SIGNALLING & TELECOMS
Network Rail’s timeline
2017 – ETCS Level 2 overlay solution installed on Western from Paddington to Heathrow, allowing Crossrail ETCS to run 2018 – ETCS Level 2 overlay from King’s Cross to Wood Green area (signals removed in 2020) 2018 – ETCS Level 2 with no signals from Moorgate to Drayton Park 2019 – ETCS Level 2 overlay complete on Western from Paddington to Bristol (signals removed by 2025) 2020 – ETCS Level 2 full solution (signals away) on the East Coast Main Line from King’s Cross to South Doncaster
Tomlin said: “You wouldn’t have any overlay mode, as the train is reporting its integrity because you haven’t got track circuits anymore to prove that, and therefore you get a full moving block scenario – which is very similar to some of the modern metro CBTC systems around the world.”
Level 3 is being discussed in Europe, and Hitachi has experience of Level 3 equivalent projects – such as ATACS in Japan, with the East Japan Railway Company. In fact, the world’s first passenger service for a radio-based train control system without track circuits on a main line commenced in March 2012.
ETCS fitting
For the Class 37 locomotives contract, Hitachi has been awarded a full turnkey package which
86 | rail technology magazine Aug/Sep 14
includes the design, vehicle modification, ETCS installation, testing and commissioning. The scheduled date for completion is August 2015.
“We’re going do the installation at Barrow Hill Roundhouse, a private depot that has been used before for some of these modifications, so there’s some experience there,” said Tomlin.
“We will then be doing some static testing in the depot to make sure everything has been interfaced and installed correctly.
“We will then take the vehicles to the line for full dynamic testing under specific modes to demonstrate to West Coast Railways and to the client, Network Rail, that we have a working system – and to basically enable handback to the operator.”
RTM asked what difficulty there is in retro- fitting trains with ETCS, compared to designing ETCS-compliant vehicles from the start, as with Hitachi’s own IEP ‘Super Express’ Class 800s for the Great Western and East Coast main lines.
Tomlin told us the retro-fit isn’t a major problem. “It is an interface issue,” he said. “We have to put a new screen into the cab, which is the driver’s screen and shows the speed and what’s coming over the next 8km or more.”
He added that there are some “minor” cab modifications needed to put the new screen in. There is also some electronic equipment that goes under the frame to read the balises, which shows the position of the train to the system.
“We also have some roof antennas to pick up the radio signalling from the GSM-R network,” said Tomlin.
“The cubicles which go on board basically monitor and calculate the braking curves against the data received. If they need to, they will intervene with the brakes on the vehicle and bring it to a halt. That’s the key interface there: the Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL 4) system.”
ETCS roll-out nationally
ETCS development continues on the Hertfood Loop, but the upcoming major implementations are the Great Western Main Line (London to Bristol), the south end of the East Coast Main Line (London to Peterborough) and Thameslink in its central section, with ATO (Automatic Train Operation). The box out shows Network Rail’s current timeline.
ETCS is going to become ‘business as usual’ on the UK railway. Tomlin added that Hitachi has vast experience with ETCS integration interface.
Although the Cambrian Line contract is the first win in the UK for its technology, the company is hopeful “many others” are in the pipeline for the future.
Richard Tomlin
opinion@railtechnologymagazine.com TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
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