working lights. GOS Engineering, based in Blaenavon, is also responsible for fitting the Holland welding equipment and its computerised control system.

The first machine was delivered in 2012 and four are now in service. Another six machines are undergoing approvals.

Added stress Flash butt welders have been used on the UK rail network for about 15 years, but the key advancement now is in the ability of the new equipment to stress the rails as they are being welded. Using the new machines, up

Rail Engineer • March 2015 to 600-metres of track can be re-railed, stressed and welded in a single eight-hour possession. Previously the whole operation could take up to four shifts.

Stressing and welding can be accomplished in-track, from the lineside, or from adjacent lines. Safety check-valves fitted to the boom cylinders even allow the MFBW to be operated under live overhead lines. The three-piece offsettable knuckle boom also allows rail welding to be undertaken with the adjacent lines open to traffic.

When stressing is involved, there is a waiting time of just eight minutes from completion of the stress weld - primarily the time taken for the rail weld to cool to below 400°C. With the alumino-thermic welding process, this waiting time is 30 minutes.

Rail Engineer was recently invited by Network Rail to view an MFBW machine in action on the High Marnham test track. The time-saving benefits were obvious, but Bob Hervey, Network Rail’s project manager for the MFBW programme, was keen to highlight the other important benefit.

“Flash butt welding offers better performance and fatigue strength than alumino-thermic welding,” he commented. “Because no material is added, the rails and the weld are homologous. With no resultant hardness differences and the virtual elimination of inclusions and flaws, these welded joints can be bent and flexed in the same manner as the original rail.”

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Working together, the MFBW and clipper machines make an impressive team, typically giving a completion time from burn-in to fully stressed and clipped up of less than two hours.

The Holland computerised weld management system calculates the required starting rail gap and tonnage required to achieve the correct degree of stressing for a given rail temperature and rail profile. Sensors within the weld head measure distance, current, voltage, temperature and pressure in order to control the welding process. There is continuous monitoring and recording as the weld progresses, plus an analysis of the completed weld.

The results are stored in a database and historical weld data can be viewed either as a full report or a one-line summary.

Creating a loop to pull back the rail end.

Forged Using the MFBW, the stressing and welding process itself takes just two minutes, meaning that a defective rail can be changed in less than one hour.

Once the rails have been aligned and clamped in the welding head, a pulsed AC current of typically 600-700 Amps (800 Amps peak) is passed through the rail ends to heat them. When the rail end temperature has risen to 800900°C, hydraulic rams bring the rails together with a typical force of about 40-50 tonnes (100 tonnes max). It is this movement that can be used to simultaneously provide the rail stressing.

During the forging (or ‘upset’) process, a further 27mm of rail length is lost. The excess metal is squeezed outwards and this flashing is trimmed off when still soft by a shear die that closely corresponds to the rail profile.

Once cooled, the railhead can then be ground to a perfect finish.

The Rosenqvist CD501 high output clipper.

Pull back There is an alternative method for stressing the rail, which Bob Hervey was keen to show us during the High Marnham demonstration. It offers a further saving of time when replacing short lengths of rail, as only about 90-metres of rail needs to be unclipped. The freed rail is then barred into the four foot to form a loop. Cut lengths of scaffold pole act as runners to reduce the manual effort involved. The loop creates the rail end gap needed for the stressing and welding process. Again, the on-board computer system calculates the exact gap required. As the weld is made the unseated rail is pulled back into position with the correct tension.

A key feature of the butt welding process is the need for one rail to move.

The technique cannot therefore be used for welding within switches and crossings, but it is suitable for all other rail welds.

Network Rail has negotiated terms and conditions with the trade unions so that its own staff can run and operate the MFBW machines rather than making use of contractors. Two teams of five men are assigned to each machine, geared to delivering seven shifts per week from a base of 250 shifts per year.

Simple is best

Unclipped The maximum rail pull for stressing is 900-metres of unclipped rail.

Working alongside the MFBW on the High Marnham test track was a Rosenqvist CD501 high-output clipper. This self-propelled machine, produced in Sweden, is designed to work with Pandrol Fastclips and SHC clips. It will unclip or re-clip 900-metres of rail in 25 minutes. By hand this would take an eight-man team about two hours to complete.

The MFBW initiative makes use of a simple idea, albeit with a high degree of precision and control. As Bob Hervey put it: “The craftsmen who fashioned medieval Samurai sword blades would recognise the principle of what we’re doing.” Simple in essence perhaps, but Bob cannot hide his enthusiasm for the benefits of this system, not only because of the time and track access savings it provides, but also because of the increased performance of the welds themselves.

“Even the worst flash butt weld is superior to the best alumino-thermic weld, which we’ve been relying on for the past 50 years,” he said.

In view of the 60,000 alumino-thermic welds undertaken each year on the network, the deployment of these new MFBW machines seems set to revolutionise rail welding within the UK.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

PAUL DARLINGTON

C

Forensic Engineering

rewe, in South Cheshire, is known for quality engineering, being the home of Bentley cars and the world famous locomotive works. It will be a major hub for the planned HS2 and is also famous for a football team that punches above its weight. However, just a stone’s throw away from the proposed hub and the Crewe Alexandra FC Gresty Road ground, is the home of one of rail’s best-kept secrets.

Based in an office built in 1903/4 by the London North Western Railway for the Electrical Signal and Telephone Department is the Atkins Technical Investigation Centre (TIC). The TIC provides a forensic engineering service to rail - basically it’s a team of specialist engineers who investigate equipment failures in a laboratory setting in order to identify why an issue has arisen.

The TIC covers most rail engineering disciplines and provides an independent investigation service for failed assets and incidents such as level crossing accidents, signalling wrong-side failures and OHLE de-wirements. Its principal focus is on safety-critical and safety-related failures, but the scope also includes significant equipment failures that have caused major disruption or repeat failures, where investigation by technical specialists might help to get to the root cause.

The key to the TIC process is not to have any preconceived ideas of what the cause of a failure may be, but to investigate in a systematic manner and to eliminate all the possibilities using engineering principles in a laboratory setting.

Once the root cause is identified, the TIC will make recommendations to reduce the likelihood of failure. This could include equipment modification, a special inspection notice on all similar assets in the network, or an amendment to a maintenance specification.

Customers and suppliers The TIC’s customers include Network Rail, train operating companies, metros, tram systems, London Underground, overseas rail (one recent enquiry was from Singapore involving a relay that caught fire), British Transport Police and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch. The TIC has the majority of skills and processes required, but it also uses specialist test houses for metallurgical investigation support and vibration testing.

They also have access to the rest of the Atkins organisation. For example, a level crossing ‘Another Train Coming’ audio device was sent for investigation as it was believed to be announcing in Chinese. With the help of the Atkins project office based in Beijing China, the TIC was quickly able to identify that it was Chinese. The investigation also found that the audio device could be recorded locally with any message.

The TIC also has access to the Atkins design office which is able to support an investigation with detailed circuit analysis or data analysis for computer-based systems.

Typical equipment sent to the TIC for investigation includes: relays, cables, signals, train detection equipment, Automatic Warning System (AWS) and Train Protection and Warning System

Rail Engineer • March 2015

(TPWS) items and, more recently, the first European Train Control System (ETCS) balise requiring investigation. The cause of the failure was attributed to ingress of salt water.

The scope of the assets investigated has been widened recently to include electrification assets and the Atkins team can be called upon to determine the cause of a de-wirement.

If a fault is caused by a manufacturing problem, the TIC invites the manufacturer (if still available) to witness the tests, provide technical information and offer comments on the report before it goes to the client.

Such invitations are standard whenever a manufacturer’s fault is identified and demonstrates Atkins’ independence.

In a recent case, the manufacturer of the faulty signal accepted the invitation and, after witnessing the testing and intermittent fault, voluntarily agreed to alter its manufacturing, quality and maintenance procedures to prevent the failure occurring again.

People and process The 20 or so strong team at the TIC is made up of engineers with considerable forensic investigation expertise, covering predominantly electrical and electronic applications, but also including mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic and material science domains.

Although these skills are used by Atkins to unravel rail-related safety / performance issues, the know-how and processes can be applied to virtually anything. Electrical and electronic equipment work in the same way, whether on an oilrig, train or submarine. The principles remain the same, so in theory the TIC can test/investigate just about anything that uses electricity and if the specification is available.

Once a suspected faulty item is received into the TIC it is placed in triage.

The item will be assessed for the competency required to carry out the investigation and the creation of a detailed investigation plan before any testing commences.

The testing is carried out in phases: visual examination, non-destructive testing and finally destructive testing, with a review of the findings at the end of each phase. All test parameters are recorded meticulously. While competency and quality processes are now a requirement for most successful companies, such systems have been in place within the TIC for a very long time.

Evidence recording is extremely important as the engineers may be called to provide evidence in a court of law and it is invaluable in supporting the investigation of other similar failures. The TIC has records going back over a

37

hundred years, some of which make fascinating reading including one on the use of radio to communicate with a train in the 1920s!

The TIC is one of very few rail teams in the country to have the necessary Institution of Railway Signal Engineers licences to carry out this oftensensitive and confidential work, and it’s not uncommon for the centre’s findings and recommendations to influence manufacturing practice, safety standards and maintenance specifications, within the rail industry.

The TIC is located adjacent to the Atkins signalling project office and this helps the TIC engineers maintain their competency with site visits to carry out new works correlation, as well as attending training courses on new systems, so that they are ready when new items are sent for investigation. They also support projects with teams to assist, for example, the commissioning of new complex track circuit layouts.

38

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Investigation examples A signal kept reverting to and staying at red - a situation which caused train delays and numerous site visits by the local maintainer. During the investigation, the TIC not only identified an intermittent fault that caused the signal to revert to red but also discovered that the interaction between the signal modules was not readily understood by the maintainer, meaning that its repeated attempts to get to the bottom of the problem were fruitless. The intermittent fault was caused by a manufacturing problem.

A box of fire damaged batteries, from a mechanical signal box was sent to the TIC for investigation. After carrying out various tests, it was determined that this new type of battery, produced by a particular manufacturer, delivered a much higher current than the older types.

They also came in a range of different sizes and capacities. If the different sizes are mixed together they can overheat and, if they are not wired up and positioned carefully, a short circuit causing sparks can occur, igniting flammable material nearby.

Although this explanation does sound relatively straightforward, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

Before this conclusion was reached the TIC carried out a number of tests, taking care not to prematurely dismiss any possibilities. Did the batteries have any technical limitations? Did vibrations from passing trains move them around?

To what extent was the fire caused by human error?

The TIC has been involved with a number of major incidents, such as Ladbroke Grove, Grayrigg and Potters Bar, as the licensed independent engineering investigation team. This independence from maintainers, infrastructure controllers, designers, and equipment suppliers is an important point.

One area the TIC can be of further use to the rail industry is with the acceptance process for new products. It is not unknown for new items of equipment to be installed on the railway only to fail some months later, with safety or performance implications. The TIC may only then be involved

to identify the root cause of the failure. Often, the harsh environment of the railway - physical and electrical - can give rise to problems that even the most careful planning and design cannot foresee.

The TIC can bring its experience to the process, looking at lessons learnt from similar applications and using simulations to mimic real life at the trackside where equipment is expected to perform reliably for up to 30 years. Getting it right at the outset can prove to be a good investment, saving failures, product recalls and operational delays downstream.

Other services The TIC also supports projects with immunisation testing and analysis. This involves instrumenting and analysing the area and systems being changed or, for example a new type of rolling stock. The railway system with its legacy products is very difficult to model and sometimes the only way is to go out and measure everything in a systematic and recordable manner.

A recent example for Thameslink was a points installation on slab track and a requirement to check that the machine was holding fast. The TIC came up with a network of void meters, glued

to the rail and slab, and connected back to a recording device. This verified that there was no movement of the machine. This was undertaken at the same time as checking for both AC and DC interference with the interface with LUL. Support is provided to the signalling projects division of Atkins. This includes FRACAS (Failure Reporting And Corrective Action System) and DRACAS (Defect Reporting And Corrective Action System) modelling for major projects. The TIC has also been involved with type approval for the new generation of Atkins computer-based signalling, with both AC and DC testing of the interlocking and level crossing controllers in areas of high electrical interference.

The future The TIC has all the skills and processes to support other industries and this may include the emerging industry of intelligent transport, autonomous cars and highway monitoring.

Motorways are currently monitored by CCTV but, in the future, this may be undertaken by similar technology as RADAR and LiDAR used in obstacle detection at level crossings. Who better to investigate forensically when it fails?

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

West Midlands SSI Data-Link conundrum

L

ong before terms such as ‘delay minutes’, ‘Public Performance Measure (PPM)’ and ‘delay attribution’ were invented to incentivise staff, signal technicians had it in their psyche that faults causing delay to trains must be rectified Pretty Damn Quick!

Nevertheless, fault-finding is a skill requiring underpinning knowledge and a logical mind to understand the symptoms and make a correct diagnosis. Usually, subject to access, faults are found and rectified quickly. There are, however, odd occasions when faults of an intermittent nature, associated with complex equipment, challenge the most experienced engineers.

Digital computer-based interlockings such as Solid State Interlocking (SSI) include a Technician’s Terminal (TT) facility that automatically identifies a failed interlocking or signal module, thereby facilitating prompt rectification. The interlocking processor modules are connected with trackside signalling function modules by means of data links which carry two-way safety-critical serial data messages. Although these data links are duplicated, unusual external interference from a passing train or other local source can disrupt the flow of data in both ‘A’ and ‘B’ links, causing ‘rightside’ signalling failures.

Problems with links will be reported on the TT but the source of such interference may be difficult to locate, leading to considerable frustration and potential for ongoing train delays.

Park Signalling SLAs fitted to Bearley SSI.

The local scene Indeed, such a scenario caused 11,421 minutes of train delays between 17 November and 13 December 2014 at the West Midlands Signalling Centre (WMSC) located at Saltley, on the Birmingham Snow Hill to Stratfordupon-Avon corridor. The sixteen miles affected comprise the double track section between Tyseley and Bearley Junction (signal prefix TB), and one mile of the Bearley Junction to Hatton single line. It was resignalled in 2011 with an Invensys (now Siemens Rail Automation) Westcad workstation (North Warwick) and Westinghouse MkIIIA SSI interlocking (Bearley), using conventional SSI Data Links.

Typically the train service pattern on this busy commuter route consists of three trains per hour in each direction - an all-stations service linking Stratford-upon-Avon and Stourbridge Junction, and two trains between Whitlock’s End and alternately Kidderminster or Worcester. A new park-and-ride facility has been provided at Whitlock’s End and the two trains an hour have been extended to turnback at this point since resignalling, rather than at Shirley as hitherto.

Bearley Junction itself and the single line towards Hatton also see an hourly train running between Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham via Solihull, plus a handful of trains a day between the birthplace of Shakespeare and Marylebone or Leamington. Clearly any disruption in this area is likely to have a widespread knock-on effect to London Midland services through Snow Hill and also affect Chiltern Railways.

Data Link configuration Trackside Data Links (TDLs) are used locally, carrying communications between the interlocking at WMSC and Track Function Modules (TFMs) which control points and signals on site. The TDL is duplicated for availability (designated as links ‘A’ and ‘B’) and data is encoded for safety. Each link of the TDL is a serial baseband link transmitting data at 20 kb/s in half duplex.

The physical medium is a dedicated two-core twisted-pair cable which is terminated at either extremity with a 100 ohm resistor. Data Link Modules (DLMs) are used at intervals as required to connect TFMs to each link. The maximum length of an individual link section is 10km but there are four locations where DLMs are connected back-to-back as repeaters, to extend the length of the TDL up to 40km.

As the central interlocking at WMSC is more than 40km from its associated TFMs, a long line link utilising the Fixed Telecommunications Network (FTN) connects the interlocking with the local TDLs.

