Signalling
European standard version of the UK’s automatic train protection system, which stops trains passing signals at danger. At Level 1, information about speed limits is passed to a screen, or driver machine interface (DMI), in the driver’s cab via balises on the track, but conventional signals are still used. Axle counters or track circuits monitor a train’s position. Level 2, which is being used on the
Cambrian trial, sees signals replaced by a more sophisticated cab display, but axle counters and track circuits are still needed to provide information on a train’s location. Level 3 is still being developed, but it will
eventually see the introduction of moving block signalling, where radio signals would be able to continuously monitor a train’s position. This will potentially allow for trains to run more closely together than they can using traditional signal blocks. ‘If you look at the East Coast Main
Line, ETRMS is not going to give you more capacity because it’s constrained by its junctions,’ explains Morgan. ‘But if you look at these remoter lines where you’ve got 20 minute headways, ETRMS could give you a lot more trains – lines like the Highland
Line, Aberdeen to Inverness, Aberdeen to Dundee. You can add an awful lot more block sections. So there’s potential for reducing cost for upgrading signalling and improving capacity.’ Cost reductions come into play
because belises are cheaper than signals. Unsurprisingly, the DfT wants Network Rail to work with the rest of the rail industry to find the cheapest way to fit ERTMS. Industry-wide standards mean that all the major signalling suppliers have been developing their own equipment, which should all be compatible, offering ‘mix and match’ options when future routes are procured. At Levels 2 and 3, the main cost is in fitting out the trains. ‘If you can make the cab fitment process
simple and cheap, you could save a lot money,’ says Morgan. How big a job is it to fit the kit to a train? ‘It depends on the train! I think it’s
fair to say that the wiring in UK trains differs quite a lot. If you look at a new train, that’s fairly straightforward. If you look at an old BR-built train, the wiring can differ an awful lot. The ones on Cambrian involve accommodating a unit the size of
small wardrobes and they are a problem, because they take up luggage space. But manufacturers are now getting the size down. ‘Your first of class design might cost
you a million quid, because you’ve got to know how to do it and get all the safety improvements in place. Then the cost comes down significantly depending on how many trains you want to do. So it makes sense to do the largest fleets early on.’ From Network Rail’s point of view,
signalling centres will have roughly the same staffing needs as they do now – but the job of a signaller will become simpler. An emergency speed restriction, for example, just has to be fed into a computer and within 10 seconds all trains in the affected area will have that information and will have to obey the speed limit. ‘You don’t have to go and put boards
out, which can take ages,’ Morgan explains. ‘You don’t have to caution trains until you’ve done that. So emergency, or normal, speed restrictions are much easier to apply.’ The first mainline to use ERTMS will
be the Great Western, which is due for a full overlay system to be operational by 2018, as the automatic train protection system in the HSTs will be becoming life-expired. ‘The existing lights on sticks will be there and there will be an overlay of ERTMS. So fitted trains will have the DMI, which will tell the driver what to do. And let’s just hope the signals say the same thing!’ When the Intercity Express fleet – which
is set to replace HSTs – goes into production, ERTMS will be in-built from the outset. The same goes for the new Thameslink rolling stock, expected to be built by Siemens. In the meantime, another text track will be equipped on a five-mile section of the Hertford Loop on the East Coast Main Line. Test trains will run during quiet parts of the day, which will allow the new Thameslink and IEP trains to be tested before they go into passenger use. This is due to begin in 2013, but Network Rail is hoping to have it ready from the end of next year. The DfT-chaired ERTMS Strategy
A GSM-R training panel PAGE 26 AUGUST 2011
Group, with representatives from organisations including Atoc, the Roscos, RSSB and ORR, is working on a strategy for fitting ERTMS nationally. The current schedule will see the Great Western completed by 2018, though the signals will not be removed until 2025. East Coast is due to be re-signalled with ERTMS by 2025 and the Midland Main Line by 2023.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40