IT training rail engineer TruePDF march 2019

by rail engineers for rail engineers

MARCH 2019 – ISSUE 172

BUYING

’s
HS2

HIGH-SPEED TRAINS

TRAIN DETECTION

In this Signalling & Telecoms issue, Rail Engineer
looks at the pros and cons of using axle counters
or track circuits to monitor train position.
RELEARNING ELECTRIFICATION

GSM-R MOBILE UPGRADE

The Railway Industry Association has issued its
report on why electrification is so expensive
and how to keep costs down.

With GSM-R likely to be around for a few years,
consideration needs to be given to upgrading
on-board hardware to the latest version.

www.railengineer.co.uk

DIGITAL RAILWAY,

SIGNALLING &
TELECOMS


14th International Exhibition of Railway Equipment, Systems & Services

Register
r
Online fo
Now!

@railtex #Railtex2019

www.railtex.co.uk

14 - 16 MAY 2019
NEC, BIRMINGHAM, UK

The show for everyone involved in shaping the future of UK rail


RAIL ENGINEER MAGAZINE

CONTENTS

28
Digital Railway,
Signalling & Telecoms

06

10
16
54
16

18
24
28
34
38
42

Feature

News
Railtex, North West investment, Siemens/Alstom merger,
Edinburgh Trams.

Buying HS2’s high-speed trains
David Shirres looks at the bidding process in the first of
two articles on HS2 train procurement.

Network Rail devolves still further
New chief executive Andrew Haines has outlined his plans
for CP6, including regional reorganisation.

Relearning electrification
The Railway Industry Association reports on the costs and
challenges oif electrification.

Head of Digital Railway to retire
Clive Kessell sat down with David Waboso to look back
over his career.

Nokia: The common bearer
Paul Darlington investigates the telecoms ‘glue’ that binds
the digital railway together.

Train detection
Track circuits or axle counters? Both have their pros and
cons, and their supporters.

Repoint: New thinking in point machines
Malcolm Dobell visits the Great Central Railway where a
new design of point machine goes on test.

The management of railway incidents
Austrian Railways turned to Frequentis for assistance with
incident management across its network.

Evolution of signalling
David Bickell discusses the origins and development of
signalling technology and practice.

38

46
50

Thameslink Telecoms

While all the talk is of new trains and new signalling, it is
the telecoms system that makes it all work.

50

A necessary GSM-R mobile upgrade
When the time comes to move from GSM-R to 5G, how
should the migration take place?

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

3


Reduce Costs
The rail industry is changing, fast. The need to improve efficiency
and reliability, whilst minimising disruption and costs has never
been greater.

SLEEPER
SPACING
INDEPENDENT

Innovative solutions are needed.
Whether it’s a temporary, semi-permanent or permanent
access point, whatever the sleeper spacing, our customers
can install a 10.8m RRAP in less than 90 minutes, reducing
possession times and costs.
Rosehill Rail – Setting New Standards

Quick and easy to install

For more information, or to enquire about
training, please call the Rosehill Rail sales
team on +44 (0)1422 317 473, or email


26 - 28 March 2019 - Stand 2/504
Lille Grand Palais Exhibition Centre,
Lille, France

Accommodates irregular
sleeper spacing
26 - 28 March 2019
Stand 3.012
Jaarbeurs Utrecht,
The Netherlands

Certificate:
PA05/04429

Locking plates link field
and gauge panels

Road Crossings

//

Road Rail Access

//

Pedestrian Crossings

//

Anti-Trespass


RAIL ENGINEER MAGAZINE

EDITORIAL

© iStock Photo

Signalling the future
Andrew Haines knew that Network Rail
was letting its passengers and freight users
down before he became its new chief
executive. After a hundred days in the job,
spent speaking to all concerned, he now
knows what must be done. This includes the
devolution of control to five new regions to
make the company more responsive to its
customers.
This signals much more than an
organisational change. Haines believes that
decision-making must be closer to the end
user and so is devolving many HQ roles to
the new regions. These include Infrastructure

Projects and elements of the engineering
function.
Exactly how engineering will be devolved
remains to be seen. One example is the
management of standards which, as Network
Rail’s own standards challenge process
acknowledges, can currently be overprescriptive.
Now, although standards management
might be felt to be a headquarters function,
perhaps it would be better to have standards
commonly owned rather than centrally
controlled. This will require highly competent
regional engineers, who will be accountable
for the system risk on their routes, having
ownership of the standards process as a
group and, as they are closer to the issues, it
may well result in more appropriate standards.
There are also significant implications
for the Group Digital Railway programme,
which Haines does not refer to in the
transformational terms used by his
predecessor. Instead, the new organisation
will give regions the authority to decide what
is best for their customers.
However the digital railway develops, it
owes a debt to David Waboso who, after
joining the programme in 2016, prioritised
it to deliver business benefits for passenger
and freight customers. Before then, it offered
digital solutions for everything everywhere.

Some may be surprised to learn that David is

a civil engineer, as Clive Kessell describes in a
feature that marks his wide-ranging career.
Minimising delays on a congested network
requires the ultra-high reliability that comes
from redundancy to avoid single point failures,
such as those that can occur in the control,
actuation, detection and locking of points.
To address this problem, a new point system
offering redundancy is now in trial operation.
As Malcolm Dobell describes, the novel
Repoint mechanism does this by having a
drive mechanism that is not secured to the
rails, which enables them to move with only
one actuator operational.
This month, we have two general signalling
features which should be of interest to
non-signalling engineers. David Bickell
explains how Network Rail’s 40,000 signals
are part of a signalling system that has been
developed to control train movements in
the most efficient manner whilst optimising
capacity. In another feature, which should be
good reading for permanent way engineers,
Paul Darlington explains train detection
technology.
On Thameslink, signalling is now in the
train cab. This required a significant GSM-R
network upgrade to ensure resilience, provide

sufficient data capacity for ETCS operation
and eliminate interference in the congested
London core. GSM-R interference is also
an increasing problem elsewhere, as public
operators are allocating frequencies close
to the GSM-R bandwidth. The solution is a
£55 million programme to replace 9,000 cab
radios with ones that have improved filters.
Yet, in the not too-distant future, these
radios will be obsolete. GSM-R will then
be replaced by the Future Railways Mobile
Communication System. In an in-depth
feature, we consider the telecommunications
technologies that might replace GSM-R.
These will need to provide reliable, efficient
and high-capacity connectivity for both
passengers and operational services, as well
as allowing for bandwidth expansion for new

applications that are unknown today.
HS2 will also have trains with yet-to-be
developed technologies. The company’s
£2.75 billion procurement of its trains will see
bidders submitting their tenders in April. This
process allows for collaborative design after
next year’s contract award to ensure trains
are state-of-the-art when they enter service in
2026. HS2 will then provide a huge increase
in capacity from London to the North and,
from 2033, free up space on the West Coast,