The trouble starts On Sunday the 17 November 2014 the datalinks failed momentarily, causing a change-of aspect, without apparent reason. The TT showed various random failures and ‘buffer overflow’.

Within a few seconds the faults self-rectified but the incident was investigated and, without knowing the cause of failure, the WMSC

DAVID BICKELL

Root cause - signal head damaged multicore cable. response team changed LDTs and filters on the data-links as a precaution.

Coincidentally, the data link failures followed a major power failure caused by contractors working on an upgrade scheme within the WMSC which affected a number of interlockings.

This resulted in a quantity of equipment being damaged and having to be replaced. Alas, this was one of many red herrings encountered on the trail to find the fault.

To analyse and record data messages, two SSI Link Analysers (SLAs), a test product from Park Signalling of Manchester, were installed on Monday 18 November to monitor Bearley ‘A’ and ‘B’ links. The SLA is a PC-based test tool providing a means to observe and record all messages being transferred on an SSI TDL in real-time. Additionally, the SLA detects line glitches and corrupt or absent telegrams.

The SLA detects Manchester coding (or phase encoding) errors, parity errors, missing telegrams and glitches.

The loss of telegrams and sometimes of the data links was observed to re-occur momentarily at random intervals, with gaps sometimes of up to a week with no symptoms.

As a result of the intermittent blips causing changes of signal aspect, it was deemed that the signalling could not be relied upon. Accordingly, the route was operated for several days in degraded mode with Temporary Block Working (TBW) limiting the route to one train per hour, necessitating hundreds of trains being cancelled and delays of up to 35 minutes per train.

Unfortunately, the TBW coincided with a high demand for train services in the run-up to Christmas and with events such as the German Christmas Market in Birmingham and Shakespeare events at the southern terminus of the line.

Rail Engineer • March 2015

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42

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Park Signalling SSI Link Analyser.

Call in the specialists Maintenance Delivery Unit Technical Support teams from Saltley, Sandwell, Stafford and Bletchley and the LNW(S) Route Asset Management team were called in to assist with an exhaustive testing and investigation programme. Atkins Technical Investigation Centre at Crewe has long been associated with difficult signalling failures and is well acquainted with issues surrounding SSI data links. It independently verified the testing and undertook a review of all data collected. This included data from the SLAs, the TT, site checks, cable test results and the testing matrix plan. They overlaid the data and scope meter readings onto train movements and positions. After two weeks of incredibly detailed analysis work the results were inconclusive.

A significant number of location cases were discovered to contain severe rodent damaged wires, some damaged lightning protection Furse units, earthy SPUs, and also a damaged datalink cable, but none could be associated with the current data link problem. Testing continued with complete wiring checks, location case partial strip-downs, complete replacement of TFMs, DLMs, Furse units, SPUs, internal wiring, octal bases, earth wiring, and terminations. Testing the data-links with the scopemeter showed some interference. This was replicated in a laboratory environment but was proven to be mobile communications text messages.

Typical location case rodent damage.

Trying everything

The final analysis

After three weeks the investigation was no further forward. No stone was left unturned, every piece of intelligence, no matter how bizarre or trivial, was looked into - and there were many.

A tree situated near to a signalling equipment location case was cut down because it was touching 11kV electricity transmission lines.

Mobile telephone transmission mast outputs were scrutinised.

Reports of damaged cables under a level crossing were checked out and repaired.

The FTN network was fully checked and tested including swapping of G704 transmission cards.

Intelligence was received from the Police that they had arrested two people at HenleyIn-Arden station for using a high powered and illegal mobile jamming device to steal money from an ATM machine at the time of one of the incidents.

The data links continued to fail momentarily and self-rectify. Ongoing data link analysis by Atkins was now pointing the finger of suspicion to the southern section of the data-link. Some failures would start at around 11:06 on a weekend, when trains were in the Danzey to Wood End area. Investigation also showed that a Class 172 DMU, 172.334, was traversing the section when failures occurred. The train diagrams were checked and it was watched through the section, but once again it appeared to be a coincidence. However, a special exercise was arranged to monitor the data-links, the SLA and the workstation for 11:06 on Saturday the 19 of December. At 11:07 trains passed and the failure did not reoccur. The investigation work may have inadvertently repaired or disturbed the cause. It hadn’t failed for six days.

Then suddenly, at 12:44 on that Saturday with the passage of a train in the Danzey area, a critical alarm on the TT showed that TB3482, a three-aspect Dorman LED signal, had gone from green to ‘black’ instead of red. The fault team was immediately dispatched to TB3482 to investigate.

Upon arrival the team found a blown fuse which ruptured on replacement. Then came the discovery at the signal LED head that rodents had chewed through the tail cable exposing bare wires near the top of the signal post. The tail cable connects the TFM in the lineside equipment location case via the signal post to the signal head LED module.

As the team leader gently touched the signal cable, the SSI data-links went into the intermittent failure pattern seen over the last few weeks. At last, the root cause of the problem had been established. But why had the faulty signal tail cable been reported back to the TT at WMSC as data link errors rather than a TFM output interface fault?

Individual cable cores were making intermittent contact with the galvanised and coated signal post. This acted as a resistive path to earth, thereby causing arcing which in turn was creating an interference wave-form similar to that of the ‘command’ and ‘reply’ data link telegrams.

This interference was finding its way onto the data-links by induction between the tail cable and data link cables where they shared the trunking without separation, the wave-form also being superimposed on the power supply network. The waveform would then transmit, and be repeated, along the data-links, confusing DLM’s into opening the data gate to accept non-existent telegrams, leading to errors being overloaded onto the data-links.

Interference on data links shown on Scopemeter.

Eureka!

If an SSI TFM detects a failure in an output circuit, it removes power from all the outputs of the module and puts out ‘red retaining’ feeds to maintain the most restrictive aspect/s.

A ‘module output interface fault’ would be reported on the TT. However the TFM feeding TB3482 didn’t disable the output interface, or report a fault, because the short duration partial earthing was below the threshold required to disable the output interface.

With cabling restored and a liberal spraying of ‘Rodent Defense’, normal working was resumed.

Provision of robust and permanent rodent proofing is currently under consideration. Also, it would seem that the susceptibility of the data link cabling to external interference is an issue to be considered.

Thanks to Dek Owen, signalling & telecommunications maintenance engineer, Birmingham Delivery Unit (Banbury & Saltley), and Dan Donovan, media relations manager (both Network Rail), for their help in the preparation of this article.

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44

Rail Engineer • March 2015

ERTMS

A new player emerges

CLIVE KESSELL ERTMS screen in front of the driver in the new IEP cab.

T

here is no shortage of articles on ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) and its component parts of ETCS (European Train Control System) and GSM-R, the radio transmission medium. The ongoing work of system design, software verification, resolution of problems, fitment challenges and operational performance all need to be recorded and made available to infrastructure providers and train service operators for the greater good of all.

With the supply base within Europe having been consolidating for some years, it is unusual and refreshing to record a new manufacturer entering this market. This is Hitachi which has emerged as a potential significant contributor to the ongoing business.

Hitachi and its history The company is well known as a Japanese supplier of industrial and commercial electronics and, more latterly, as a builder of traction and rolling stock. In the UK it has built the high-speed Javelin trains for the domestic services on HS1 and has won the contract to supply the new Intercity Express Programme (IEP) rolling stock for the Great Western and East Coast main line high speed services.

It may surprise some to learn that the company has been developing an ETCS-type product for the past eight years. Predominantly this has been for the Chinese market, the system being known as CTCS 3 (Chinese Train Control System). It is equivalent to ETCS Level 2 but without some of the sub-set requirements.

The product combines both infrastructure (including the all-important Radio Block Centre RBC) and on-board equipment.

To date some three RBCs and 40 on-board systems are in use. Hitachi’s equipment is

interoperable with that from other ERTMS suppliers which have also entered the Chinese market, both Ansaldo and Bombardier competing against the CTCS specification.

One might ask, “Well, what about Japan?”

The Japanese railways do not use ETCS, having recently developed their own digital ATP (Automatic Train Protection) system for highspeed lines. They also have a system known as ATACS, which is broadly equivalent to the elusive ETCS Level 3, and does not require traditional train detection equipment such as axle counters or track circuits.

At present only one route of 30km and 16 trains is in operation, this being commissioned in 2011. JNR and Hitachi jointly own the design, but it is not until 2017 that the next line will be equipped. Europe may well look at this system as an incentive to regenerate interest in Level 3 since little progress has been made over the past 20 years that the concept has been around.

The proving of freight train integrity (train completeness) has been a stumbling block but in Japan only passenger trains will operate on the initial routes, thus not overcoming this difficulty.

Hitachi is therefore far from being a new boy in the train control and communications business and believes that it can bring a useful contribution for the benefit of all.

Entry into the UK As many suppliers know, entering the UK rail business is not easy. Prospective organisations have to demonstrate technical capability, quality of product, financial stability, safety compliance and that the offering is fit for purpose. Often this involves demonstrating the system on a test track or designated section of railway.

To date, the Cambrian line is the only commissioned ERTMS system in the UK so it was logical for Hitachi to use this route for product evaluation. Concentrating firstly on the on-board side, a Class 97 locomotive has been fitted with Hitachi equipment including the EVC (European Vital Computer), odometry, balise readers and GSM-R radio communication.

The work was carried out by RVEL at Derby before the loco was moved to Machynlleth for the trials. Network Rail insisted upon testing being done at night so as to minimise the risk of new equipment detrimentally affecting day-to-day operation. The ‘start of mission’ and ‘establishing a session’ were successful and a number of test runs have been made that proved the integrity of the onboard system as well as testing interoperable compatibility with another supplier’s ETCS infrastructure.

The next step has been to move the locomotive to the ENIF (ETCS National Integration Facility) on the Hertford loop where four suppliers are testing their infrastructure designs for interoperability (issue 117, July 2014). The first phase of testing only employed one type of on-board equipment, supplied by Signalling Solutions Limited, on the Class 313

Rail Engineer • March 2015 test train. Thus, having the opportunity to see how another manufacturer’s train equipment will perform is welcomed by all. Comparisons can also be made on the size and construction of the on-board configuration. These collaborative industry tests are ongoing.

Expanding usage and the IEP factor Hitachi has its longer-term sights on bringing its complete portfolio of products into the European arena but, for the moment, the emphasis will be on the on-board equipment.

Getting one locomotive fitted is an important starting position but expanding this to other traction units is essential.

The UK opportunities in the short term are limited but recently a contract has been won to equip two Class 37 diesel engines owned by West Coast Railways based in Carnforth. The raison d’etre is the intention to run dining car trains on the Cambrian line for which an ERTMSfitted locomotive is required. Since the Class 37 is essentially similar to the Class 97, much of the design work will have already been done.

The actual work will be carried out at Barrow Hill locomotive heritage centre, where a useful expertise is being built up in equipping of trains with electronic equipment.

The provision of the new IEP trains for Great Western and East Coast is a major contract for Hitachi and will have many spin-off implications.

One obvious one is the provision of on-board ETCS equipment for the fleet and Hitachi will supply this via the Agility Trains facilities contract. The first of these trains is about to arrive in Britain and, as part of the testing programme, it will run on the Old Dalby test track. By 2016, this line will also be equipped with ERTMS Level 2 infrastructure, thus enabling testing of the complete ETCS package.

Much more main line testing will be required before the trains enter service and this issue of Rail Engineer describes some of the logistical challenges when rolling out ERTMS.

Mobile equipment packaging One adverse criticism from the Cambrian line equipping of Class 158 diesel units was the considerable space requirement needed for the ETCS equipment. Providing 19” racks on a train where space is limited was something of a challenge, with the result that passenger and luggage space had to be reduced.

The Hitachi package does require the same overall cubic area but the various modules are capable of being split up and distributed along the train wherever space is available. Thus some components may be under seats, others in overhead racks, as well as the driver machine interface (DMI) in the cab.

For a locomotive, only a single ETCS equipment cabinet is required, the two cab units being wired into that.

Equipment configurations are able to be adapted to the particular rolling stock constraints and this is important for the forthcoming retrofit programmes. These cover the National Joint ROSCO Programme (NJRP) for passenger trains, the freight fleet, the engineering ‘yellow fleet’ trains and also charter and heritage trains that are allowed to operate on the national network.

The GSM-R data radio is part of the ETCS provision and will need to be procured for any retro-fitting of rolling stock in the UK. These will work alongside the existing GSM-R voice radios.

Data radios will be obtained from one of the usual train radio suppliers. It is anticipated that GPRS (packet switching) will be in use by the time Hitachi-fitted trains are in fleet service.

Operational demonstration and training At Hitachi’s London office, a full demonstration facility is available. Driving a train under ERTMS conditions is surprisingly easy and follows the now-familiar presentation of a speedometer with the maximum speed displayed as a coloured band around the outside edge and the movement authority shown on the screen ‘planning’ area.

Richard Tomlin, business development manager, with the Hitachi simulator.

45

Hitachi ERTMS set-up screen.

The simulator retains lineside signals, primarily to demonstrate a typical ETCS overlay environment.

Encountering a double-yellow aspect will therefore prepare the driver to slow down as the speed ‘band’ reduces on the ETCS DMI. The trains will be capable of working in Level NTC (National Train Control) with existing AWS/TPWS (Automatic Warning System/Train Protection & Warning System) installations. It is likely that the cab console design will incorporate a screen for a driver advisory system as trains will not necessarily be driven at the maximum permissible speed if pathing conflicts ahead are to be avoided.

Obtaining system approval Achieving all the necessary safety and performance verifications can be a slow and complex process but Hitachi is making good progress in this respect. To date, the Network Rail System Review Panel has given approval for testing of Hitachi ETCS equipment under controlled conditions and this opens the way for the retro-fitting of equipment to passenger stock, which will be managed by the ROSCOs (Rolling Stock Companies).

On the freight side, Hitachi is pre-qualified, along with five other manufacturers, for the 1012 freight locomotive retrofit tenders covering 20 different classes. The contracts will be let via Network Rail with the work being carried out at approved contractor premises.

Still to be agreed are i) how the National Supply Chain ‘yellow plant’ on-track machines will be equipped, there being many different types and ii) how to equip the charter and heritage trains for which the scope has yet to be published.

Internationally, discussions are ongoing for Hitachi to join the international UNIFE and UNISIG consortia as a European supplier. The main design resource remains in Japan for the present but application design teams will be created in countries where contracts are won. The UK team is currently expanding because of this.

As the international roll-out of ERTMS builds momentum, so the supply base will both consolidate and expand. Hitachi, as a new signalling player, is now delivering and inputting its technical expertise and knowledge back into the industry. This is all part of the process and is to be welcomed for the efficiencies and new thinking that can be brought.

46

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Supplying the next generation

of signal engineers

A

s we steadily approach the conclusion of the first year of Control Period 5 (April 2014-March 2019), the forecasted peak in engineering shortages – predicted to hit the hardest around 2016/17 - is creeping ever closer and is likely to affect the whole rail industry.

NSARE (the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering) released its report ‘Forecasting the Skills Challenge’ in early 2013. This predicted that, in order to overcome the subsequent difficulties, around 10,000 people would be required for industry training between 2014 and 2018 – predominantly in the signalling sector.

Linbrooke steps forward This set a challenge for the industry as a whole and various initiatives were adopted. One of the first organisations to respond was Linbrooke Services of Sheffield and the result is its newlyopened, state-of-the-art, National Training Academy (NTA).

With an aging workforce and the demand for signalling testers being at an all-time high, the National Training Academy is primarily geared up for providing training for signalling works testing. The new site’s authentic platform and tracks incorporate various styles of signals, point operating equipment and train detection and protection equipment. These provide a realistic and accessible set-up for safe and practical training from basic appreciation right through to high-level modular testing competence. In order to enhance the learning experience, the signalling facility also incorporates associated power and communications equipment.

