COMPANY NEWS
Preventing signalling power failures
The UK rail industry is experiencing unprecedented growth, with twice as many passengers and a doubling of freight expected by 2035. The need to maintain a reliable service is paramount, and signalling power failures can be one of the primary causes of train delays, says Paul Fleming, general manager, Camlin Rail.
T
he 650V legacy power network was first built in the 1950s. A typical signalling power feeder consists of a single fused supply point, up to 10km of power cable and multiple location cases distributed trackside. In the event of a cable fault or theft, the fuse will rupture and the signals will turn black, causing trains to stop and delay minutes to start. During this time a maintainer will be called to site to locate the fault, repair the cable and restore supply, which can take up to five hours.
While the severity of the delay may be minimal on rural routes, on major routes such as the West Coast Main Line (WCML) the delay costs can easily run into hundreds of thousands of pounds with a direct impact on route reliability and customer satisfaction.
configuration.
Designed, developed and implemented by Camlin Rail nearly ten years ago and installed strategically on the WCML, Signet is available as a Class I or Class II product and is suitable for 400V or 650V signalling power feeders. Signet is applicable to double or single end fed feeders but double end fed is more common. A double end feeder is powered from both ends via a PSP (Principal Supply Point) with an open point in the middle to prevent joining two independent power supplies together. FSPs (Functional Supply points) are installed trackside and they distribute the power to the signals and points. The feeder is completely intelligent, as each
Improving reliability and availability
Signet solves the problem of signalling power failures by automatically re-configuring the network in the event of a fault, such as cable theft, to maintain supply, with no effect to train services and no delays.
Camlin Rail is the only Network Rail approved supplier of automatic reconfiguration for signalling power – Signet.
Signet is a ‘smart grid’ that is designed to maintain the supply of power. In the event of a fault, or even when a section of the power cable is stolen, the Signet switches first open in order to protect the power system and then re-configure the network in order to isolate the faulted or missing section and provide continuity of supply. Once the fault has been repaired or the missing cable replaced, Signet will restore the network back into its original
16 | rail technology magazine Apr/May 13
Camlin Rail – the new name for Kelvatek in the UK rail industry
Camlin Rail, part of the Camlin Group, supplies a range of innovative products to the global rail industry. The Camlin Group, with its subsidiaries Kelvatek, Camlin Rail and Camlin Power, is a privately owned holding company with a distinguished 30-year history within the global utility and rail sectors. Camlin headquarters are based in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, with engineering and customer support facilities located around the world.
Due to the continued growth of its UK rail business, Camlin has formed a dedicated subsidiary, Camlin Rail, in order to ensure continued innovation and support for the UK rail sector. The railway team remains unchanged under Paul Fleming and we look forward to meeting all our customers at Railtex on stand E111.
FSP contains a Signet to dynamically control the flow of power throughout the feeder.
Signet is the last line of defence on signalling power feeders so it is absolutely critical that it operates first time every time in order to maintain signalling supply. In order to achieve such high levels of performance, Signet underwent several months of rigorous testing and scrutiny by leading Network Rail power and software engineers.
Protecting the WCML
Cable theft is a national issue, unpredictable in nature, and causes widespread disruption on key routes. Signet has proved to be an invaluable tool in countering the problems caused by cable theft by automatically isolating the missing section of cable and re-configuring the power to maintain supply to the signals with no effect on train movements and no delays. Following a fault condition, Signet provides intelligence to asset management through automatic alerts including feeder location and the identification of the faulted section.
Over 550 Signet units are currently installed and operating on the WCML, the busiest route in the UK connecting London to Glasgow, carrying over 30m passengers annually. Signet is responsible for ensuring power is continually delivered to the signalling systems and, over the last ten years, has performed thousands of successful operations, saving time and money for the route operator while improving the reliability and quality of train services.
www.camlinrail.com FOR MORE INFORMATION
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