Midland and East Coast main lines, a fact
which recent television documentaries have
ignored.
HS2’s trains must of course be electric. No
other form of traction can power high-speed
trains or, indeed, those that require high
acceleration to provide an acceptable service.
In its report to government, the industry’s
decarbonisation taskforce recognises that
it is also “the most carbon efficient power
source”.
Unfortunately, the UK Government has
fallen out of favour with electrification due to
high cost overruns of the Great Western and
other electrification schemes. In its recentlyreleased Electrification Cost Challenge
report, the Railway Industry Association
explains why these schemes were so costly
and demonstrates how electrification can be
delivered at an affordable cost, with reference
to schemes in Scotland and in Europe. It
remains to be seen whether the conclusions of
RIA’s excellent report will be accepted so that,
in future, passengers on busy non-electrified
lines can experience the benefits provided by
the electric trains that operate 72 per cent of
the UK’s train services.
As many of our features show this month,
UK rail has an encouraging future, but only
if it can deliver for
its customers at an

affordable cost.
RAIL ENGINEER EDITOR

DAVID
SHIRRES

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

5


6

THE TEAM

NEWS

Editor
David Shirres


Production Editor
Nigel Wordsworth


Production and design
Adam O’Connor

Matthew Stokes

Engineering writers




All sectors covered at Railtex 2019












Advertising
Asif Ahmed



Chris Davies



Jolene Price

Rail Engineer
Rail Media House,
Samson Road, Coalville
Leicestershire, LE67 3FP, UK.
Switchboard:

01530 816 444

Website: www.railengineer.co.uk

Rail Engineer Videos
ia/REYouTube

Editorial copy to
Email:



Free controlled circulation
Email:



The small print
Rail Engineer is published by
RailStaff Publications Limited and
printed by PCP Ltd.
© All rights reserved. No part of this
magazine may be reproduced in any
form without the prior written

permission of the copyright owners.
Part of:
®
www.rail-media.com

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

With the exhibition now less than three months
away, Railtex 2019 is taking reservations from a
huge variety of new exhibitors, covering every
aspect of rolling stock and infrastructure services
across three days of industry showcasing.
The 14th international exhibition
of railway equipment, systems and
services is UK rail’s premier event,
where organisations meet, network and
demonstrate products, innovations and
expertise to the wider rail industry.
Over 360 exhibitors from 22 countries
have now booked a stand at Railtex. The
big names include Alstom, British Steel,
HS2, Hitachi, PULSAR, Siemens, Stadler
and many more.
Rolling stock suppliers including train
carpet manufacturer Axminster Carpets,
commercial toilet supplier Dan Dryer,
lighting solutions firm KST Lighting &
Components, component manufacturing
and refurbishment firm Sabre Rail
Services, and adhesives, sealant and

coating provider Sika have all confirmed
their appearance at Railtex 2019, taking
place 14 to 16 May at Birmingham’s NEC.

Covering the design, infrastructure,
asset management and operations
sectors, exhibitors including infrastructure
specialists Adey Steel, switchgear supplier
Craig & Derricott, depot equipment
provider Garrandale Rail, cable and
pipe seal manufacturer Roxtec and
asset lifecycle management firm Trimble
Railway Solutions are all set to showcase
their latest offerings to thousands of
attending key buyers, managers and
decision makers.
With visitor registration now officially
open, keynote speakers and details of
the exhibition’s supporting programme
are set to be announced in the coming
weeks.
Visitors are being encouraged to register
in advance at www.railtex.co.uk to avoid
paying a £20 on-the-door fee.


NEWS

MPs call for increased
rail investment in the

North West
A pledge to support rail investment
in the North West has been signed by
more than twenty cross-party MPs who
represent constituencies across the
Liverpool and Manchester city regions.
United by an interest
in the vital role played
by the rail industry in the
North West, the various
MPs pledged to support rail
investment, more skilled jobs
in the railway industry, work
for local supply chains, and
investment in skills, people
and technology.
Coordinated by Alstom,
which has a world-class centre
for train modernisation in
Widnes, Cheshire, the pledge
has been supported by a
number of local businesses,
union and interest groups
including the Greater
Manchester Chamber of
Commerce, Hayley Group,
Liverpool City Region LEP,
Liverpool Chamber of
Commerce, Northern Rail
Industry Leaders, Riverside

College, the TUC, Wabtec,
and the Institute of Railway
Research at Huddersfield
University.

Alstom UK customer director
Mike Hulme, who is also
vice-chair of Northern Rail
Industry Leaders, said: “The
idea behind the pledge was to
build a coalition of support in
Parliament for rail investment
in the region. There is such
a great potential for the rail
industry to be a force in the
Liverpool and Manchester city
regions, and encouraging local
MPs to pledge to support that
potential will open the door for
investment and jobs.”
The Pledge was signed by
local MPs: Kate Green, Maria
Eagle, Mike Amesbury, Luciana
Berger, Lucy Powell and James
Frith, Sir David Crausby, George
Howarth, Andrew Gwynne,
Afzal Khan, Conor McGinn,
Dan Carden, Sir Lindsay Hoyle,
Mike Kane, Stephen Twigg, Bill
Esterson, Frank Field, Faisal

Rashid (pictured), Dame Louise
Ellman, Tony Lloyd and Chris
Green.

coming
soon...
APRIL 2019
TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION &


RAILTEX PREVIEW
Trains, signalling, asset management,
communications, and even station control systems,
all have technology at their heart. Developing this
technology presents its own challenges. In addition,
Rail Engineer looks ahead to the UK’s major rail
exhibition at the NEC, with details of companies to
see and presentations to attend.
Academic Research, Advanced Thinking, Compliance,
Innovation, Internet of Trains, Latest Technology, New
Working Practices, Novel Techniques, Pilot Studies,
Product Approvals, Research & Development, Testing.
RAILTEX: Displays, Exhibitor list, Floorplan, Innovations,
Networking, Keynotes, Seminars.