A combination of legacy and traditional equipment, as well as the flashing aspects associated with high-speed turnouts, gives

Linbrooke’s new academy the ability to offer more than just theoretical and on-par practical training.

Operating under the ntrs banner, a wide variety of ‘off the shelf’ and bespoke courses are on offer.

Indications are that the academy will see a steady influx of fresh apprentices and trainees as well as industry organisations looking to upskill their workforces.

Over the next three to five years, Linbrooke and ntrs intend to register 100 apprentices from the local community alone – with others travelling from further afield to take advantage of the new centre’s expertise.

Experience and expertise The training team has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in signalling systems so is able to offer a basic understanding across the complete signalling spectrum. This ensures that graduates can recognise and properly operate all pertinent systems nationwide. Under one of the industry’s acknowledged experts, Mike Smith, Linbrooke can now offer both traditional and exclusive courses.

These include Signalling Works Testing courses from Mod 5 (Test Assistant) through to Mod 3BL/4 (Functional Tester) as well as the exclusive testing management training course Mod 1 (Tester in Charge) and training in SWT G110.

Further enhancements to the facilities are already in the pipeline. The centre will soon have an integrated interlocking to further train principles testers.

With the majority of other training facilities concentrating their efforts on specific subdivisions of signalling, Linbrooke’s National Training Academy is unusual in its widespread offering of signalling knowledge and experience, as well as telecommunications and power, so providing high-calibre training across the board. While opening the new academy, Pete Waterman - music entrepreneur, railway enthusiast and Patron of NSARE - pleaded for ‘more centres like this please’.

The Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick Mcloughlin, also endorsed the new National Training Academy as an asset to the signalling sector, the industry and the nation.

“In order to build a world-class railway you need a world-class workforce,” he said. “With an engineering industry that is recognised around the globe, South Yorkshire is the perfect home for the trackside National Training Academy.

“As part of our long-term economic plan, we’re investing record amounts in the UK’s railways by generating jobs and training opportunities.

This new academy will ensure the local people in Chapeltown see the benefits of this investment, as well as developing a lasting legacy for the future. I sincerely congratulate Lee Hallam and everyone involved in bringing this project to fruition.”

Renowned for delivering mission critical network infrastructure solutions, Linbrooke & ntrs develop collaborative working partnerships with all our clients - providing exceptional time and cost savings on multifunctional projects.

Telecommunications • Power • Signalling • Civils • Training • Resources Design • Installation • Test • Commission

For more information on our telecoms, power and signalling capabilities, please call 0844 800 0983 or email info@linbrooke.co.uk. www.linbrooke.co.uk

Offering unique, 21st century technical training and resource solutions through our state of the art National Training Academy.

- City & Guilds courses - EAL courses - MOD approved - REC approved - Bespoke training - Contingent labour To gain specialist skills and source the finest people, please call 0844 809 9902 or email info@ntrs.co.uk. www.ntrs.co.uk

48

Rail Engineer • March 2015

WILLIAM WILSON

A system of systems for operation and control

E

ssentially, passengers’ requirements have remained largely unchanged since the days of the earliest railways; quite simply, they want to travel safely and comfortably and to arrive at their destination on time.

In comparison, the railway itself has changed dramatically, with complex systems now operating to set routes automatically, regulate the movement of trains and control a wide range of sub-systems covering everything from power supply to station air conditioning.

In effect, multiple systems have to work together to deliver the smooth journey that passengers demand.

However, in the majority of applications, many are not yet connected and so are unable to exchange valuable information. The industry’s challenge is to make this happen more often and more efficiently, so that the cost and

efficiency of railway operations can be optimised with consequent operational and performance benefits to the operating company and the passenger.

RailCom Manager

Train control systems

On the London Underground Victoria line, for example, Siemens’ train supervision system predicts the position of trains for the following twenty minutes several times a second. This system feeds the algorithms that are at the heart of the automatic train regulation system, modifying train departure times and driving profiles accordingly. This information is then used by the on-board system to drive the train automatically from station to station. It also feeds the passenger information displays, giving passengers the opportunity to modify their journey plans if necessary.

With passenger numbers continuing to rise, it becomes increasingly important to accurately predict demand and to manage the peaks effectively. If the current annual growth rates of six to eight

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50

Rail Engineer • March 2015

per cent continue, then the West Coast main line will be at full capacity by the early 2020s, making effective management of the network and optimisation of available capacity absolutely essential.

Technology clearly plays a major part in managing such conditions. Systems such as Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC), for metro networks, and the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) for mainline applications, enable trains to operate at higher frequencies than would otherwise be possible by allowing reduced headway. Both systems use radio to communicate with trackside equipment, with trains being updated almost in real-time with information about the speed at which they can travel and how far they can safely go. This technology enables 34 trains per hour to be timetabled on the Victoria line at peak times; and 24 trains per hour timetables will be possible through the Thameslink core area.

Whilst managing capacity is a constant challenge for railway operators, there is also pressure to manage more effectively the use of fossil fuel to power rolling stock - both in terms of the rising cost of fuel and its impact on the environment. To address this, the UK rail industry is investing £4 billion in a five-year national electrification programme. Siemens is playing a key role in the Rail Electrification Delivery Group (REDG), which is working closely with Network Rail to address and overcome the challenges of electrification. Initiatives such as new switchgear designs and new overhead line engineering are already being introduced to improve productivity.

Operations and enhancements

Integration is the key

Pressure also comes from the growing demand for a 24/7 railway, with a need to keep service disruption to an absolute minimum during renewal, repair and upgrade works. The Victoria line again provides a good example of this as the outgoing signalling system has been gradually migrated to the new one over a period of nine years with minimum disruption caused to the railway as old and new signalling systems operated with old and new rolling stock.

Clearly this approach requires detailed systems engineering, flexible equipment and highly skilled staff - not to mention meticulous planning.

The Victoria line upgrade programme proved, though, that manufacturing, designing, installing, testing and commissioning a new system can be successfully achieved, enabling a seamless transition for passengers travelling under the control of the old system one week and under the new system the next.

Very often, these operational and engineering challenges are accompanied by economic ones, with the railway having to make enough money to cover the costs of operation and investment over a sustained time period. Integral to achieving this are factors such as the optimisation of energy use and human and infrastructure resources.

At the Richmond Airport line in Vancouver and MTR’s Kowloon Canton Railway in Hong Kong, Siemens systems were installed to integrate the operation of CCTV, lifts, escalators, ventilation, power distribution and traction control systems in a small number of multi-headed workstations, with operational costs being reduced through a more efficient use of human resources.

The design of trains and stations is also vitally important, with the latest trains maximising space and passenger movement along their length. Many trains now integrate complex ethernet-based networks of CCTV, passenger alarm, traction and braking systems, air conditioning and ventilation control and there are clearly benefits in also moving towards full integration of systems such as traction, automatic train protection and automatic train operation.

As systems become increasingly advanced, and more trains move towards Grade of Automation 4 (that is, with no employees on board, such as Line 1 of Paris Metro and Singapore’s Downtown line), so the quality of communications with passengers becomes increasingly safety-critical, requiring close integration with CCTV systems.

The move towards ever-closer integration of systems will continue as the industry continues to explore new ways to design trains and control systems that work effectively together as a whole. In doing so, it is helping to deliver reliable, safe, sustainable and integrated systems not only in normal, everyday operation, but also during the major upgrade projects needed to create a railway for the twenty first century.

William Wilson is sales and commercial director at Siemens Rail Automation.

RETB 52

Rail Engineer • March 2015

A future in Scotland

CLIVE KESSELL

T

he control of the remote lines in the far north and west of Scotland has been entrusted to Radio Electronic Token Block (RETB) since the early 1980s. This system, developed out of necessity after a disastrous storm destroyed the then open wire pole routes, has become a way of life for those operating the train services to Thurso, Wick, Kyle of Lochalsh, Mallaig and Oban.

The system’s basic components consist of control centres for the Far North and West Highland lines, located respectively at Inverness and Banavie, each equipped with electronic solid state interlockings (SSIs), a data interface to the radio network, a chain of radio base stations and repeaters to cover the length of each line (the repeaters being used to change the system to the next operational radio channel), a rented landline link from the furthest base station back to the control location, radio equipment in each train cab and a driver’s Cab Display Unit upon which the issued token is displayed.

The radio link was compatible with the erstwhile BR National Radio Network (NRN) and thus trains could make use of that radio equipment. The basic operation of the system is for the signaller to issue the train with the relevant token for the next section of line (normally to the next passing loop), which is confirmed by voice communication between driver and signaller before the train is authorised to proceed. The issue of the token is controlled by the SSI and can only take place if the single line section is free.

Points into and out of the loops are trainoperated stored energy devices (effectively spring points) that allow 15mph operation and are able to be run through the ‘wrong’ way out of the loop. Suitable marker boards represent the limit of train movement. Trains approaching loops from opposite directions are allowed to enter the loop simultaneously to the relevant stop point.

Conceived as a low-cost solution for the signalling of rural lines, RETB was later expanded to the Cambrian routes from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli (now replaced by the ERTMS UK trial project) and the East Suffolk line from Ipswich to Lowestoft (superseded by a modular signalling scheme). Although the system had considerable potential, it was never developed sufficiently to be used on busier lines such as Ayr to Stranraer, Inverness to Aberdeen and many English and Welsh equivalents.

Designed to obviate the need for any lineside cabling, this presented a problem with the control of level crossings where the reliance on radio signals for strike-in commands and for public telephone usage proved to be difficult, and local cabling was soon found to be necessary.

Another restriction on capacity has been the train-operated points where the 15mph speed limit means a cautious approach to and from loops. Nonetheless, the system remains ideal for those lines in the remoter parts of Scotland.

Upgrading the system By the early part of this century, it was becoming apparent that the radio equipment was ageing, the radio coverage needed enhancing and general life extension work to replace power feeds, aerials and control racks was needed.

Many of the original suppliers had either gone out of business or no longer manufactured suitable products. Network Rail engineers from the S&T group in Glasgow produced a

project plan to bring the system back up to specification. This included the design and manufacture of new base station and repeater equipment to replicate the original Storno kit (entrusted to Comms Design Ltd (CDL) from Harrogate in Yorkshire), the provision of additional base station sites including a ‘cell enhancer’ to better cover the immediate Inverness station area, and the replacement of much of the radio element of control equipment at Banavie and Inverness including the audio console. The train-borne equipment remained unchanged as did the SSI interlockings. An article on this upgrade appeared in issue 66 (April 2010) of Rail Engineer.

It was however recognised at the time that further changes would be needed to accommodate European standardisation of European digital TV broadcast bands.

Radio frequency change The NRN, introduced by BR in the 1980s, was assigned radio frequencies in the 196-206MHz range known as Band III. This part of the radio spectrum is in the process of being re-allocated to digital TV services and this has meant the gradual switch off of the NRN from south to north. Having served the railway well for nearly 30 years, the system was suffering from reliability problems due to ageing equipment and is being replaced by GSM-R. Since RETB also used NRN frequencies, eventually it would mean changing these Scottish systems to another radio band.

Rail Engineer • March 2015 Following negotiations with OFCOM (the communications agency responsible for radio spectrum management within the UK), Network Rail was allocated a total of 20 radio channels within a 2.4MHz section of Band III sub band 1 (180.4 - 182MHz base transmit paired with 188.4 - 190.8MHz mobile transmit) to support RETB operation. The new frequency band is adjacent to the Band III frequencies that have been used for NRN operation and thus the radio propagation characteristics will be broadly similar.

Such a change has, however, meant the re-engineering of all the radio elements within the system and a £20 million contract to engineer and project manage the radio system upgrade has been awarded to Telent Technology Services Ltd.

Scope of work Telent has had considerable past experience of project management and system engineering of railway radio

systems and recognises the importance of accurate coverage measurements before doing the detailed planning of base station sites.

The company’s expertise stems from the interim GSM-R system provided on the WCML in 2003 before the national rollout programme commenced. Part of this contract involved the use by engineers of portable backpack equipment which, when riding on scheduled passenger trains, was able to measure radio signals from selected base station sites along the route. This led to decisions as to how many existing NRN and Cab Secure aerial towers could be used and how many new sites would be needed.

The importance of getting an accurate survey cannot be over-emphasised and Telent, in addition to using portable test equipment, has developed additional surveying techniques using satellite communication from engineers travelling in radio-equipped vehicles suitable for the wild expanses in this part

of Scotland. The new survey has confirmed, not unexpectedly, that most of the original RETB sites, as well as those additional ones provided during the 2010 upgrade, can be re-used.

Four additional sites, which require new towers and associated equipment cabins, are being provided at Connel near Oban and Mallaig on the West Highland line and at Kyle of Lochalsh and Balnacra on the Kyle line. These will guarantee the coverage requirements of the new radio design as well as ensuring robust signal strength at the journey log-on locations. Ruggedised antennae

53

are being installed at exposed sites to ensure the wild weather conditions that often occur will not impact on RETB performance.

Telent has placed a contract with Network Rail’s nominated sub-contractor CDL to supply new equipment for the 48 base station and radio repeater sites. This time, however, it is necessary to replace the train-borne radios as well and, as the equipment is essentially similar, CDL will be supplying 220 new train radios. These will be fitted to the fleet of Class 156 and 158 DMUs based in Glasgow and Inverness respectively, to various locomotives including Classes 20, 37, 47, 57, 66 and 67 needed for

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54

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Implementation programme

freight and engineering trains plus the sleeper service to Fort William, and to a selection of ontrack machines and plant.

Provision also has to be made for fitting steam locomotives that power seasonal tourist trains.

Manufacturing the bracketry and adapting this for the various cab designs is sub contracted to Multipulse of Woking which already has experience of this kind of work for the fleet fitting of GSM-R radios nationally.

Since the trains will operate on lines other than RETB lines, GSM-R equipment will also be needed, thus necessitating two radios in the cab - with the limited space on some trains, this will be a logistical challenge. Train fitment involves close liaison and co-operation with the relevant TOCs, FOCs and ROSCOs so that all necessary work can be undertaken at the depots with the minimum time for a train to be out of service.

Another variation from the original RETB design has been the introduction of TPWS (Train Protection & Warning System) to provide emergency braking should a train fail to stop at the end of a token section. This involved the TPWS locations being fitted with radio receivers that ‘read’ the token exchanges on the system and transmit ‘stop’ commands by radio in the event of a train being detected without an appropriate token.

To avoid having to replace all the TPWS detector equipment, a frequency convertor unit will be installed at each TPWS site that reads the token exchanges on the new radio channels and converts these into the legacy Band III channels before sending to the TPWS receivers by landline.

The Telent contract also includes the provision of new audio consoles for the signallers at Banavie and Inverness. Uninterrupted Power Supplies (UPS) to give 72-hour continuity of operation will be installed at all control and radio sites.

fitment of new radios. The transition has meant The contract was awarded in July 2013, with dual-band antennae having to be installed at most design and survey tasks being completed the main transmitter and repeater sites. Site

by December 2013 and the installation design installation and trials are taking place between beginning in January 2014. Site works on the January and April 2015 to prove the new West Highland line are now complete and features and to ensure the system is fit for have commenced on the Far North lines with purpose. completion scheduled for June 2015. As well as The distances covered by these remote the radio upgrade, the Inverness centre for the lines are considerable and this presents its Wick and Kyle lines will be increased to two SSI own logistical and engineering challenges. interlockings, thus facilitating control by two However, with the work now well underway, signallers. optimised techniques have been developed to To prove the new system configuration and ensure effective communication between the operation, a trial will be conducted throughout engineering teams undertaking the installation the entire West Highland line. Included in this and testing work. To date, all is going well and will be auto-tuning of the train-borne radio to completion by the required date of December eliminate the need for the driver to manually 2015 should be achieved. change channels. This facility will require the RETB has thus stood the test of time and the driver to register the radio at journey start with investment being made is seen as the most the appropriate signaller to ensure the radio cost-effective way of keeping these lines open. does not auto-tune to the wrong signaller’s For the moment, it is an isolated and pragmatic position. The trial will formally allow the initiative unlikely to have implications for other product approval process and the provision of routes. The restriction of needing a captive a safety case. Grandfather rights are granted train fleet is one downside but the operating for the functionality of the system and thus no authorities in Scotland have faith in the system. change in operating rules is envisaged.

