TESTING SERVICES & EQUIPMENT
Availability, maintainability and reliability – SSR re-signalling
The new signalling system for London Underground’s sub-surface lines is being tested at the Old Dalby test track in Leicestershire. RTM talks to Bombardier’s project manager Peter Acton.
T
esting has now begun on the new signalling system to be installed on London Underground’s sub-surface lines, in a joint project between LU and Bombardier, whose Cityflo 650 system is being installed across 310km of track and 113 stations.
LU and Bombardier are installing the new Cityflo 650 system to run more trains and increase capacity. The contract is worth around £354m. The upgrade also covers equipment installation for 191 S Stock trains, 86 Piccadilly line trains, 49 engineering trains and six heritage trains; one integrated service control centre and back-up facility; seven signalling equipment rooms; and 36 major track layout changes.
Bombardier’s Peter Acton is helping deliver the project, based out of TfL’s Buckingham Palace Road offices. He told us: “We need to get this railway system moving at 32 trains per hour, up from 27 at the moment – that’s the crux of the matter.
“It’s about moving people quicker, having a closer headway. This is not a fixed block; it is a moving block format so you are going to have trains not far from each other. You’re going to be able to see the back of the train in front of you.
“People will be shifting through London much 220 | rail technology magazine Apr/May 13
more quickly, efficiently and effectively than today.
“Obviously we’re working very hard on reliability, with new trains and new signalling.
“The beauty about this signalling is that it’s got fewer parts and fewer components.
“We’re delivering it without any closures. If you work in London or travel around London, a closure is nothing but a pain.
“However, we are hoping to take advantage of some of the closures that the track people have in place, if we can jump on the back of one of their closures.
“Engineering hours equals 3.5 hours a night, but if I have a weekend, I can do two weeks work in one weekend.”
No overlay phase
As explained in our interview with LU capital programmes director David Waboso on page 56, a key reason for Bombardier’s Cityflo 650 being chosen was seeing how easily it was installed in Madrid.
But the London installation, due for completion by 2018, will actually be even smoother, Acton
“Bombardier Transportation’s approach is to provide a new system as an overlay on top of the legacy signalling set; on commissioning, the old legacy system simply becomes redundant.
“It is simple and it’s an almost beautiful situation to be in; there is no interface needed to the old legacy system at all, because we’re missing out that overlay stage.”
told us. “We’ve learnt our lessons from Madrid and from the Victoria line as well [that project, with LU and Invensys Rail, finished recently after nearly nine years of upgrade work on the line, delivering 30tph capacity in the peak.]
“We ‘did the job twice’ on those: we did an overlay phase and then an asset replacement phase.
“We have avoided that here, by designing straight into the ATO asset replacement stage.
“The advantage of installing it is that we do it once, and of course we’re helped here because unlike say on the Victoria line, where we had old trains in initially and then we had new trains coming on board, we’ve got the new trains already there coming in.
“So we’re going straight into the final state, the asset replacement phase.
All images © TfL
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