MAY 2019
PLANT, EQUIPMENT &


RAILWORX PREVIEW

As work on the railway becomes increasingly
mechanised due to the pressures of productivity and
efficiency, Rail Engineer looks at the latest equipment
and techniques that are coming to or have arrived on
worksites around the network.
The first ever RailWorx outdoor exhibition will take
place in June and this issue previews what visitors will
be able to see at the show.
Attachments, Excavation, Hand tools, Handling,
Hire, Innovation, Lifting, Maintenance, Piling, Power
Tools, Product Launches, Road-Rail, Safety, Surveying,
Welding, Welfare
RAILWORX: Demonstrations, Displays, Exhibitor list,
Innovations, Networking, Site Plan

JUNE 2019
ROLLING STOCK & DEPOTS
With trains and their systems becoming ever more
complicated, Rail Engineer’s specialist writers cover
everything that improves performance, increases
efficiency, and keeps passengers happy. New trains,
refurbished older ones, improved technology and
alternative fuels are all considered and evaluated.
Comfort, Components, Condition Monitoring, Depots,
Driverless Technology, Equipment, Fuel, Inspection,
Interiors, Lifting, Light-Rail Vehicles, Lighting,
Maintenance, New designs, Onboard Entertainment,
Operation, Passenger Information, Platform-Train
Interface, Refurbishment, Safety Initiatives, Train
Washing, Tram-Train, Underground Trains, Wheel-Rail

Interface
Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

7


8

NEWS

Proposed rail merger hits the buffers
The fate of the planned European rail giant Siemens Alstom was sealed on 6
February when unresolved concerns surrounding its impact on competition
and the price of signalling and very high-speed trains caused the European
Commission to veto the move, despite concessions being made.
Commissioner Margrethe
Vestager (pictured), in charge
of competition policy, said:
“Millions of passengers across
Europe rely every day on
modern and safe trains.
“Siemens and Alstom are
both champions in the rail
industry. Without sufficient
remedies, this merger would
have resulted in higher prices
for the signalling systems that
keep passengers safe and for
the next generations of very
high-speed trains.

“The Commission prohibited
the merger because the

companies were not willing
to address our serious
competition concerns.”
Alstom described the
decision as “a clear set-back
for industry in Europe”. Both
parties had stressed that the
combined company would
have created a European
player with the ability to cope
with growing competition from
non-EU companies.
Globalisation of the rolling
stock market has created
opportunities for both but
it has also led to increased
competition from countries

such as South Korea, Japan
and China - particularly the
world’s dominant rail equipment
supplier CRRC - which
themselves are not open to
competition.
As a result of the decision from
Brussels, the merger - which was
backed by both the French and

German governments and would
have seen the creation of a new
entity with a turnover of €15.3
billion and 62,300 employees in
over 60 countries - will no longer
proceed.
During its lengthy investigation,
the European Commission

received negative comments
from customers, competitors,
industry associations and trade
unions, including Britain’s Office
of Rail and Road.
Responding to the news,
it released the following
statement: “We are pleased
to have played an important
role, alongside colleagues at
the Competition and Markets
Authority, in persuading the
Commission to reach the same
view and block this tie-up,
protecting vital competition for
the supply of signalling and high
speed rolling stock.”

INTEGRATED 19” CABINETS, RACKS & ENCLOSURES
Cannon Technologies Ltd
Queensway, Stem Lane

New Milton, Hampshire
BH25 5NU
T: +44 (0)1425 632600
E:
Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019


NEWS

Edinburgh trams could finally reach Newhaven
Edinburgh's tram network could be extended to Newhaven,
depending on the result of a Council meeting on 14 March.

Councillors will consider the Final Business Case (FBC) which sets
out the strategic, economic, financial, commercial and management
case for taking trams to Newhaven and outlines the project cost at
£196 million. This figure includes a significant additional risk allocation
as well as funding to support local business through the construction
process.
The project would be funded through future tram fare revenues,
along with a special dividend from Lothian Buses. The FBC predicts that
“The project is forecast to generate an incremental demand of seven
million passenger journeys in its opening year”, on top of the 7.4 million
journeys that were made on the current network in 2018. 

Even when the recommended percentage of ‘optimism bias’ is added,
which would take the project total to £207.3 million, the FBC states that
the project remains affordable and self-financing, and would not divert
funds from other Council services.
If the project is approved, passenger journeys to and from Newhaven
could commence in early 2023, following a six-month period of testing

and commissioning on the new 4.69km route between York Place and

Newhaven. Further, “it unlocks a large swathe of the city for housing
development and employment opportunities that would not be possible
without high capacity public transport”.
Construction is planned to use a ‘one-dig’ approach, with each
work site closing only once and then reopening only when all works
(archaeology, pre-infrastructure works and construction of the tram
route itself) are complete.
This approach reflects lessons learned from the previous tram project,
which incurred significant overruns. As a result, in 2009, two years after
construction started, the decision was taken to curtail the original Phase
1a route from Edinburgh Airport to Newhaven at the temporary York
Place stop, just after St Andrew Square.
The new proposals will see the York Place stop removed and
complete Phase 1a as it was originally envisaged. This extension will
benefit from the utility clearance work done by the original project
before phase 1a was curtailed and will not require purchase of any
further trams as the 2007 contract for 27 trams was sufficient for the
full phase 1a route.