Whether in the longer term a low cost As with all upgrades of an operational ‘regionalised’ version of ERTMS will become system, a migration strategy has had to be available is anyone’s guess. devised to ensure that train service operation is not affected by the changes. For a period There are three RETB systems in Scotland, of time, the new radio network will parallel covering about 700 route kilometres, with 68 the existing, so that both legacy and new radios at 46 radio sites. train-borne radios can be used during the transition period. This allows for the considerable time needed to complete the train THURSO WICK

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

Signalling Small Supply in 2015 is Beautiful?

I

n the days of British Rail, there was always dependence on the private sector to design, supply and install systems and equipment needed for the introduction of new technology as part of various modernisation initiatives.

This was as true for the signalling discipline as for any of the other engineering functions within the rail industry. Names like Westinghouse, SGE and General Signal were part of the signalling partnership, with their staff and resources working hand in hand with BR in-house designers to deliver the new signalling systems.

Many of these firms engaged with smaller contractors for the supply of subcomponents and piece parts, thus creating a hierarchy in the supply chain.

The coming of privatisation changed this natural order and many new SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) have entered the signalling fraternity. Why has this happened?

Firstly, the in-house Network Rail new-works signalling resource has been drastically reduced from that of BR and is now predominantly engaged in specifying and accepting signalling systems.

Secondly, the big signalling organisations have become global companies selling products that satisfy the international market with decreasing interest in supplying bespoke equipment for a limited local requirement.

Thirdly, many of the signal engineers made redundant by the downsizing of engineering and management numbers have either been recruited into or indeed created small companies that fill the niche elements in the signalling supply business. These SMEs have mushroomed in recent years. TICS is one of them, which Rail Engineer visited recently to learn how this part of the supply chain operates.

A typical REB installation.

TICS history The TICS (Testing Installation Correlation Services) brand was created in 1998 by Les May, a long time BR signal engineer and tester who found himself in an ever-changing market of consolidation with his employer seemingly changing names every 12 months.

Starting as a ‘one man band’, he foresaw that the industry was going to urgently need skilled testing staff as signalling schemes were authorised and implemented through new and different procurement channels. Recruiting some erstwhile colleagues in a similar situation, a plea for help with the works testing of the new signalling centre at Guildford was his initial assignment.

This quickly led to other things and a small team of staff soon developed. A relationship was formed with Lionverge (a similar sized company specialising in installation) and Tarmac Construction (Centrac) which was winning significant contracts for switch and crossing renewal. This enabled the testing expertise and size of TICS to expand.

The TPWS (Train Protection & Warning System) implementation programme of the early 2000s was running behind schedule because of a shortage of works testing resources, so Jarvis engaged TICS for testing work in the LNE area.

The demands of this contract were considerable and thus further recruitment and growth was the natural result.

It became clear that it was not just works testing where skilled staff were needed, signalling design being another area of shortage. Thus TICS

CLIVE KESSELL

established a signalling design office, headed up by Steve Armitage as director of signalling design, to undertake discrete packages and thus complement the existing testing activity.

Now, 17 years on, TICS (Global) Ltd has grown to some 70 permanent staff. 43 are engaged in works testing and 16 in design. In addition, there is a small group of four installation supervisors and team leaders with the remaining staff providing support in sales, commercial, finance, HR, IT, project management and administration.

The head office is in Robin Hood Airport Business Park near Doncaster, with a joint design and testing office in York and a further outpost in Peterborough. An installation depot has recently opened at Escrick (between Selby and York) where offsite construction and testing of trackside location cases and relocatable equipment rooms (REBs) can be undertaken in a safer environment. The company currently has a turnover of around £8 million, which is achieved with minimum flow through.

Work and contract relationships To be a successful SME in the current rail structure, a company needs to put in place mutually-beneficial relationships. Accredited Link-up approval was in place for TICS in 2003.

TICS (Global) holds the same accreditation today, this being essential to maintain the company’s competence and systems of operation.

Becoming established with the bigger players in signalling is necessary and, with the framework contract for new signalling projects

Rail Engineer • March 2015 being awarded to the big three companies - Siemens, SSL and Atkins, knowing what their strengths and weaknesses are is part of the process. Both design and testing work has peaks and troughs so it is convenient for large companies to use trusted providers as a means of managing the workflow. TICS has such relationships in place and these work very well.

The big civils contractors take on major projects which include signalling alterations and additions as part of the package. There is generally no in-house expertise for this element and thus TICS and others are engaged to carry out the necessary signalling work. Companies such as BAM, Buckingham, Murphy, AMCO, Morgan Sindall VolkerFitzpatrick and Spencer Rail have all employed TICS to undertake signalling design, install and test work on their behalf.

Work partnerships with other businesses established in the post-privatisation era are a natural consequence and TICS has a number of these in place in which different skill sets complement each other. AmeySersa, Colas (the two current S&C framework providers), Babcock Rail, Linbrooke and Kier are companies where the works testing resource needed to verify the installation work is not always available in house.

Co-ordinating the works testing activities and resource pool can be a challenge and Steve Brookes, director of testing, works closely with Symon Hall, the programme engineering manager (T&C) at Network Rail, who facilitates a working group that requires all the participating companies to meet bi-monthly and look at the ongoing testing demand during the CP5 and CP6 periods. This is very productive and allows the bigger

picture to be understood by all, so enabling companies to plan and co-ordinate collaboratively in order to optimise output of an industry critical resource.

57

An apprentice at work.

Projects to date TICS has built up its expertise and reputation by successfully delivering its contractual commitments with signalling project delivery being headed up by Pete Coleman, the company’s director of operations. Its first forays into testing included the remote relay room at Brightside for the Sheffield re-signalling project and the signalling associated with the new carriage sidings at Bedford Cauldwell.

Signalling the start of your new career TICS are a turnkey signalling provider offering a combined signalling management, design, installation and testing service.

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At TICS we invest in our people, providing a full career development plan for each member of the team. Our structure and progression system recognises talent and rewards it. We aim to attract the right people and retain those that we employ.

Please call 01302 623071 or visit www.tics-ltd.co.uk/careers for further information. To be considered for any vacancy, please send a CV to jobs@tics-ltd.co.uk stating which post you are applying for.

58

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Ilford Depot.

Many more projects have been undertaken since those early days, some with total design, install and test responsibility. These latter include the Doncaster North Chord, Ilford Depot expansion and associated signalling and the Killingholme turnback facility.

‘Bread and butter’ work remains signalling works design and testing projects and these recently include Selby swing bridge, Tyne Dock, Winsford, North Yorkshire, Cambridge CD/RA, Bromsgrove, Low Moor, Brierfield and Huncoat.

A significant contract won directly from Network Rail is to test and commission the upgrade of 10 AOCL+B (automatic open crossings, locally monitored, with barriers) level crossings.

The 10-year national programme for switch and crossing renewals always involves signalling changes and, as part of this, TICS has a relationship with both Colas and Amey-Sersa for the associated signalling design and works testing. Currently, TICS has testing resources deployed on the Balcombe resignalling project in the Brighton area as part of Three Bridges ROC introduction and at Hereford where a major signalling scheme is underway.

In addition, and outside the Network Rail arena, TICS is working with Associated British Ports (ABP) and Graham Construction at Killingholme - carrying out signalling design, install, test and commissioning activities on the remodelling of the sidings as the port expands its operations.

Nor is TICS (Global) work confined to the UK. A contract in NW Australia in connection with the double tracking of a freight railway near to Port Hedland led to 17 staff being deployed there for testing responsibilities. Some apparently enjoyed it so much they decided to stay, but this is all part of the competitive pressures for recruiting experienced signal engineers worldwide. Other testing work overseas has included the Oporto (Portugal) and Athens Metros.

Future prospects Like many others, TICS has grown from a small to medium size company and this brings new and more demanding responsibilities such as ensuring all staff have the correct technical credentials. For design, installation and testing engineers, the qualification needed is an IRSE licence. All TICS engineers hold suitable

categories, and this not only has to be worked for in the first place but kept up to date through five and ten year reviews.

As companies grow, they should accept the need to recruit and train new staff, especially school leavers. TICS is proud that it has taken on eight apprentices who are busy learning the intricacies of the signalling profession as well as studying for a Level 3 Diploma in electrical/ electronic engineering and NVQ Level 2 in performing engineering operations. Doing ‘real’ work as part of this training all adds to both the satisfaction and usefulness of the trainees.

As with all organisations in the signalling business, the introduction of new technology is outstripping the supply of engineers and technicians to both design and maintain the ensuing systems. TICS is well aware that it has to learn the intricacies of ETCS, CBTC, new level crossing techniques, radio transmission and other emerging technologies. This will not be easy and it will mean investment in training, test equipment and worldwide familiarisation visits if the appropriate skill sets are to be obtained for the company to adapt.

So, is small beautiful? Certainly, a niche market has evolved for small signalling companies which can capitalise on the expertise of the ‘grey haired’ brigade who, for whatever reasons, left the mainstream rail industry in the postprivatisation era but who wish to continue using their hard gained knowledge for the benefit of the profession.

Most companies of this type have succeeded, perhaps beyond their wildest dreams, but the workforce is ageing and many employees will have to face retirement before too long. The more enlightened companies will recognise this and plan for recruiting new staff to cover the technician, engineer and management roles.

TICS can already boast having 25% of staff who did not previously work in the rail industry.

Career progression is recognised as important, resulting in a very low staff turnover. The company ticks all the relevant boxes and must be wished well with its endeavours.

Thanks to TICS chairman Les May and managing director Mark Cusack for facilitating the visit.

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Rail Safety Summit 2015

Safety Summit

LONDON 30/04/15 - 01/05/15

THURSDAY 30th APRIL 2015

FRIDAY 1st MAY 2015

08:00

Registration

08.00

Registration, Coffee, Exhibition

09:15

Warm Welcome to the Rail Safety Summit

09.00

Call to Conference

09:20

Mark Carne from Network Rail presents: Keynote

09.20

Keynote Speaker, Charles Horton, Chief Executive Officer, GTR

09:45

Steve Featherstone from Network Rail presents: Work Staging and Planning

09.40

The consequences of incidents happening (part 1)

10:10

Challenges facing HS2 with concept, design and delivery

10:30

Q&A

10:40

Coffee Break

11:10

Paul Crowther from British Transport Police presents: How do you lead and motivate a successful team?

11:35

Pino De Rosa from Bridgeway Consulting Limited presents: What key behaviours are required for successful leadership and motivation?

(11.10 – 11.35) The legal consequences? – David Leckie, Partner, Clyde & Co

12:00

Bill Henry from Bechtel Ltd presents: Joint Ventures - how to successfully manage and lead teams from different organisations?

(11.40 – 12.05) Workforce Safety – Mike McLean, Chairman, TES 2000

12:20

Q&A

12.10

12:35

Lunch Break

13.10

13:35

‘Actions On’: Safety demonstration by Linbrooke Training

Opening video

14:05

Simon French from Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) presents: Looking at the findings. What can we learn from incidents on the railway?

(13.10 – 13.40) Are we doing enough? – Paul Russell, Head of CIRAS

RAIL SAFETY SUMMIT 2015

CIRAS CONFERENCE

(09.40 – 10.05) Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash 1999 – A Survivors Perspective – Pam Warren (10.10 – 10.35) What happens after a life changing incident?

– Rev Liam Johnson 10.40

Coffee Break

11.10

The consequences of incidents happening (part 2)

Lunch Break The opportunity to prevent incidents happening (part 1)

Closing video (13.45 – 14.10) Workforce safety and opportunities within TfL – Jill Collis, Director of Health, Safety, Environment, TfL

14:30

Trevor Tophill from Permaquip Ltd presents: New equipment challenges

14:50

Q&A

15:00

Coffee Break

14.35

Coffee Break

15:20

Paul Clyndes from RMT presents: How the rate of change and development is affecting Health & Safety?

15.00

Opportunity to present/report on incidents in the railway (part 2)

15:45

Railway Management Maturity Model (RM3)

16:10

Sean Elson from Pinsent Masons LLP presents: Law and changes in Health & Safety

16:30

Q&A Session with speakers

16:40

The WING Award for Safety

(14.15 – 14.35) Intelligence gathering and its importance – Emma Head, Director Safety Strategy, Network Rail

(15.00 – 15.25) Contractor/Supplier perspective on reporting – Graham Piggott, Director, VGC Group (15.30 – 15.55) ‘Government’s approach to handling concerns’ – Paul Oliffe, Director Transport & Investigations, National Audit Office

Book your tickets now at www.railsafetysummit.com

60

Rail Engineer • March 2015

Lineside Phones Remarkable Survivors

CLIVE KESSELL

E

ver since the telephone was invented, it was seized upon by railway companies as a means of communicating to employees at the lineside or involved with train operation. This meant positioning phones at places where staff would likely be working or at signals where trains might be stopped. A whole plethora of phones mushroomed across the railway that contributed to great improvements in railway efficiency.

In those early days, no special telephone instrument had been designed for external use let alone railway applications, so an ordinary desk-type phone, housed inside a wooden case, was used. Very often the phone needed its own power supply which would be a battery in a cupboard underneath the case to energise the microphone and to provide ringing current.

These cases frequently became insect colonies and encrusted with dirt.

Phones were used at one’s peril and regular maintenance was needed to keep them in a fit state. Only in later years did purpose built phones in weatherproof cases become available, these being a great improvement for the user.

Operational usage As operational methods became more sophisticated, so the variety of phones on offer multiplied. A big advance was the invention of central battery (CB) techniques, enabling the phone to be powered from a central source thus obviating the need for a local battery. 50 volts DC permanently on-the-line facilitated both speech and signalling. The introduction of automatic telephony led to external dial phones being developed, again using CB power sourcing. The portfolio of phone types might be summarised as: »» Central Battery with handset lifted off to call or with a calling push button; »» Auto Phone with originally a dial but now a keypad; »» Battery Ringing with either dry or wet cells to provide ringing current, often with code ringing buttons for alerting other phones on the same circuit;

»» Magneto Ringing with either a hand cranked generator for high voltage AC ringing current but latterly using a battery and DC-AC invertor; »» Selective Ringing for use on omnibus circuits (more than one phone on a single line) to either decode a specific ringing code or generate an individual identity when calling.

More recent additions have been the GSM-R radio telephone and the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone, which are described later. Traditional applications, with many still being needed today, consisted of: »» Point to point circuit, typically between a signalbox and depot, shunting yard, ground frame, etc; »» Signal Post Telephone (SPT) for communicating between driver and signaller; »» Electrification telephone to contact the electrical control room; »» Level crossing telephones for use by staff and members of public; »» Station platform telephones for contacting a control room or signalbox.

Many companies designed and manufactured these phones, often as a proprietary system or as a standard product that mirrored general telecom developments outside the rail industry.

Bespoke designs suffered from early obsolescence risks and the railway got caught out on a number of occasions by buying such products.

A problem of the past 30 years has been the vulnerability of phones to vandalism and a number of design variants have emerged to combat this menace.

The situation today Lineside telephones remain part of operations culture, with other means of communications still being viewed with suspicion in some quarters. The supply market in the past was dominated by Plessey, Racal and STC but none of these companies (or their successors) are still in the external telephone business.

Alternative supply sources have emerged, the most significant one being GAI-Tronics, a company formed as long ago as 1946. Based in Burton on Trent, it has been part of the Hubble Corporation since 2000 and Rail Engineer recently visited the company’s premises to be greeted by sales manager Harry Kaur and marketing assistant Agnese Upeniece.