PROTECTING ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

Cannon Technologies Ltd
Queensway, Stem Lane
New Milton, Hampshire
BH25 5NU
T:+44 (0)1425 632600
E:

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

9


FEATURE

’s
HS2
BUYING

10

DAVID
SHIRRES

HIGH-SPEED TRAINS

T

he projects and rolling stock that are featured in Rail Engineer must
often deal with the constraints of Britain’s historic railway infrastructure.
For HS2, this is not a problem, as the company has a blank canvas for
the design of Britain’s first domestic mainline railway for 120 years.

This leaves HS2 free to use best
practice to ensure that its new highspeed railway will offer the required
capacity, speed, reliability and value
for money, as well as designing for
energy efficiency and whole system

maintainability.
In addition to such operational issues,
there is also the requirement to satisfy
increasing customer expectations and
meet the needs of passengers who
are getting older, taller and broader.
When HS2 services start in 2026,
the requirement will be a stress-free,
seamless end-to-end journey. This may
require smart technology that has yet to
be invented.
At the heart of this vision is HS2’s fleet
of new trains that, for phase 1 of the
project, are currently subject to a £2.75
billion procurement exercise to purchase
at least 54 trains, each 200 metres
long, complete with their supporting
maintenance services. The designers of
these trains, however, do not have quite
the same blank canvas as is available to
HS2’s infrastructure designers, as the
trains are constrained by having to run on
both HS2 and the conventional network.

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

HS2 phase one will offer faster and
much-improved journeys on intercity
routes out of London Euston. In effect,
it is a by-pass for the West Coast main

line (WCML) between London and
Lichfield, with a spur to Birmingham,
and so will also release a large amount
of capacity on the bottom end of the
WCML. In 2026, this is expected to
carry ten trains an hour each way, of
which seven will use the WCML by-pass
to serve Manchester, Liverpool and

Glasgow. Hence the need for classiccompatible trains for HS2 phase one.
When the HS2 network is complete
after phase two opens in 2033, its Y
network will terminate at Manchester
and Leeds and will also by-pass the
WCML between London and Wigan
and the East Coast Main Line between
London and York. It is anticipated that
there will then be 24 trains per hour
(18 from London and six northwards
from Birmingham), of which 14 will run
on dedicated routes. This will require a
further order of about 100 trains, some
of which will be dedicated to the HS2
route to take advantage of its European
GC loading gauge.

(Above) Early designs released by Hitachi Rail Europe of its AT400 veryhigh-speed train, which has been labelled "the British bullet train". And the
ATR1000 Red Arrow that the Bombardier/Hitachi JV produced for Italy (below).

FEATURE
Selecting suppliers
HS2’s director of rolling stock and
depots, Iain Smith, told Rail Engineer
that, in selecting its train builders, the
company is seeking a train that offers
the best possible customer experience
in accordance with many aspects of the
Invitation to Tender. In doing so, there is
an absolute requirement to be fair, open
and transparent.
This requires an innovative approach
by the manufacturers, which the rolling
stock contract will reward. HS2 also
wishes to get maximum benefit from
designing the railway as an integrated
whole, for example by having trains and
infrastructure monitoring each other.
Before selecting bidders, the prequalification stage considered each
company’s record in respect of health
and safety, the environment, quality and
risk management, as well as its financial
standing and experience in the design,
manufacture and maintenance of highspeed rolling stock. Pre-qualification was
also guided by HS2’s strategic goals of
being a catalyst for growth and a good
neighbour, as well as offering capacity and
connectivity, value for money, passenger
experience, skills and employment, world
class standards and sustainability.

This was done against a range of
mandatory and discretionary pass/fail

and scored criteria that also considered
collaboration, innovation and contractual
flexibility. Consortia applications were
allowed, as there was no requirement for
applicants to be a single legal entity.
In November 2017, HS2 announced
that the five selected bidders for its
high-speed train contract were Alstom
Transport, Bombardier Transportation
UK, Hitachi Rail Europe, Patentes Talgo
and Siemens. In July, Bombardier and
Hitachi announced that they would form
a partnership to submit a joint bid for the
contract. CAF has subsequently joined
the shortlist of bidders in the interest of
maintaining robust competition. Part 2 of
this feature, in next month’s Rail Engineer,
will have more information about these
prospective high-speed train builders.
The HS2 trains contract is split into a
manufacturing and supply agreement
(MSA) and a train service agreement
(TSA). The MSA requires trains to be
built in accordance with HS2’s technical
specification, which includes on-board,
but not wayside, signalling and is

sufficiently flexible to take account of
emerging customer requirements.
The TSA covers maintenance, spares
and logistics management as well as
technical and obsolescence management,
but not daily servicing and cleaning. It
also includes the provision of operational
simulators and fitting out the new highspeed train depot at Washwood Heath in
Birmingham.
In addition to the technical specification,
the Invitation to Tender specifies the
delivery schedule and information that
bidders must supply. It also details how
HS2 will evaluate bids, including questions
and scoring criteria, and the population
of a whole-life model. This last aspect
is crucial, as the contract award will be
to the most economically advantageous
tender and so requires consideration of
a variety of factors such as maintenance
costs, track infrastructure charges, power
characteristics and passenger capacity.
The five bidders will submit their bids
in April. The contract award will be
announced early in 2020.

A Talgo Avril very-high-speed train.

Siemens produced the Velaro RUS (Sapsan), with wider bodies
and on 1,520mm-gauge bogies, for the Russian market.

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

11


12

FEATURE
Trains for 2050
As the trains that HS2 are about to
procure will be in service well into the
2050s, they will need to be adaptable
for both future needs and emerging
technologies. They must also meet
HS2’s environmental commitments by
minimising energy consumption, waste
and neighbour impact, with a particular
focus on noise reduction.
The 338-page Train Technical
Specification (TTS) specifies that trains
will be made up of one or two coupled
200-metre-long units. Interestingly, the
TTS does not specify vehicle length or
doorway position dimensions. To ease
passenger boarding, as well as facilitating
adoption of the platform edge protection
system that HS2 is considering, doorways
will have to be in consistent platform
positions. This implies that builders of

HS2’s first trains will determine vehicle
length and doorway positions for future
HS2 trains.
This is one example of the relationship
between the phase one and later train
orders and illustrates how the classic

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

compatible train designs will constrain
some aspects of the phase two trains.
A further example is that, from 2033,
all trains will need to have very similar
performance characteristics to maximise
capacity for the required 18 trains per
hour operation from London.
This frequency of train service will
also be made possible by ETCS level
2 signalling with highly repeatable
Automatic Train Operation, which is
likely to be a world-first for high-speed
rail.

The TTS traction performance
specification requires HS2 trains to be
able to accelerate from stationary to
360 km/h and cover 40 kilometres in
535 seconds. It also specifies journey
times from London to Birmingham and
Glasgow of respectively 45½ minutes

and 3 hours 45½ minutes, both with
only two stops. For the Glasgow
journey, this compares with current
Class 390 Pendolino performance of 4
hours 8 minutes, with a single stop at
Preston. Hence HS2 phase one will see


FEATURE
journey times to Scotland reduced by 20 minutes, despite one
extra stop and incurring a speed penalty on the curved route
through the northern hills as, unlike the current class 390s,
they won’t tilt.

Operations and maintenance
HS2 is to build its phase one Washwood Heath train
maintenance depot in close co-operation with the appointed
rolling stock manufacturer, which will fit out the depot to deliver
its maintenance services, although daily servicing and cleaning
will be the responsibility of the train operator. The maintenance
contract is for a 12-year period.
The manufacturer will be expected to design the HS2 fleet
for ease of maintenance, with high reliability and availability
in mind. The TTS specifies a mean distance between serviceaffecting failures of at least 300,000 kilometres on the HS2
network and 150,000 on the conventional rail network.
To minimise downtime, a maximum repair time for items that
could be damaged or vandalised ranges from 45 minutes for
internal loudspeaker repairs in a station to six hours for a depot
window replacement.
Operational requirements include specified access for

servicing tasks and the requirement to have the units ready
for service within three minutes from their shut down status
and for units to be coupled together within two minutes. The
passenger and crew facilities must be designed to ensure that
the passenger service is consistently delivered.

NETWORK RAIL’S VEGETATION
MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS
Stobart Rail & Civils is a Tier 1 supplier on Network
Rail’s National Vegetation Management Framework.
Our vegetation management teams work with Network
Rail Delivery Units across eight routes to deliver this
essential activity for Network Rail.

CAPABILITIES
• Our experienced vegetation management team is a solid
unit which includes some of the industry’s brightest and most
experienced individuals
• Our in-house GIS Manager and Ecologist, support the
management team, using cutting edge technology to inform
those on the front line
• Our directly employed teams are supported by specialist
suppliers to provide a national coverage to Network Rail
• Our skills cover general vegetation clearance, tree felling,
chipper hire, IRATA, site clearance, enabling works, RRV hire

CONTACT
Lauren Douglas, Business Development Officer

Mark Shead, Contracts Manager

www.stobartrail.com

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

13


14

FEATURE

CAF's Oaris is the Spanish
manufacturer's latest generation
of very-high-speed train

The manufacturer must also provide
operational simulators, which must
minimise the use of real trains for
operational training. HS2 also wishes
to see trains designed to support safe
and prompt platform train dispatch
arrangements.
One such improvement is the virtually
step and gap-free train access on the
HS2 network for which a platform height
of 1,115 mm has been specified. This
follows Japanese and Chinese practice of
step-free access on high-speed routes, in
contrast to the lack of step-free access in

Europe where the relevant standard (INF
TSI) specifies platform heights of 550 mm
or 760 mm and allows for a special UK
case of 915 mm.
As platforms on the HS2 network must
accommodate phase-two trains, built to
GC loading gauge, the classic-compatible
trains will have a moveable bridging
piece 240 mm wide between the vehicle
body and platforms. On the conventional
network, they will have extending steps,
as on the current WCML Class 390 units.
This level access at HS2 stations will
greatly benefit those whose mobility
is impaired or who have prams and
heavy luggage. It will also help achieve
the required two-minute dwell time at
intermediate stations. Dwell time is also
defined in the TTS, which requires the
unit to have a 95 per cent confidence
of delivering a two-minute intermediate
station dwell time as calculated in
accordance with a specified dwell time
model.

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

The passenger experience
Manufacturers are to submit proposals
that allow for coach interiors to be

fitted out in accordance with a yet-to-be
determined final design. This provides
flexibility for the trains to cope with the
differing needs of those with a 45-minute
journey from London to Birmingham or
one of over 3.5 hours to Scotland, as well
as business travellers in the week and
leisure travellers at weekends or holidays.
Designs must also be sufficiently flexible
to accommodate emerging technologies
that could improve customer experience.
On-board seating will have to meet the
requirements of the yet-to-be-appointed
West Coast Partnership franchise that is
to develop and introduce HS2 services.
This franchise will also finalise the HS2
timetable that will determine the actual
number of trains required, which could be
more than the minimum of 54 specified in
the contract.
To provide this flexibility, the TTS
requirement specifies a contractually
protected area. This is the area available
within each vehicle that can be used for
the fitment of interior equipment without
any structural changes. Within this area,

the operator will determine the mix of
the 1+2, 2+2 and high-density seating,
catering and luggage storage options.

There is also a requirement for seats and
tables to be moveable without affecting
floor coverings. Each seat will have a
three-pin socket, USB port, coat hook
reading light, cup holder and storage for
small items.
There is a detailed specification for highquality passenger information systems
and their content management, which
includes the ability to display messages
sent from a wayside station to trains, or
groups of trains. Bluetooth, or similar,
wayfinding beacons are also specified so
that passengers can use their devices to
guide themselves through the train.
The TTS stresses the need to make
passengers feel safe, comfortable and
welcome, as well as the importance
of human factors and good industrial
design. It explains how the appointed
manufacturer will need to work
collaboratively with HS2 and other
stakeholders, in particular the train
operator and passenger user groups, to
develop the “user-facing elements of the
unit”.


FEATURE
Alstom’s Avelia Liberty train, scheduled to
enter service with US operator Amtrak in

2022, combines very-high-speed
capability with a Tiltronix
tilting system.