The company has 144 employees, all centrally based, with most of the staff being engaged in design, engineering and manufacture. With this head count, GAI-Tronics is a medium size company and is able to take on a number of apprentices each year, thus doing its bit for local youth.

Whilst the rail sector is important, it is not the only market needing external phones motorways, oil & gas, shipping both merchant and Royal Navy - all add up to a considerable demand every year.

Network Rail has approximately 32,000 phones at the lineside and a goodly number of these have to be replaced each year, either

Rail Engineer • March 2015 because of age, or vandalism, or because projects to renew signalling or level crossings incorporate new telephones. The types of analogue phone have been rationalised over time and are now all based around CB or Auto operation, but with a number of configurations being available.

Network Rail is the final customer for all lineside products with Unipart Rail being the GAITronics distributor. If phones are required as part of infrastructure projects, then companies such as Telent, Thales, Atkins, Babcock and BAM all purchase phones as required.

There is a strong requirement for Passenger Help Points for public use on station platforms.

These are hands free, incorporate an induction loop, large tactile buttons and raised text including braille, and are positioned to be accessible for wheel chair users. Connection can be made to either the emergency services or to rail enquiries, allowing passengers to access information during their journey.

So what’s in a phone?

The basic components of a lineside phone have remained essentially similar down the years: a metal housing; some electronics to power the transmitter, receiver, and inward and outward calling signals; a handset and a mounting bracket. That said, there are many variations on the theme.

61

GAI-Tronics production facility at Burton on Trent.

Off-hook calling with CB phones can be a problem if the handset is not replaced after a call. Telephones can be designed to automatically go back ‘on-line’ after a predetermined time (SPT - seven minutes, Level Crossing phone - three minutes).

Number calling keypads are manufactured so as to protect against moisture ingress. Handsets are made of durable material that can withstand harsh handling and, where vandalism is likely, the handset cord is armoured. Casing doors are now spring-loaded and self-closing. Additional protection can be the provision of a lockable door opened by a BR No1 key or housing the phone in an anti-vandal housing.

Phones are designed for either pole mounting using metal banding strips or wall mounting by screwing through holes in the casing.

For many years, from the late 1960s onwards, the standard phone was the Plessey 745 model, known colloquially as the ‘coffin’ phone because of its shape. This model supplied many markets in addition to rail and came in a variety of types - often needing an additional bolt-on box if there was insufficient space for the electronics of the more sophisticated versions.

Gradually, the 745 was replaced by more modern and better constructed housings, the GAI-Tronics version going under the brand name of Titan. The casings are made from corrosion -

Amaro are a multi-disciplinary rail company working across the UK. While we are probably better known for our expertise in signalling, we also undertake works in the PWAY and civils sector. We pride ourselves in bringing a common sense approach to all that we do.

Our Services • Turnkey Signalling Design, Install, Test and Commissioning • Track Side Manufacturing (LOC and REB’s) • Survey • P-Way • Light Civils

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

New requirements and developments

resistant cast aluminium and are bought in. Getting good paint adhesion is something of a challenge but the normal colours of grey (for general use) or yellow (for level crossings) can withstand most conditions.

All the design, engineering assembly and testing is done in the Burton factory, giving GAI-Tronic complete control over the quality of its products while helping the local economy.

Lineside phones have to be reliable and robust. They are frequently used when persons making the call are under stress and any ensuing anger or frustration can result in the phone (particularly the handset) receiving rough treatment. This imposes a rigorous test program to prove a design is fit for purpose and GAI-Tronics has an in house environmental chamber as well as employing an external test house to prove robustness of the various designs.

Every production phone is thoroughly tested before leaving the factory.

Network Rail also has rigorous test- and type-approval procedures.

To ensure correct usage, telephones must be correctly labelled, both externally to indicate the type of phone and internally to give detail of the operation plus any special emergency numbers. External labels have been standardised over time, typical ones being; »» A handset silhouette for a general purpose phone and if public usage is foreseen; »» Black & white diagonal stripes for SPTs; »» A green background with emergency wording for calling electric control rooms or the emergency services; »» A black St Andrew’s cross on white background for general operational use.

If the phone has to be used at night in dark conditions, then fluorescent labels and instructions are provided.

Instructions on usage will include site-specific details as to the phone’s location plus how to contact an operator or emergency service.

Level crossings are the biggest safety risk on today’s railways. Having reliable communication back to the controlling signalbox is important, particularly for members of the public. For Auto Half Barrier (AHB) crossings, special telephone systems have been in existence for many years. Known as PETS (Public Emergency Telephone System), the system is produced by Bombardier (from the original design developed by Whiteley of Mansfield) and is self-monitoring for any fault conditions.

A variation on a standard CB telephone in a bright yellow casing is produced by GAI-Tronics to complement the signalbox concentrator equipment. An alternative supply base is now available known as KETS (Kestrel Emergency Telephone System) which is based on the Kestrel (Wimborne) SPT concentrator but achieves the same result. Again, GAITronics produces the associated telephone User worked crossings are, however, a particular risk and these are often on remote lines with no trackside cabling or power. Past attempts to overcome the problem have been a ‘mono dialler’ public-use telephone connected to a rented BT landline where, by pressing a button, a user causes a pre-determined number to be dialled that connects to the signalbox.

Remote BT lines can have reliability problems so replacing these with a radio connection is a logical step, but with the premise that phone usage characteristics remain the same. Thus the development of a GSM (or GSM-R) phone for such locations has been a logical step. Often combined with a solar panel and battery to provide power, these radio phones are ideal for use in rural areas. Being connected to the GSM-R national network, the phones can be monitored and interrogated.

Telephony as a technology is changing and traditional analogue circuitry is being replaced by VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Increasingly prevalent in commercial use, it was only a matter of time before lineside phones adopt this technology.

The first application of VoIP for lineside use has been some SPTs on the Glasgow to Edinburgh line described in issue 119 (September 2014) and for which GAI-Tronics provided the telephones. Whilst such telephones need a local power supply, this is rarely a problem on a main line as S&T power will be available in an adjacent location case.

KETS phone as used on the Kestrel system.

PETS phone for public use.

Being able to connect the phone to the local IP network means the reduction of copper cabling and much greater resilience of routing back to the control centre. Some technical features that VoIP phones offer are: »» Use of widely adopted open standards SIP (Session Initiation Protocol, RFC3261) allowing ease of integration into existing systems; »» Each phone can register with up to four alternative servers, meaning that if connection to the first server is not achieved, it will attempt to register with others; »» Real time fault reporting and diagnostics; »» An audio path test to ensure the functioning of the handset.

The technology is still under trial and it will need a lengthy period of operational use before final approval can be given.

Arriva Trains Wales has, for some years, been using a VoIP Help Point linked to the CCTV surveillance system at stations so as to operate over the same IP network.

Another initiative is the provision of an IP network aboard trains where the internal phone system, used by train crew and catering staff, can be ‘bolted on’ to the train WiFi package. This latter development is outside the scope of this article but watch this space for further updates.

Future usage predictions With the growth of radio systems both for track-to-train communication and for trackside workers, many predict that lineside phones will soon become a thing of the past. They do, however, remain a corner stone of rail operational practice and the authorities are reluctant to sanction abandonment of SPTs even though trains have been equipped with radio for many years. With the impending advent of GSM-R as a single nationwide system, it is likely that SPTs will only be required at control signals that protect junctions and crossovers.

Equally, technicians attending infrastructure faults invariably reach site by road transport

Rail Engineer • March 2015

63

and use GSM mobiles to communicate back to base, even receiving work packages by text or email messages. Coverage of rail routes by the public cellular radio providers is nowhere near 100% but, with the GSM-R network expanding, the associated radio handsets will provide staff with robust radio coverage at the lineside. Even with this, there remains the satisfaction that a lineside phone will always connect to the required end point.

So, the lineside phone continues to survive and, whilst its numbers will decline, the reassurance that it gives in conditions when radio systems might fail will endear it to the rail operating authorities for many years yet.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

Four Lane Ends Crossing

PAUL DARLINGTON

O

bstacle Detection (OD) crossings, which use radar to confirm a crossing is clear before clearing the protecting signals, are now fully approved with many installations completed and further ones planned. One of the first installations was at Four Lane Ends, due east of Burscough Bridge on the Wigan to Southport route. The commissioning of the OD crossing in May 2013 removed an unsafe crossing from the network.

Rail operators have explicit legal duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to manage the risks arising from level crossings on their network. Any change or modification to the method of operation of a level crossing must only be done after a suitable and sufficient risk assessment has been undertaken to make sure that the risks have been reduced to as low as reasonably practical.

This has not always been the case and sometimes decisions have been taken with respect to the operation of a level crossing which, whilst appearing to be the right thing to do, actually imports additional risk. Such was the situation at Four Lane Ends.

Hand pumped The crossing was originally protected with manually operated gates and a full time gate attendant based in the adjacent house. In the early 1970s, the crossing was converted to a User Worked Crossing equipped with Miniature Warning Lights (UWC - MWL) and the house sold. This type of crossing was normally provided on private roads with limited usage and it was unusual for one to be provided on a public highway.

Hydraulic ‘pump up’ barriers were provided.

These required the road user to pump up the barriers by using a lever, provided the lights were green, and then lower them having passed over the crossing. The arrangements were authorised

in a level crossing order, made under the British Transport Commission Act 1957, and issued by the Railway Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport.

The MWL’s were operated automatically by approaching trains, displaying a red light when a train was detected approaching the crossing and a green light when it was permitted to cross the railway. The line speed is 70 mph. As its name suggests, four local roads converge on to Four Lane Ends Crossing, two from each side of the railway - plus there is a fifth driveway to access cottages.

In 1989, following several incidents with the barriers being left up by users, the level of protection was supplemented by the addition of

a crossing keeper located in a caravan to operate the hydraulic pump. Unfortunately, as well as increasing operating costs, this change had the effect of increasing use by motor traffic as the crossing became more convenient to use.

The addition of crossing staff made the crossing’s status anomalous and by 1994 there was no provision in Railway Group or Company Standards for a UWC operated as a Manual Controlled Barrier (MCB). It did not have the benefit of safeguards that would have been provided for a compliant MCB, such as protecting signals or ‘approach locking’ via track circuits to prevent the barriers being mistakenly operated when a train was approaching. The crossing was designed for use by nominated users who would take responsibility for their own safe crossing and for their authorised visitors. The rail network operator now took over that responsibility, but without providing the appointed member of staff with the right tools for the job.

The UWC with more substantial operator's cabin.

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A new cabin There were various attempts to renew the crossing with an Automatic Half Barrier (AHB) crossing. However such an installation was an expensive investment which got overtaken by more pressing schemes - the road layout would have required house demolition and extensive road modifications. The only enhancement that took place in the mid-1990s, was a more substantial crossing operator’s cabin with welfare and toilet facilities, to replace the temporary caravan.

Over time the crossing got busier due to nearby market garden businesses being established, the introduction of satnav promoting use as a short cut, a doubling of the train service from hourly to half hourly, and a nearby Sunday car-boot market. None of these changes were properly assessed for the increase in risk. Apart from the train service change, they occurred gradually over a period of time.

Because the barriers were operated whenever a vehicle approached, the crossing was required to be manned 24/7 (which even included Christmas Day when the network was shut).

The crossing operators had to pump the handle to open the crossing in all weathers. They were walking many miles a day, receiving complaints from users, as well as making mistakes and operating the barrier when trains were approaching.

Four Lane Ends UWC and operator red/green light.

Electric operation In 2006, the manually pumped barriers were provided with an electric pump. This was operated by a switch located in the crossing keeper’s cabin, with a supplementary one close to the north-side barrier machine. A mirror was provided so that the crossing keeper could see the indication of the miniature stop lights from inside the cabin. The new crossing equipment was authorised by a level crossing order issued

by HM Railway Inspectorate and came into force on 8 January 2006. However the change in risk profile had not been adequately assessed.

The change improved the working environment for the operator, but making it easier to raise the barrier actually increased the safety risk. If the light changed to red whilst users were crossing, the operator had approximately 45 seconds to lower the barriers before the arrival of the train. Because they were not by the crossing, it was not possible to use hand signals to halt the traffic. There was no interlocking between the barrier controls and the signalling system, and there was still no approach locking provided. The crossing was used by over 200 vehicles per day, increasing to around three times this number on

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

Once retention of the crossing was agreed, it proved possible to make a business case to justify half of the expenditure on safety grounds and half from the operational cost savings. Risk assessment of the crossing suggested a 5% per annum risk of a fatality. Authority was granted for the full project at the outset, subject to mid-term review of costs. This meant that procurement of delivery could progress in parallel with the design work, saving around four months of process time.

Two near misses The crossing fitted with obstacle detection.

The sensors can be seen in the six-foot on the left. certain Sundays because of the car-boot market.

Unsurprisingly, there were a number of reported incidents of trains traversing the crossing with the barriers raised.

In 2009 Network Rail sponsor Andy Scott became aware of Four Lane Ends when investigating the background to closure of nearby Shaws UWC. A footplate ride reinforced Andy’s concerns. During the journey, the train passed over the crossing with the barriers up and that was treated as a normal event by the local staff and public.

Obstacle detection Finally, in 2010, a number of things coincided to provide a solution. Firstly, OD became an approved method of operating a crossing.

Secondly, Network Rail improved its focus on level crossing safety and properly assessed the risk of each level crossing, and it put aside a dedicated budget within the control period to improve the safety functionality of signalling assets. Both the asset engineer and route director agreed a solution was required, and a key decision was to appoint Andy Scott as the commercial sponsor to properly develop the scheme, drive it forward, consult all stakeholders and obtain funding.

Andy consulted with colleagues, learnt of the long standing problems and set out to solve them.

A survey was undertaken to establish usage of the crossing. About half was through traffic avoiding congestion in Burscough Bridge and half was local, with some using the crossing frequently during the day. A significant number of HGVs were serving a local farm to take turf to Liverpool.

When doing any work at a crossing, closure is always the first thing to consider. A consultation letter was sent to all nearby residents and local councillors, advising that closure or automation of the crossing was being investigated. Responses received were followed up by personal visits. It became apparent that those living south were unconcerned by closure or change but for those to the north the crossing was essential. In particular,

HGVs could not access the farms by any other route due to either 3T weight restrictions or acute bends. A number of people thought that removal of the crossing keeper by automation would make it less safe, such was the lack of understanding of the situation.

A bridge would have had a significant environmental impact on the rich farmland, as would an alternative road route that was investigated. One solution was MCB with CCTV but this would have caused light pollution in a generally dark at night area. It may also have required additional manning in the controlling signal box, due to the already high level of crossing supervision.

The emerging OD technology offered a solution, providing greater levels of protection than CCTV but without lighting requirements.

Both crossing solutions would need the area to have additional signalling, to include work on adjacent crossing controls, new line side power systems, track circuits and protecting signals for the crossing. At £3 million, the expected cost was less than the bridge and diversion option but still an expensive and long project to implement. Significantly, it brought resolution of the safety problem within Network Rail’s gift and not subject to lengthy legal timescales to acquire land that had an uncertain outcome.

Four Lane Ends UWC and operator's position.

Unfortunately, while the scheme was being developed, two near misses occurred which confirmed the need to improve the crossing.

On the 21 March 2011 the barriers were inadvertently raised for a car to cross. The crossing keeper had been using the toilet and when he returned to his desk he noticed a car waiting to cross and instantly raised the barriers with the light displaying red.

A short term measure was put in place consisting of separate raise and lower buttons which had to be pressed and held to cause the barriers to move. Lights on a panel repeated the indication of the miniature stop lights and an audible alarm was provided to sound for five seconds when the lights changed from green to red to alert the crossing keeper. This work was designed and implemented in-house by Network Rail and, as it was still not a compliant MCB, the necessary derogations to standards were obtained. All the operators were re-briefed and additional surveillance checks were implemented.