After contract award
An extensive collaborative design
period will follow next year’s contract
award, after which it is expected that
the first trains will be built in 2022/23
and then be subject to extensive
off-network testing during 2023 and
2024. After the testing programme
has delivered a design that is capable
and reliable, the main production
programme will start, probably in
2024.
As the systems integrator, HS2
must both test its new high-speed
infrastructure and confirm that its new
trains can run on it satisfactorily. To
support this work, HS2 is developing
a systems integration laboratory. The
train manufacturer’s role in testing
the new high-speed infrastructure is
crucial, as this will require trains in a
known configuration. This process
will be highly collaborative, from the
manufacturer’s early supply of its train
systems for integration laboratory
testing to the final testing at high

speed. Testing and validation on the
conventional network will also be
required.

Systems testing does not solely
concern technical integration. HS2’s
trains and infrastructure will have many
crew and passenger systems, all of
which will need to be tested from a
human factors perspective. Hence,
from 2025, the trains will be subject to
operational testing on the conventional
network. This will require significant
collaboration between the manufacturer

and the HS2 train operator.
In December 2026, the first paying
customers should be boarding a
high-speed train on Britain’s new
domestic high-speed network. As well
as a faster journey, these passengers
will experience trains that the HS2
procurement process will ensure have
been designed and built around their
needs.

RAISING STANDARDS
MOBILE COLUMN LIFTS
FOR THE RAIL INDUSTRY

With 40 years’ experience in heavy duty
lifting solutions, TotalKare combines
world class products with industry
leading support to facilitate effective
maintenance and repair, keeping you
on track for success.

CALL 0121 585 2724
VISIT WWW.TOTALKARE.CO.UK

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

15


16

FEATURE

Network Rail

devolves still further

N

etwork Rail has announced sweeping changes
to its organisation following the completion of
new chief executive Andrew Haines’ ‘100 Day
Review’. Introducing his plans, Andrew
Haines said that the organisation needed to put

passengers and freight users first: “The need for
radical change is clear. Performance is not good
enough and my comprehensive discussions with
partners, passengers and politicians up and
down the country has made clear to me the
things we do well and the areas where we need
to improve.”
His solution is to decentralise, pushing
devolution forward and shrinking the central
overhead. Increasing the number of routes, from
eight to 13, is intended to make them more
aligned to train operators’ franchises, to improve
the synergy between track and train and to
reverse poor performance.
These 13 routes will fall into five new Regions
that will have the headquarters teams to support
them and, the idea is, make Network Rail “fleeter
of foot”.
Many current ‘head-office’ roles and
responsibilities are to devolve and will be absorbed
by the five new regions, which will be of sufficient
size and scale to support the customer-facing end of
the business (the routes).

Reduced centre
So the five new regional managing directors will,
between them, be responsible for the 13 new routes. The
intention is that this will allow Network Rail to reduce its
national centre still further and to be much more aligned to
the passenger and train operators, enabling a more cohesive

and joined-up railway focussed on delivering a better and
more punctual service for customers.
In addition to this new structure, other changes will take
place:

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019


FEATURE
Infrastructure Projects and elements of
System Operator, Safety Technical &
Engineering, and Group Digital Railway
will be devolved in a series of
phases between now and the end
of 2020, but only when Network
Rail is confident that the routes/
regions are ready to receive them;
A new services directorate Network Services Directorate - will be
established alongside the existing Route
Services. Both will provide services
delivered with a strong customer-service
culture;
The new Network Services Directorate
will incorporate freight and national
passenger operators as well as elements of
Group Digital Railway and certain national
services, providing assurance for national operational
performance and coordinating national programmes
and capability;
The Route Services Directorate will continue to provide business

services that benefit from economies of scale (such as payroll) and
services that support railway operations involving resources that
are scarce and/or managed more efficiently at a national
level, such as the track renewal high-output programme;
Finance, HR, Communications, Legal and Property will
be largely unaffected by the programme at this stage,
although each will be developing their own plans for
how to integrate with and support the new operating
model for the business.
The names of the individuals taking up the
new roles have not been released. Posts will be
advertised over the coming weeks - those in the
routes will be focused on today’s railway and service
to customers (operators and passengers) while the
regions will concentrate both on the future and, at the
same time, support the routes to run the railway.

Personal experience
As the managing director both of South
West Trains and First Group’s rail division,
Andrew Haines was once one of Network
Rail’s
biggest customers. He has therefore had first-hand experience
of what many described as an inward looking organisation which
was not focused on the end user.

This year’s timetable debacle followed seven years of
deteriorating performance that has resulted in increasing
public and political criticism. No one can doubt that something
has to be done and Andrew Haines’s plans are clearly a

fundamental change. No longer will the centre of Network
Rail dictate what the delivery organisation has to do. Instead,
decision-making will be closer to the end user.
This requires real devolution to regions so that they will be
responsible for project delivery, own their timetables and have a
strong engineering capability accountable for system risk.
From his wide-ranging rail industry career, Andrew Haines
understands the importance of day-to-day railway operations.
This essential, but sometimes overlooked, expertise is an
increasingly demanding task on today’s crowded railway, on
which reactionary delays are 70 per cent of the total. He will no
doubt also ensure that Network Rail’s regions also have a strong
operational capability.
“Devolution has to go much deeper to enable us to get much
closer to our partners and customers and be in a much better
place to put passengers first and deliver for business too,”
Andrew Haines concluded. “The changes I’m announcing today
are designed to do just that.”

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

17


SIGNALLING & TELECOMS

HEAD OF DIGITAL RAILWAY TO RETIRE

18

CLIVE
KESSELL

T

he impending retirement of David Waboso, who currently
heads up the Digital Railway team in Network Rail, calls for
comment on the man who has made such an impact on the
industry. Rail Engineer met him in early February to learn of
his achievements and how he has been motivated.
David, like many of us, has been
in the right place at the right time.
Chance meetings with high profile
people led to job opportunity
offers from which he obtained his
incredible knowledge base and
experience.