This was still not sufficient to provide a safe system and at approximately 18:20 on Friday 28 September 2012 train 2F87, the 17:03 passenger service from Manchester Airport to Southport narrowly avoided collision with a car that was crossing the railway. The crossing keeper made an error and raised the barriers when the lights were showing red in response to the car waiting at the crossing. He had been distracted by spilling a hot drink over a computer keyboard and did not check the indication of the lights before raising the barriers.

Rail Engineer • March 2015

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Closure Following this incident, the situation could not continue. Lancashire County Council agreed to an emergency closure, followed by a temporary order through to the end of the works. This caused many problems to some of the residents and farmers, with longer journeys for work, schools and shopping.

Damage was caused to the narrow roads that saw increased traffic. On 1 November 2012, a site meeting was held at which concerns were heard. There was an acceptance that the safety issue was significant and that Network Rail needed to press on - which was helped by the closure.

During the winter, residents had further cause to be upset as, independently of the level crossing project, it had been decided to fully renew one of the lines through the site using high output equipment. Lack of consultation over those works and inconsiderate practices by Network Rail’s contractors led to several complaints to which it was difficult to respond positively.

Behind the scenes, the project team pressed on with making sure that the necessary approvals would be in place for the novel technology. Following problems on Anglia route, a range of modifications were being proposed to the circuits and hardware. For example, provision of a shutter on the lidar camera to reduce the build-up of dirt - it only opens during the passage of trains.

Eventually, a trial certificate was obtained to allow construction and commissioning to happen, with modifications following later. Babcock was appointed as the main contractor with the design and implementation managed by its Crewe office.

There have also been problems with the quality and availability of signalling relays that has affected reliability of the system, but these problems are not unique to Four Lane Ends or OD crossings, and the introduction of Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) technology will improve the reliability of other OD crossings and signalling control systems.

Shaws is an adjacent UWC-MWL crossing and, while located on a private road has had instances of miss-use. Now that Four Lane Ends has a compliant crossing, it may be possible to provide a short road diversion, close Shaws Crossing and remove another risk from the operational railway, all thanks to OD.

Completion Finally, on Monday 20 May 2013, the new OD crossing opened. Since then, there have been no reported safety incidents. OD problems have been with the supplementary lidar detector in the six foot causing a right side failure, due to the ingress of dirt and the detection of vegetation. Plans are in place, as with all OD Crossings, to provide a shutter to keep the radar clean which only opens when the device is required to sweep the crossing.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

The challenge of ERTMS on the ECML CLIVE KESSELL

T

here have been many articles on ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) and its component elements of ETCS (European Train Control System) and GSM-R, the radio transmission link. Most have been upbeat, confidently predicting that this is the technology to adopt for future interoperability. A minority have alluded to the problems associated with roll out and the difficult logistics that can sometimes occur.

A talk given recently to the IRSE Scottish section looked at the proposed implementation of ERTMS on the southern section of the East Coast main line (ECML) from King's Cross to Peterborough.

Unusually, the talk barely mentioned the technical aspects of ETCS but concentrated on operating challenges (Graeme Boyd from Network Rail) and the limitations of GSM-R (David MacLennan from Jacobs). Both were refreshingly honest about the system in general and the specific issues that lie ahead.

The objectives and the plan Why is ERTMS being introduced on the ECML? There are a number of reasons. Firstly, the route comes under the category of a European TEN (Trans European Network) and thus has to comply with interoperability requirements. Secondly, it will provide a fully fledged ATP (Automatic Train Protection) system, and thirdly, because it is seen as an integral part of the forthcoming ‘digital railway’.

Whilst ERTMS is already in service on the Cambrian line (the early deployment scheme) and has been tested for interoperability on the Hertford Loop, the next projects will be on the central section of Thameslink in 2016 and on the GWML in 2018.

Although the ECML project will follow these, it is not anticipated that all known problems will have been overcome and thus it will still be regarded as a development project in terms of defining rule sets, a reference design and finalising of Network Rail standards. These difficult issues have to be resolved before ERTMS can be regarded as a standardised technology.

Before any ERTMS work can begin, the remodelling and re-signalling of Kings Cross station is needed. The present layout dates from the mid1970s and is based around a number of doubleslip points. These are expensive to maintain and a much simpler arrangement is being planned, which will be implemented in February 2018.

Thereafter, a number of ERTMS phases are envisaged and the whole project is currently in GRIP 1-3 (output definition to selection) planning stages.

Elements of the plan The ECML ERTMS scheme has to be integrated into a number of other projects that will be happening in the same time period. These include signalling centralisation and the introduction of the Rail Operating Centres (ROCs). For the ECML, this will be at York and will replace the existing signalling centres at King's Cross, Peterborough, Doncaster, York and Newcastle.

At the same time, Traffic Management Systems (TMS) will be incorporated into all the ROCs and will form the intelligence for train operation and pathing, and a new National Operating Strategy will be introduced, bringing with it an associated national rule set.

Each of these has to be considered for its relationship with ERTMS including technical interfaces and timescale. Once established, the ERTMS program can be developed, a major element being the testing and commissioning strategy. For this, decisions are needed on: »» The baseline software for the ETCS element currently at 2.3.0, it is expected to have been revised to 3.0.0 by 2018, which is important because the current baseline is not forward compatible; »» The responsibility for application data preparation; »» Determining the scope of the functional test; »» The need for an operator’s test track; »» The suitability and possible enhancement of the GSM-R radio transmission system; »» Trackside installation tests; »» Dynamic testing of train-borne equipment; »» How to carry out functional testing; »» The need for a period of shadow running; »» Future power requirements with the opportunity to rationalise the existing configuration and reduce the overall load as increased reliability is considered essential through the provision of more resilient supplies.

The transition from conventional signalling to ETCS along the route is another important factor.

The current thinking is that a Movement Authority under ETCS will be issued after a train has passed a minimum of two consecutive green signals and

is expected to take 40 seconds. At 30mph, this extends to 1.6 miles but at 125mph, it will be seven miles.

The lessons from Cambrian are proving valuable, particularly the operations and maintenance elements. Building up route asset information line speeds, gradients, stations, speed restrictions, use of imperial or metric measurements - is essential. Studying the migration strategy for other ERTMS projects will hopefully pave the way forward without too many unknowns in the equation.

The GSM-R capacity dilemma It has been known for some time that the spectrum allocation of 4Mhz in both the up and down link directions is inadequate for an ETCS circuit switched connection to every train in busy locations. Even on the relatively rural Cambrian line, the availability of radio capacity has occasionally been noticed as a potential issue.

In continental Europe, the solution has been to revert to conventional signals on the approach to city centres and terminal stations. This is seen as undesirable for the UK and ETCS to the ‘buffer stops’ is very much part of the requirement. So what is the solution?

The adoption of packet switching - GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) - is the obvious answer and indeed this is being tested out on the Hertford Loop trial (issue 117, July 2014).

However, GSM-R as a voice service provision for driver-to-signaller communication will exist on the ECML long before the introduction of ETCS. Enhancing the system to provide more robust coverage is known to be needed, but there is no consensus on what the coverage levels should be.

The stated minimum standard for guaranteed 95% coverage is -95 dBm for lines with speeds lower or equal to 220km/hr, but is this level high enough especially for packet switching?

The Hertford loop trial showed problems even though the computer-derived coverage plots were to the standard. It would appear that there is no substitute to having a radio survey train to get an accurate account of radio signal strength from temporary aerials erected at the nominated sites.

This can be an expensive and time-consuming process.

Weather is another consideration and radio signals can vary whether it is winter or summer (tree foliage being a factor) and indeed from day to day, depending on climatic conditions.

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A driver eyes-view. The ERTMS display is on the right.

The radio link needs to give reliable coverage at the handover points between adjacent base stations. A matrix for coverage is therefore being drawn up for the various sections of line to be encountered on the ECML and will range from plain line, including embankments and cuttings, to station areas and tunnels. Already this is showing up likely levels of between -60dBm to -85dBm at some locations with base stations in the proposed positions. Whilst only a desktop exercise at present, sufficient alarm bells are ringing for this to be a contentious issue.

Another factor is the impact of any external interference. The allocation of adjacent spectrum to other users is known to have created some performance problems in Europe and even in the UK ‘lock ups’ on the extant GSM-R network have been experienced in weaker signal areas caused, it is thought, by interference from O2 and Vodafone.

Software modifications to reduce the risk of this have been put in place and it is envisaged that the next software issue for the on-board EDORs (ETCS Data Only Radios) will largely resolve the problem.

The need for GPRS is clear as, with circuit switching, the realistic maximum of six channels for ETCS train communication will be woefully insufficient and calculations show that 12 simultaneous connections are required in the busiest area. This does not take account of any radio ‘overspill’ from adjacent routes, in particular the London area, nor the additional capacity required to give greater resilience if perturbations in coverage occur.

Packet switching should enhance capacity by about eight times, which is the good news, but as yet, there is no finalised GPRS specification for ERTMS usage.

The way forward has been the creation of a national ERTMS Steering Group that comprises all involved parties within Network Rail including NRT (Network Rail Telecoms), Telent (as the fixed network supplier) and Kapsch (as the radio infrastructure contractor). The group will take account of feedback from Europe as ERTMS projects are rolled out on the continent and a set of Guidance Notes will emerge.

Whilst the final design of the radio infrastructure is not yet completed, it is likely that an additional 12 base station sites will be needed over and above the original expectation. These will require access to the current FTN fixed bearer network, which could be problematic and changing the design to access the forthcoming FTNx IP-based network is a possible solution.

Other radio concerns As well as the capacity constraints of GSM-R, a persistent worry is how long this radio technology will last, both in terms of continuing to be in a licensed band and the ongoing supply of equipment. GSM-R is a 2G technology and, with the public mobile service now existing in 3G and increasingly 4G, manufacturers will gear up to supplying the mass markets in these bands.

Just how willing they will be to supply an obsolete technology for the next decade or so remains to be seen but, whatever the situation, it is likely the price per radio unit will increase.

As to licensing, assurances have been given that the GSM-R allocation will be safeguarded until 2026 and it may be available for longer than that. Whilst this may appear a long time, it is quite short in rail investment terms and rail companies investing in ERTMS systems will rightfully expect the systems to be in service for around 20 years.

No-one knows the answer to this dilemma and, from a European perspective, it keeps getting put back in the ‘too difficult’ basket. A migration to a 4G service is visualised by some but whether this would be with a dedicated frequency allocation for railway use or by sharing the public 4G band, opinion is divided.

A shorter-term worry is the recognition that ETCS will not operate without the radio link. Whilst the design criteria will maximise the robustness of the GSM-R availability, the day may come when the network fails. Keeping trains moving in such a scenario represents a real challenge.

A back-up radio via the public GSM networks is one possibility but it also begs the question as to whether lineside phones need to be retained.

It should be the objective to eliminate these but,

when all signalling has effectively failed, telephone communication may be the last resort for keeping trains on the move, albeit rather slowly.

Implementation The ECML will not be the first main line to be equipped with ERTMS, the Great Western should have an operational system some two years before. Many of the lessons to be learned will hopefully have been teased out before the ECML changeover starts.

The current plan for ETCS Level 2, beginning in 2020, shows: »» Phase 1A - King's Cross to Wood Green, retaining lineside signals except for the Northern City Line to Moorgate, where signals will be removed. »» Phase 1B - King's Cross to Peterborough (Fletton Junction) without lineside signals including the Hertford Loop and the Cambridge line up to Royston. Signalled transitions will remain for the Harringey spur, the North London Incline and the Thameslink line connection. The latter, although destined for ETCS and thus a seamless transition, will have fall back signals in case of interface problems. »» Phase 2 - Peterborough to Doncaster without lineside signals.

The provision of ETCS from King's Cross to Doncaster is going to be a challenge for rolling stock fitment and will demand an element of captive fleet management to ensure all trains on the route are equipped.

Much is at stake with this and other ERTMS projects. Growing pains and teething problems are inevitable, both technically and operationally.

One can only hope that with all the planning and evaluation work being undertaken, the introduction will be smooth.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

Finland Opts

for TETRA

CLIVE KESSELL

T

he Finnish Transport Agency (FTA) and Finnish Railways (VR Group) were one of the first to adopt the GSM-R standard for track-to-train radio based voice communication. They rolled out a nationwide network relatively quickly and duly equipped the train cabs.

The system has worked well but is now over 10 years old and much thought has been given as to a revamp or renewal strategy. Two options emerged, firstly to renew with updated GSM-R equipment or secondly to change to another type of radio network.

The decision made jointly by the Finnish Transport Agency as the infrastructure owner and VR Group, the train operating company, has been to prepare a plan for changing to TETRA Trans European Trunked Radio Application. This comes as something of a surprise since the EU mandates that GSM-R should be the standard for main line train-borne radio in all member states. So why have the Finns chosen to change and does it matter?

No need for interoperability The standardisation of GSM-R is all about interoperability, allowing trains to cross borders seamlessly without multiple fitment of trainborne control and communication equipment associated with earlier national system designs.

However, Finland uses 1524mm (5’) track gauge, which allows through-running with Russia’s 1520mm gauge but not with the rest of Europe, so the question of interoperability with other European states does not arise.

In the early 1990s, when the decision to standardise on GSM-R was made, TETRA was still under development and was considered too risky, both technically and commercially, to adopt for international rail use. Since then, Tetra

has become the de facto standard for metro rail systems and for the emergency services of fire, police and ambulance.

Recognising the need to have emergency service cover across its rail network, the Finnish authorities decided to extend their VIRVE TETRA system that became operational in 2002 to

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parallel the GSM-R network, thus duplicating the radio coverage to a very high percentage of route. Not all tunnels or deep cuttings are covered but this will happen over time.

The TETRA network is therefore essentially already in place and analysis has shown that there is sufficient capacity to have safety-related railway communication on the same network as emergency services, government agencies and the military.

There are three main factors in reaching this decision.

Significant savings can be made, estimated to be €10 million per year.

This seems a lot of money but two very high costs can be avoided. Firstly, the GSM-R operation, including the provision of base stations and masts, is provided by a private company. The subscriber fees are much higher than those for the TETRA network. Secondly, the GSM-R network is largely reliant on rented or leased lines to connect its base stations back to the signalling control centres and the cost of these is also substantial.

In addition, the GSM-R operation has increasingly been subject to interference from 4G networks in adjacent frequency bands. This is principally by telecom service providers who are seeking to achieve maximum coverage of their networks and who have adjusted their base stations to give maximum allowed transmission levels so causing disturbance to the GSM-R receivers. This is a problem not confined to Finland but the solution of providing ever more sophisticated filtering equipment is complex.

Lastly, Finland has never adopted ERTMS Level 2 and thus the use of GSM-R as a bearer for the ETCS element does not arise. Mindful that ERTMS does not come about until after 2025, the Finns take the pragmatic view that ,by that time, a successor technology for GSM-R will have been decided and developed, possible ‘LTE-R’, and thus a more suitable bearer network will be built as and when needed.

Looking to the future None of this is going to happen quickly and an EU derogation is required before the change to TETRA can be made. Since interoperability is very much a cornerstone of EU policy, this is expected to result in some difficult negotiations. The plan shows the change taking until 2018 to complete with much of this time being needed to fit out the various trains and other items of rolling stock.

The Finnish decision should not be read as a precursor to change the European main line rail network to TETRA - GSM-R is too well-established for this to happen. It does, however, highlight the need to speed up the investigative work being done on the future of GSM-R and what will eventually replace it.

The problem of unwanted interference is also something that needs to be resolved in the short term.

Another interesting element is that of outsourcing. It may be financially attractive to have a third party build and operate a radio network in the first place but the subsequent service provision costs, and especially when changes to network configuration are needed, can be astronomical.