Early days
Although born in London,
David spent his formative years
in rugby-mad Gloucester, leaving
school to study civil engineering
at, firstly, Coventry University and
then at Imperial College London,
graduating in the late 1970s and
early 1980s.
His first job was a year in Chester
designing motorways, also playing
for Chester rugby club, before

he moved back to London. With
an aptitude in mathematics, and
having seen an advertisement for
engineering graduates to teach
maths, he attended an interview
at County Hall on a Friday and
began teaching at a school in East
London the following Monday.
It was a baptism of fire, handling
kids where a sizeable number

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

didn’t want to be there and were
potentially disruptive to the others.
Being a keen rugby player helped
his credibility and integration into
the local community.
David enjoyed this period of
teaching, which left him with some
incredible memories and helped
build confidence in addressing
large and challenging audiences.
However, teaching for the next 40
years was not his career choice, so
a change was needed.
Back into engineering, David
joined Arup, which were
constructing the Essex section

of the M25. This was akin to
being on a concrete train - the
sections of roadway were laid
as a production line with all
the necessary equipment and
materials having to arrive at the
right time and in the right order
to ensure construction met the
demanding timescale.
Once completed, David joined
Pell Frischmann for an assignment
in northern Nigeria, where
upgrading water supplies and
transport was taking place. He
soon learned that, on overseas
contracts, he had far wider
responsibilities and opportunities
for development, looking after
teams and business development
as well as undertaking engineering.
Rugby again helped and he
ended up captaining the local side.


SIGNALLING & TELECOMS
Docklands Light Railway
Opened in 1987, the innovative DLR proved
to be so successful that an urgent upgrade had
to be progressed. Answering an advert in New
Civil Engineer in 1989, David joined the Nichols

Group, which was masterminding the upgrade
work, as a project manager. Mike Nichols
had a major influence on David’s life and they
remained close through to Mike’s untimely death
in 2013.
David’s first role was the upgrading of
all facilities in Poplar depot and the OMC
(Operations and Maintenance Centre) building.
Whilst not the most fashionable of projects, it
taught David an important lesson - any task must
be done to the best of your ability and then
you’ll be given greater things to do.
After the successful Poplar upgrades,
David led the project to re-model the Delta
Junction at the intersection of the lines to
Tower Gateway, Stratford and Island Gardens.
Whilst the civil construction of new viaducts
and an upgraded West India Quay station was
challenging enough, it was during this project
that David first encountered the complexities
of ATO (Automatic Train Operation) signalling
and its crucial interface to infrastructure, trains,
timetabling and human factors.
Following successful completion, David
was asked to lead the project to replace the
original GEC signalling system with the more
sophisticated Thales Seltrac TBTC system,
based on ‘moving block’ technology, a first such
application on UK railways.
The criticality of delivering a new train control

system on a driverless automatic railway with
rising passenger numbers was not lost on him days of endless software drops, integration tests
and weekend closures ultimately leading to the
joy of delivering a hugely improved railway to
the DLR customers. DLR was a great “railway
university”, with innovative technology including
swing-nose crossings and different track
fastenings to the slab foundations that reduced
train noise. All in all, it was a tremendous
learning curve that was to prove valuable in
future years.

Aside from the technological innovation,
DLR was, at that time, building the Beckton
extension, on which a significant project
over-run had big implications for the company
structure. A new leadership team with defence
industry experience introduced the innovative
procurement strategy of adopting a ‘prime’
contractor, with sub-contractors and suppliers all
reporting to that body.
The project became more output-focussed but
never lost sight of the operational requirements
to maintain a daily train service. For this work,
David was awarded the 1995 Project Manager
of the Year Award, presented to him by BR
Chairman, Sir Bob Reid. It influenced David’s
future thinking about, not just technology, but
how best to introduce it.

Jubilee line extension
The DLR office at Poplar was close to Canary
Wharf, where the Jubilee line Extension team
was intent on delivering a moving block
signalling system. David’s DLR experience and
success was seen as beneficial to deliver the JLE
project.
Moving with Nichols to London Underground
in 1996, David was given control of the JLE
systems as part of the multi-billion pound
construction project, key to which was a
Westinghouse Moving Block train control
system, including full integration with train
fitment, signal control, driver and maintainer
training, power requirements, telecoms and
screen door operation.

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

19


20

SIGNALLING & TELECOMS
London Underground
Jubilee, Northern and
Victoria lines

It was evident from day

one of his employment that
considerable unease existed
as to the integrity of the
system. Given a matter of
weeks to assess the situation,
he informed the Board that,
based on his experience, the
risks were considerable and
the system was unlikely to
be delivered in time for the
Millennium.
This led to much discussion
and examination of options,
with the decision taken in
1997 to implement a fall-back
solution using manual driving
and lineside signals. To de-risk
delivery of this, a test section
was set up between West
Ham and Stratford. All the
different interfaces needed
re-engineering, particularly
providing drivers with the
facilities to stop trains with
sufficient accuracy to allow train
and platform doors to align and
open safely.
As such, the line opened
in time for the new century
celebrations and remained

largely in that condition until
2011. David talks fondly of the
great teams at DLR and the JLE
he had the fortune of working
with over these years.

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

Thameslink Core and the SRA
During a subsequent spell
working for Bechtel, David
became project manager for
developing the Thameslink
central core from London
Bridge to beyond St Pancras.
To get the throughput of
trains, ATO with attendant
automatic train protection (ATP)
was deemed necessary but
no technical standard existed
and only proprietary systems
were on offer. These were
being deployed on metro-type
railways, where trains were
invariably the same type and
length, but such a solution did
not fit a main line railway. What
to do posed a difficult question.
Following the Ladbroke Grove
disaster in 1999, and in the

wake of the Uff/Cullen Report,
the industry had to come up
with a workable strategy to
implement a nationwide ATP
system. Whilst ERTMS with
ETCS was seen as the eventual
end game, this was insufficiently
developed to implement in a
quick timescale. As a result the
cheaper, but not so technically
advanced TPWS, was seen as
the short term fix.
David was involved in many
of these discussions and led the
team that produced the industry
response. He took part in the
press conference to announce
the recommendations for train
protection, and from this he was
asked to join the Strategic Rail
Authority (SRA) as its technical
director. Representing the UK at
the European Rail Agency (ERA)
proved useful in understanding
the thought processes of other
countries.
When political decisions
were taken to abolish the SRA,
David moved back to London
Underground.