Remember the old adage “If you don’t own it, you don’t control it”.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

DAVID BICKELL

RINM Asset Viewer

S

enior readers may remember Euston House as the headquarters of the British Rail’s London Midland Region and subsequently HQ of the British Railways Board until completion of privatisation when it was vacated by the railway.

This modernistic-style building, standing just across Eversholt Street opposite the eastern entrance to the station, was built in 1934 as the headquarters of London, Midland & Scottish Railway Company. Construction of the 150,000 sqft of office space took just 11 months from site possession to occupation using a ‘fast track’ construction method.

Today the building once again plays host to the railway industry and is headquarters of the Digital Railway, the concepts of which were explained in issue 123 (January 2015).

Network Rail, in conjunction with IT consultancy CSC, recently hosted a demonstration at Euston House of how the RINM (Rail Infrastructure Network Model) Viewer, a sub-system of ORBIS (Offering Rail Better Information Services), is placing quality rail asset data into the hands of a mobileenabled work force.

ORBIS, a £330 million five-year programme to create a detailed digital model of the UK’s rail network, is one of Europe’s largest rail infrastructure transformation programmes.

Launched in 2012, the programme began a digital revolution of the UK’s rail infrastructure to help manage assets more efficiently, cost effectively and safely and is predicted to save up to £1billion over the next decade,.

Through the introduction of apps and tools specifically designed to capture high quality asset data and new ways of viewing the railway,

Network Rail is delivering the resources to meet these aspirations. CSC’s partnership with Network Rail began with an IT outsource in 2007 and the relationships and engagements have constantly expanded since then, both within IT as well as within the business. In October 2013, CSC became the systems integrator for the ORBIS programme which is managed within the Digital Railway Directorate.

Quality data at the heart of decision-making Network Rail director Steve Dyke described Asset Information (AI) ORBIS as a programme of asset information data and services capability enhancement that provides a vital enabler for condition-led asset policy implementation. This enables customers to manage their asset base for less, and exploit existing railway system capability better.

ORBIS is principally an infrastructure knowledge service that will collect, evaluate, collate, analyse and communicate intelligent data to the business in a way that aims to put quality asset data at the heart of decision-making in Network Rail. The chosen method of data movement originates from the National Criminal Intelligence Service.

Data may be presented to planners, engineers and technicians on desktop, laptop and mobile devices.

The latter are seen as essential tools for the guys and girls in orange with some 10,000 iPads having been issued.

RINM goes live David Moran, solution lead for CSC, gave a brief introduction to the Geo-RINM, an enhanced visualisation tool for the British rail network. The Viewer is a critical tool that will assist users from across Network Rail (and eventually external partners) by providing better worksite familiarity during pre-work planning, mobilisation and early design stages.

This will reduce overall expenditure on surveys and, by minimising the amount of time required trackside, it will further increase safety when working on the railway.

A key source of information that will go into the Geo-RINM Viewer is the National Aerial Survey which the ORBIS programme undertook last summer and is described below. The programme is also creating an underground services geospatial data layer (Network Rail and third party) and is in the early stages of defining the end-to-end processes for the exchange of asset information when performing maintenance or major infrastructure projects.

The project team will continue to work closely with a range of people and teams across Network Rail to plan future work based on business value and prioritisation.

A new view of the railway Using geospatial technology, the ORBIS team has been building a logical model of the railway that will provide a detailed, Google-like map of all assets. Taking data from a range of sources, including images from existing master asset registers and aerial surveys, RINM will create a clear picture of the entire railway network

and how it relates to the wider environment - from roads to power networks.

RINM will support the connection between the worlds of asset management, operations and maintenance, enabling staff to understand the relationships between assets more accurately - how track links to signalling then into E&P and finally into telecoms. This will improve access to information across the network and aid quicker, safer decisionmaking. RINM will be delivered through seven phases in structured packages to ensure safety, to release the benefits incrementally across the routes and to develop the programme through feedback from users.

Geo-RINM rolled out to 4,600 users Delivery of RINM has been broken down into stages with the current focus aimed at the rollout of the Geo-RINM Viewer. The first phase concentrates on visualising a number of key datasets and this will be followed by future releases to colleagues and teams across the network. The initial release of the Geo-RINM Viewer will display existing Gl Portal data, track centreline, an enhanced level crossing view and five mile line diagrams.

New data sets will be continually added to the viewer from other asset-related data sets, including access points, underground services and workbank, plus high resolution images. As data is added, the viewer will play an increasingly vital role in early planning and design - reducing the amount of time required trackside and increasing worksite efficiency.

A programme of continual development is now in place to develop the Geo-RINM Viewer.

This includes additional datasets and access via mobile devices.

Model Offices are taking place around the country to identify users’ priorities ahead of this release.

A view from above The ORBIS Aerial Survey Data Project was key to collecting data about the infrastructure.

What has been done? »» Aerial survey of the entire railway network; »» Capture a rich set of information; »» Analyse raw data to gather key insights.

How does this help to run the railway better? »» Reduced survey costs; »» Increased maintenance efficiency; »» Fewer people trackside, less of the time; »» Better data about our level crossings; »» Reduced risk of doing work in the wrong place.

Standard project deliverables »» Imagery - downward facing, full colour; »» Imagery - downward facing, false colour infrared; »» Imagery - oblique; »» LiDAR point cloud; »» Digital terrain model, surface model; »» Advance project deliverables; »» Tree Database; »» Nairns profiles (for level crossings); »» Vector data (mapping).

To achieve this, more than16,000 route kilometres across Britain’s rail network have being photographed and captured using laser technology during a fivemonth long national aerial survey.

Capturing approximately 60TBs of data, the survey will record

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

enhanced downward and oblique imagery and LiDAR data across the entire UK rail network. As the images are processed and quality assured they will be deployed to the Geo-RINM Viewer.

The Air Operations team in Network Operations provide specialist aerial inspection and survey services to Network Rail, carrying out targeted inspections to improve performance and safety with no disruption to train services or worksite activities. The team includes five aerial survey specialists covering the entire network using two dedicated and speciallyequipped helicopters. Both aircraft contain mounted cameras with sensors fitted, including high definition video, thermal imaging, corona discharge and a spotter scope capable of 80-times magnification.

The aerial surveys record at a height of 250 metres and cover 15 metres either side of the formation. The aerial photography RGB is a truecolour representation of the real world showing ground features at a resolution of 4cm, providing far superior quality than Ordnance Survey offthe-shelf Aerial imagery at 25cm resolution. In order to keep track of environmental changes, the full national survey will be done every five years with a refresh every year on an ‘as required’ basis. The team are investigating the use of drones, rather than manned helicopters, to carry out future surveys.

As the current RouteView system (containing aerial photography) and new Geo-RINM Viewer are complementary, Al ORBIS and Network Ops will be working together to further integrate and evolve the two systems.

Practical examples Richard Pease, business analyst - asset information, demonstrated the Geo-RINM Viewer. It is a web-based system and the user starts with a map view from which the various data layers can be switched on. Some examples of the system showed the potential. A map of Euston Station was displayed on the screen from which a data layer was selected showing tenants data about leases granted by the property division.

An example of a real life benefit may be appreciated in relation to track renewals.

Sometimes it is necessary to change ballast when relaying but it can freeze when stored. A frozen-solid mass of ballast is treated with deicer but this cannot be used in environmentallysensitive areas such as nature reserves, areas of Special Scientific Interest and where there is protected wildlife close to the railway. It would need to be replanned for a warmer period. GeoRINM will show the job planner exactly where these sites are in relation to the railway without having to make a site visit, thereby making the planning process much more efficient, avoiding time consuming applications to agencies to find out about such environmental sites in the locality of the planned work.

Using LiDAR, it is also possible to take a cross-section of the formation. This will allow analysts to look at the terrain including such variables as the slope of a track and the density and shape of the trees that border it. Decisions can then be made on maintaining cuttings and embankments by looking for signs of degradation and landslips.

Investment project teams will be a key user of the survey data as the RINM Viewer will provide the information that would hitherto have been gathered by time-consuming site surveys conducted at the outset of a new scheme.

The RINM Viewer naturally lends itself to the visible aspects of railway infrastructure such as track and structures. ORBIS, on the other

hand, has much to offer other disciplines as it links the data held in the separate engineering functional record depositories, enabling users to call up all the data for a specific area including track, structures, signalling, communications and power supplies.

From the S&T perspective, for example, it is possible to envisage the iPad playing a crucial role for a technician attending, say, a points failure. After keying the asset reference (point number) into Geo-RINM Viewer, a route would be plotted which would guide the technician to the appropriate lineside access point.

The system will also provide detailed safety information about the running lines, then guide the technician to the exact location of the failed point.

Keying in a request for circuit diagrams would cause RINM to display the circuit diagram layer of data with diagnostics information. Removing the need to study paper road maps, find site access information and seek out the paper signalling circuit diagrams housed in a cabinet somewhere will obviously save considerable time.

The ORBIS programme continues through to 2018, with advanced asset and system decision-support tools to be rolled out.

Thanks to Network Rail’s Steve Dyke, Richard Pease, Marco Sala and Sara Hirsch, and CSC’s David Moran, Mark Davis and Ruth Armitage, for their help in the preparation of this article.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

Middle East Renaissance T

he Middle East has had a railway network for over a century, although development was slow. The Hejaz Railway from Damascus to Medina opened in 1913, extending into the existing line from Istanbul.

However, the First World War halted plans to take the line as far as Mecca and the between-wars politics didn’t help. It wasn’t until the 1960s that Istanbul was connected with Basra in Southern Iraq. Even then, more wars and disputes got in the way and that line is no longer open for its full distance.

Al Mashaaer Al Magaddassah Metro under construction.

MARC JOHNSON

Sudden interest Now, however, the Middle East is embarking on a remarkable run of railway construction, albeit a bit further south. Involvement from overseas is welcomed fully. His Excellency Dr Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Salim Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications in Oman, recently estimated that around $200 billion was being invested in building more than 10,000 kilometres of railway in the Middle East.

The level of rail investment in the Middle East is quite simply staggering. Major cities such as Riyadh, Jeddah and Doha are

Rail Engineer • March 2015

77

Dubai Metro.

building complete metro systems from scratch and as a whole, the region has grand plans to construct and link national rail networks as part of a much wider railway project connecting all of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries forming an international rail network.

Beyond the technical challenges of laying tracks in the desert, the GCC rail project is as much a political exercise as a challenging infrastructure project, as it relies on the cooperation of all member states. With some schemes developing quicker than others, the problem is ensuring it all links up. This very issue was raised at the Middle East Rail conference in 2014. As this year’s event draws near, it is worth considering how the rail initiative has moved on over the past 12 months.

Cooperation between states The GCC is made up of six member states: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Each of the states is contributing to the project, building a section of the line each. In addition to this, many cities are pursuing plans for new metro networks. Dubai is extending its fully automated metro system. Abu Dhabi hopes to build a light rail network that will link the central business district with the island suburbs surrounding the city.

The total length of the GCC railway is estimated to be 2,117 km, starting from Kuwait, passing through Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and ending in Oman. Middle East Rail 2015 will discuss and seek to

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

TURKEY SYRIA LEBANON

ISRAEL

IRAQ

IRAN

JORDAN KUWAIT

BAHRAIN

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QATAR UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

DOHA JEDDAH MECCA find solutions to some of the growing pains the Middle East is encountering. Seminars will consider the need for harmonisation of safety and technical standards between the countries and the importance of training in creating a skilled rail workforce in the region. The day-today challenges, such as how to speed up the cleaning of trains between journeys, will be raised.

Spanish flavour Saudi Arabia’s railway is developing at an exceptional rate. The SAR project, also known as the North South Railway Network, is a 2,750-kilometre mixed-traffic railway stretching from Riyadh to Al Haditha near the Jordanian border. It also includes a second line from the Al-Jalamid mine to Ras AlKhair on the coast of the Arabian Gulf. The line is already open to freight traffic and passenger services are planned to begin this year.

Another substantial development is the 950-kilometre Landbridge Line between Jeddah and Riyadh. But in terms of sheer publicity, both of these projects struggle to detract attention away from the 460-kilometre Haramain HighSpeed Rail Line, which from next year should be transporting pilgrims between the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Around two million pilgrims make the expedition each year, putting a substantial strain on the roads between Mecca, Medina and Jeddah.

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The first of 36 train sets being built by Spanish manufacturer Talgo was shipped from Barcelona to Jeddah in December last year. The 300 km/h trains are specially designed to cope with desert running where temperatures can reach 55ºC. These challenging conditions require the trains to be covered with special films and coatings designed to keep sand particles out.

The entire project has a Mediterranean tone. A consortium of 12 Spanish companies was awarded the €6.7 billion contract in November 2011 for phase two, while a French/ Chinese consortium is delivering the project’s first phase. Spanish operator Renfe and infrastructure manager Adif are both connected to the project alongside engineering firms OHL and Ineco. Adif sees the project as an opportunity to demonstrate its abilities on a global platform.

Saudi Arabia will be relying on Renfe’s experience of running high-speed rail services as the line’s operator. Renfe will also be responsible for recruiting staff and building maintenance depots in both Mecca and Medina.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

UAE growth Another GCC member making strides with its national rail network is the United Arab Emirates (UAE). For the GCC network to work, all members need to be onboard. The UAE is building a 1,200-kilometre line from the border with Saudi Arabia to the border of Oman.

Trial freight services are already in operation on phase one of the line between Shah, Habshan and the Port of Ruwais. The line will soon be used to transport seven million tonnes of granulated sulphur a year for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). An official announcement for the phase two contracts is imminent. This length of the line will complete the section of the railway in the Abu Dhabi emirate. Like the Haramain High-Speed Rail Line, Etihad Rail has also enlisted the help of a European rail market leader, with Deutsche Bahn contracted to run the line’s freight activities.

Other than a surprisingly-modern narrow-gauge tourist railway transporting tourists to and from the Al Hoota Cave near Muscat, Oman is currently railway-less. The Al Hoota Cave railway system was designed by British company Severn Lamb, which is now developing an ‘ultra-light rail’ system for Turkey. A national railway system is planned and the Government of Oman is confident it can begin work soon and meet deadlines to connect it up to the wider GCC system.

Of all of the GCC projects, Oman is expected to be the most expensive per kilometre due to the mountainous terrain between Muscat and the Emirates border. In total, the network will stretch for over 2,000 kilometres and include 20 stations.

As well as connecting Muscat and the UAE, the railway will travel south to the ports of Duqm and Salalah and to the border with Yemen.

New networks Dubai is a record-breaking city, boasting the world’s tallest building - the 2,716-foot Khalifa Tower - and the world’s longest automated metro. Dubai’s infrastructure planning is geared towards the arrival of the World Expo in 2020 - the first time the event has been held in the region. This includes doubling the length of the Green Line and building 21 new stations across the entire network.

Among its accolades, the Dubai Metro was also the first urban rail

system to be built in the Middle East. Over the next decade, many more will start to appear on the Arabian Peninsular. Abu Dhabi is proposing to construct a metro line and two new light rail lines, the first phase of which should be completed by 2017.

A year ago, Prince Khalid bin Bandar broke ground on Line 4 of Riyadh’s new £15 billion metro system, which will include six automated lines and 25 stations, some of which feature incredibly lavish exterior designs. The project is a ‘who’s who’ of major international rail companies. Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier, Strukton, Ansaldo STS, Bechtel, Parsons and Systra are all involved. Saudi Arabia’s second city, Jeddah, is also developing an urban rail system. Design contracts were awarded last year and the entire system is scheduled for completion in the early 2020s.

Elsewhere, Qatar has created a single body, Qatar Rail, to manage the country’s rail strategy. Plans for long-distance, freight and metro systems are all being handled by the organisation. Qatar’s main line rail network will connect Doha with the Saudi Arabian border and support high-speed services. A second line will then also link Doha with Hamad International Airport and Bahrain.

Exhibition and conference In 2014, more than 3,000 people attended Middle East Rail. Launched in 2007, the show has grown to become the largest of its kind in the Middle East region. In 2015, the exhibition and conference in Dubai expects to attract 6,000 attendees, more exhibitors and put more focus on the GCC and North Africa. Last year marked the beginning of a three-year partnership with the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Ministry of Public Works in the UAE. The opening keynote address this year will be given by His Excellency Abdulla Belhaif Al Nuaimi, the UAE’s Minister of Public Works, who holds a PhD in construction management from the University of Reading.

For international rail suppliers, it is an opportunity either to try and crack the Middle East or to further existing relationships. For the region itself, it is an opportunity to tap into the hundreds of years of railway expertise from countries like the UK as it did 120 years ago.

Rail Media will be there, so pop onto stand K64 in Dubai and talk to the team from Rail Engineer.

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

T

he Midland main line (MML) is described as being something of a ‘Cinderella’ railway. That’s a nice way of saying that it hasn’t seen much in the way of investment in recent years. The East Midlands region in particular has not benefitted from the cash injection seen on routes in other parts of the country.

In CP5, however, the region which gave birth to the railway is finally going to the ball - thanks to an unprecedented portfolio of enhancements. It may be surprising, but the electrification of the MML will cover a distance three quarters the size of the Great Western electrification programme. On top of this technical challenge, the organisations carrying out the work will have to adapt to several major changes being made by Network Rail as to how major projects are planned and delivered.

Richard Walker speaking at the conference.

The electrification programme kicks off this year between Bedford and Corby. Route clearance works are already 20 per cent complete.

Another significant bottleneck will be removed through remodelling works at Derby station which will be completed in 2018. The multifaceted portfolio of work around Derby will also include resignalling the route between Derby and Stoke.

Network Rail is investing so much in the East Midlands in order to meet a predicted growth in demand for rail in the region which is expected to rise by 16 per cent by 2019. In January, Network Rail predicted that passenger numbers could increase by as much as 114 per cent by 2043. Add to that an increased demand for freight capacity.

Long-term planning is needed, and Network Rail has now begun looking beyond 2020 and has published a consultation document for the route which, among other things, includes plans to upgrade the MML to four tracks and separating it from the line to Nuneaton at Wigston Junction within the next 10 years.

Safe Start 2015

Unprecedented programme Central to the investment in the Midlands over the next five years is the MML electrification programme. The project involves extending the electrified route north of Bedford to the East Midlands and South Yorkshire. This will include 639 single-track kilometres of new OLE. The electrification scheme is one large piece of a bigger puzzle which includes capacity improvement works, station remodelling and resignalling schemes. Altogether, £1.3 billion is being spent upgrading the route and electrifying the line to Derby by 2019 and Sheffield by 2020.

The programme is being delivered by the Network Rail Infrastructure Projects East Midlands (IPEM) team, which comprises Network Rail, AMCO, Arup, Atkins, Carillion, Powerlines, Galliford Try and Murphy.

For the past 18 months, the project team has been working together planning, designing and delivering enabling works and, on 29 January employees from each of the companies came together in the East Midlands for the first time to discuss best practice as the programme moves towards delivery.

Primarily, the focus was on safety and the event provided a platform for the IPEM Safety Leadership Team (SLT), which is made up of the senior leaders from each of the IPEM companies, to set out its safety pledge and ensure that all the companies involved are working to the same ‘Everyone home safe everyday’ philosophy that Network Rail has adopted.

A fairytale ending MARC JOHNSON

Rail Engineer • March 2015

83

Entitled Safe Start 2015, the event followed a supplier engagement event hosted by Carillion at the start of 2014 for UK companies supporting Network Rail’s Multi Asset Framework Agreement (MAFA) projects.

Held at the exhibition centre behind Donington Park’s famous Dunlop Straight, the event, which was organised by Carillion’s James Steele and his team, offered PPE providers, plant operators and all other corners of the infrastructure supply chain the opportunity to showcase their products and safety innovations.

A series of seminars delivered by SLT members demonstrated the safe work principles that underline each element of delivery from design to the planning of work and welfare on site. On the day, there were 750 attendees, 560 delegates and 160 suppliers.

Richard Walker, Network Rail route delivery director, East Midlands, said that a new way of working had to be adopted in order to deliver the project and to deliver it safely. Speaking after the event, he said: “We’re not working in an alliance, we’re not working in a contractual collaboration, what we’re trying to do is have people working together for the right reasons.”

Preparing the MML route for electrification is in its earlty stages.

Safe Work Leaders Using current figures, IPEM predicts that, unless it does something different, it will suffer 20 major injuries, 200 lost-time injuries and 20,000 close calls during the 20 million man hours required to complete the project.

Safe Start is one way in which IPEM aims to improve safety performance by changing mindsets and adopting safety initiatives such as the Plan & Deliver Safe Work (PDSW) programme.

IPEM will be the first project team to employ PDSW and will have the first worksites to employ Safe Work Leaders (SWL). Walker said he felt the partnership model that is being adopted for the Midland main line electrification project would help the roll out of such a significant reform in Network Rail’s planning and safety protocols. He said: “The way that we’re setting up our integrated programme is going to help Safe Work Leaders deliver… It complements exactly what we’re doing.”

The SWL will be involved in the planning and will be accountable for the safe delivery of work on-site. Although the COSS role will remain, they will report to the site SWL, who will have to be employed by either Network Rail or a principal contractor.

Overall, Walker said that he was satisfied that safe delivery of the programme wasn’t a concern for the East Midlands. “I know we’ll have a decent culture,” said Richard, adding: “It’s not something we’re not looking at, it’s something that’s at the forefront of our minds.”

Richard said that just a few weeks on, he was seeing the benefits from the event. He believed that it had already begun to improve communication across the supply chain and the next engagement event is already in the planning.

Safe Start 2015 Hosted by Carillion, bringing suppliers together and focusing minds on the safe delivery of the East Midlands Electrification Programme Contact us at www.carillionplc.com

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

Harbury hazard NIGEL WORDSWORTH

V

ictorian railway engineers were adventurous and forward-thinking. They came up with some amazing structures that are still with us today - the Forth Bridge (opened 1890), St Pancras station (1868), the Severn Tunnel (1886) and the Ribblehead viaduct (1876). To look at these today is to stand in awe of our ancestors’ achievements.

But they weren’t infallible. They were learning their way, usually from first principles and often by trial and error, and they sometimes got it wrong. When the Tay Bridge collapsed in 1879, 75 people died. In 1865, the Folkestone to London boat train crossed the River Beult on a bridge that was being repaired (10 dead, 49 injured) - author Charles Dickens was on the train but unhurt.

Robert Stephenson’s Dee Bridge collapsed under a local passenger train in 1847 (5 dead, 9 injured).

Fortunately, the weaker Victorian bridges have longsince been strengthened or replaced. But other structures are still with us, largely unchanged.

As a forerunner of things to come, the Sonning Cutting railway accident occurred in 1841. Hecla, a broad-gauge locomotive, was pulling a mixed-traffic train consisting of three passenger carriages followed by 17 goods wagons towards Reading when it hit a landslip in the cutting through Sonning Hill.

At this point, the cutting was 58 feet deep and the slopes were 2-in-1 giving a slope base of 116 feet.

Around 30 yards length of the slope face had slid onto the railway track after heavy rains.

The sudden stop after the impact caused the freight wagons to crush the passenger carriages. Nine died and 16 were injured.

Surviving structures

Installing a SlopeMATE to monitor any further movement.

Unlike the bridges, Victorian cuttings, slopes and embankments are still creating problems. There have been many incidents over the years of cuttings sliding onto the line or of embankments collapsing. Several recent ones, such as a passenger train striking a boulder at Loch Awe or a freight train derailed at Barrow on Soar, have been reported in Rail Engineer.

The latest incident is at Harbury, a few miles south of Leamington Spa on the line between Birmingham, Banbury and London Marylebone. Normally, this is used by more than 50 freight trains and 80 passenger trains a day. However, on 31 January, the slope of the cutting, which forms the approach to Harbury tunnel, slipped in a big way.

Rail Engineer • March 2015

85

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Rail Engineer • March 2015

As the slope was already being monitored, this was noticed immediately and the line was closed on the grounds of safety. The slip had not actually impacted the track, but it could have done at any moment. The first Network Rail engineers on site were unable to get close as the slope was still moving. However, it soon became clear that the only course of action would be to remove the whole side of the cutting, all 350,000 tonnes of it, and without the use of a railway to do so.

A week later and the cutting face was still moving, although it had slowed down. Engineers inspecting the damage had been joined by Mark Carne, Network Rail chief Mark Carne and Patrick McLoughlin inspect the damage.

executive, and Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin. Both could see that this wasn’t going to be a quick fix and that passengers would be badly affected.

Mark Carne was hopeful that the line could be reopened within six weeks, commenting: “This cutting has suffered from landslips since it was built in the 1840s and we are looking at what new engineering solutions are available to make it safer and less at risk to landslips in the future.”

Two weeks later, and main contractor Murphy had removed 100,000 tonnes of spoil. Some went to local landfill, but most was being stockpiled on adjacent land so that it could be removed by road in an organised fashion.

Monitoring equipment was set up to keep track of the slope and make sure that those working in the area would be safe. Over 80 state-of-the-art wireless slope sensors (SlopeMATEs) were installed to detect even the smallest slope movement and to ensure continuous minute-byminute monitoring.

Harbury tunnel portal also suffered from deformation due to the slip. It too has been instrumented using WallMATEs to detect any microscopic movement. Data from all of these devices is sent automatically to DATUM Monitoring Services’ 24/7 Data Control Centre which, in turn, transmits information to the Platform Interactive website. This both allows engineers to view the data continuously and generates alarms if further deterioration occurs.

As Mark Carne had said, it’s not the first time that this cutting has caused trouble. In fact, Network Rail had been carrying out stabilisation work after a much smaller landslide elsewhere on the site on 14 February 2014. This work was under way when the slope failed at 2.30pm on Saturday 31 January although no-one was injured when the landslide happened.

Inevitably, rail traffic has been affected. London Midland has increased services on the West Coast main line to compensate in part for the line closure, but many passengers have been consigned to rail-replacement buses between Leamington Spa and Banbury.

Rob Brighouse, managing director of Chiltern Railways, is philosophical about the problem. “We are fully supportive of the approach and it is absolutely right that the line should only be reopened when it is safe to do so. We are working in close partnership with Network Rail and doing our utmost to ensure that the impact on passengers is minimised.”

Freight traffic has also suffered, with substantial disruption to freight services to the Midlands, North East and North West.

However, the good news is that the line should be reopened by 2 April, in time for the Easter rush.

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88

Rail Engineer • March 2015

CHRIS PARKER

Midland Metro undermined

R

ailway civil engineers, in the UK at least, have always been concerned about unknown or unpredictable hazards affecting their infrastructure. Buried abandoned mine shafts are a classic example, and there are well known photographs showing dramatic accidents caused by collapses under the tracks. Rail infrastructure operators are generally well aware of that particular risk and take appropriate measures.

The Midland Metro recently encountered a slightly different hidden danger that had a major impact upon operations and track renewals. On this occasion, the culprit was not a hidden shaft but the remains of an old mine working, believed to have been what is known as a bell pit.

Abandoned workings Bell pits were used in the early days of the industrial revolution and probably a long time before that too. Each pit began as a short vertical shaft, dug from the surface down into the coal seam or other stratum to be mined.

The miners then set about excavating the desired mineral from around the base of the shaft, working outwards and so forming a bell shaped excavation. The excavated material was hauled up the shaft to the surface for use in industry.

Clearly this was a dangerous business as the ground above the pit was often left unsupported, and it must have been a fine judgement deciding when to abandon a pit before it collapsed onto the miners!

In the Black Country, bell pits were commonly used to obtain coal or iron ore. When one pit was determined to be worked out or unsafe, another would be started nearby until no more valuable material could be safely and economically recovered from the site. It was quite usual to just walk away from worked out pits, leaving them to remain standing or to collapse, as nature and weather dictated. It was not common practice, at the time, to document the location of these pits, and even if it had been it is likely that such records would no longer be available today.

Modern consequences Time to return to the present, and to the Midland Metro in the centre of Wolverhampton late last year, close to the stop known as ‘The Royal’, the last stop before the St. George’s terminus in the city.

As part of a project upgrading the Metro for the introduction of new and longer Urbos 3 trams from CAF, a new crossover had been laid in just south of ‘The Royal’. A

Partially excavated bell pit showing the rubble infill.

Rail Engineer • March 2015

life expired old crossover north of the stop was redundant as a result, and work began removing it and excavating out the foundation slab upon which it had lain.

All this was encompassed in a £4.5 million track improvement scheme lead by Centro, the region’s public transport co-ordinator. Main contractor for the works was Graham Construction, with specialist railway works undertaken by Rhomberg Sersa.

It was at this point that the project team got a nasty surprise. Paul Griffiths, metro programme director for Centro, recounted that, as the excavation proceeded, it became clear that under the slab was a lot of rubble, full of voids and unstable. Ground proving radar surveys had not detected this (probably because of the existence of the reinforced concrete track slab, it is thought), and neither had desk studies of existing records of the area and of the original Metro construction.

Reinstating the Metro over the top of this without proper remedial measures was clearly not an option.

Whilst investigations were undertaken to establish the extent and depth of the rubble filled void, Centro began seeking advice about what they had found and how it might be made safe. Consultant AECOM was engaged to provide expert advice and Centro also consulted other metro operators, through the UITP and UK Tram.

The problem lay in an awkward location, since at the affected location the tramway runs between the two carriageways of the A41 Bilston Road between Steelhouse Lane and Hospital Street. The proximity of the highway restricted any engineering activities because of the risk of damaging the road. With the tramway shut, closing the road and further restricting options for commuters and other travellers was not an option.

Investigations eventually determined that the void extended to a depth of about 12 metres, covering an area about 54 metres long and 20 metres wide. With the size of the problem determined, activity shifted to consideration of possible remedial options.

What to do?

Amongst those considered was sheet piling right around the void, excavating the rubble fill and backfilling with suitable material, properly compacted. This was dismissed as too expensive and time consuming. A similar conclusion put paid to the option of bridging over the void with a slab carried upon bored piles inserted down to sound ground.

Other options considered and rejected included grouting up the existing fill, and the idea of laying in ballasted track over the rubble, accepting that regular track maintenance by tamping would then be essential for many years.

The solution eventually adopted involved covering the existing fill with a geotextile to prevent the migration of fines, then layers of geogrid separating layers of compacted hardcore, all supporting a 5 metre wide reinforced concrete track slab. AECOM recommended Wrekin’s E’GRID 3030L or an equivalent medium loading (100kpa or 12 tonnes axial load) biaxial geogrid.

The work obviously involved a certain amount of excavation of the existing fill so as to get the correct levels for the final slab, but this excavation was relatively shallow and presented no risk to the adjoining highway.

Worth the wait The unexpected closure has meant significant inconvenience to local residents and Metro users. The planned reopening of the line following the renewal project works had been due in November 2014 but, following completion of the remedial work, the actual date was the last week of January.

While ‘The Royal’ was opened on 15 December, the bell pit has caused a seriously disruptive delay as well, no doubt, as significant extra costs. However, Paul Griffiths is satisfied that the line has been made safe by the most effective means in the minimum reasonable timescale. He said that the expected settlement of the completed track should not exceed 5mm in 20 years, a very creditable outcome.

Advantage was taken of the delayed reopening at ‘The Royal’ to simultaneously complete the planned alterations for the Urbos 3 trams at the Wolverhampton terminus, St. George’s Street. To some extent, this compensated for the delay.

89

90

Rail Engineer • March 2015

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