David joined LU as the
director of engineering. This
was at the time when increasing
ridership meant the ‘temporary’
signalling on the Jubilee line
could not continue and a new
contract was let with Thales
to provide its Seltrac TBTC
system. This had a difficult
birth, with regular weekend line
closures and lateness in delivery
causing travelling public anger
and questions being raised in
parliament.
It was a new and challenging
contractual framework as LU
had been broken up into two
Public Private Partnership (PPP)
companies - Metronet and
Tubelines - with the various
lines assigned to one or other
of these companies for day-today maintenance and project
upgrades. LU remained in
place as the overall client with
an arms length relationship to
the PPP companies. Tubelines
had inherited the Jubilee line,
including delivery of the TBTC
system.

Eventually, the PPP formula
fell out of favour and LU took
over the running of the Thales
contract. David brought the
system teams from previously
separate companies into a
single new directorate, whilst
continuing to ensure the Jubilee
upgrade was progressed. This
simplified matters considerably,
but proving the technical and
operational requirements took
time. However, the system was
duly commissioned in time for
the Olympics.
David recognised that
the PPP arrangement had
many attributes and, in the
subsequent re-integration into
LU, he was keen for these to
flourish. An example was the
Northern line upgrade using an
identical system to the Jubilee
line. This was so successful
that the implementation and
changeover happened almost
without any disruption. Both
lines are equipped with a
moving block system that yields

SIGNALLING & TELECOMS

the benefit of additional train throughput and
demonstrates the huge efficiencies that come
from long-term investment and retention of
teams’ expertise.
In parallel, the Victoria line was already an ATO
railway (the world’s first in 1968) and was in need
of a live upgrade. This included a new signalling
system, new train, a new control centre plus
power, track, telecommunication and platform
upgrades. Victoria station (stations were also
part of David’s team) was upgraded to deal with
greater passenger flows. The signalling was a
‘Siemens Chippenham’ fixed block ‘distance to
go’ radio-based system, which now delivers a
record-breaking 36 trains per hour.
David recalls many challenges, especially
early reliability that demanded huge effort
and innovation from the integrated team of
engineers, operators and the whole supply
chain. He regularly rode with the train operators
in the cab, listening to their concerns and
promising (and delivering) solutions. Getting
close to the operators has been a feature of
David’s career from the initial DLR days, which
he sees as fundamental to the success of any
operational upgrade.
More trains and capacity increases energy

expenditure in the tunnels, resulting in rising
temperatures. Considerable thought and effort
went into a solution that included regenerative
braking on the trains, more ventilation shafts and
a coasting algorithm in the control system to
optimise energy.

Sub-surface lines
With 70 year old signalling, an upgraded
system was desperately needed for the
Metropolitan, District, Circle and Hammersmith
& City lines. These are complicated routes,
with lots of inter-running plus sharing of tracks
with some main-line train services. An earlier
contract with Invensys (now Siemens) had been
abandoned so a new specification was produced
and put out to tender. David’s intention was “to
change LU, not change the product”.
Bombardier won the contract in 2011 based
on its CityFlo CBTC system that was successfully
deployed in Madrid. Problems began almost

from the first day. The diverse locations of
Bombardier offices for the development work
did not help.
Eventually both parties agreed that
cancellation was the only option and the
contract was terminated in 2013. For David, it
was a salutary lesson: bringing in new systems
to UK railways can be very challenging, often

involving significant re-work.
Eventually a new contract was let with Thales
for the Seltrac product but using radio instead
of track loop based transmission, thus being
different to the systems in operation on the
Jubilee and Northern lines. The sub-surface lines
resignalling (now known as the 4LM - 4 Lines
Modernisation - project) is well on the way to
delivery, but is recognised as probably the most
challenging signalling project in the world.

Station and Track Upgrades
As well as Victoria, other underground
stations needed upgrading whilst being kept
operational. These included Tottenham Court
Road and Bond Street LU stations, plus the
Bank station upgrade, all using innovative
procurement that incentivised value not just
cost.
David also led the track programme, replacing
huge swathes of bullhead and old ballast with
modern track forms. Innovative delivery was
encouraged, for example moving away from
disruptive weekends to track replacement in
smaller sections overnight. There was no right
or wrong, but David’s teams gave options to the
operators, for example trade-offs between cost
and closures.
For his work in leading the delivery of these
challenging upgrades in LU, David was awarded

the CBE in 2014.

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

21


22

SIGNALLING & TELECOMS
The Digital Railway
Network Rail had embarked upon a
digital railway programme in early 2015,
with a small team producing a vision
to offer digital solutions for everything
everywhere. Realising that to proceed on
such a wide front was unlikely to succeed,
David was recruited in 2016 to bring more
realism to this vision. After analysing the
progress to date, he changed the focus
to prioritise the elements that would
yield business benefits for passenger and
freight movements whilst supporting the
TOCs’ roles of interfacing with the end
customer.
As such, the roll out of ETCS, TMS and
C-DAS has come to the forefront, all of
which are logistic challenges rather than
devising technical solutions for products
that are largely developed and proven.

Despite initial teething problems, ETCS
has been operational on the Cambrian
line since 2010. It is, nonetheless, a
virtually self-contained railway with
captive rolling stock, so the experience
gained, whilst beneficial in understanding
the technical and operational factors,
only touched on some of the logistics of
equipping a mixed traffic route.
Past plans to re-equip the Great
Western, East Coast and South Western
main lines, with predictions of huge
capacity benefits, proved way too
optimistic but, under David’s guidance,
real progress is slowly being made.
The Thameslink central core has been
commissioned, including the ATO
overlay. The East Coast main line, with its
innovative procurement under the route
management structure, is in preparation,
and other main line schemes are being
developed.

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

Asked whether a total outsourcing of
a route to a contractor is feasible, David
says that the client must still be the
informed customer, whilst the supply
chain that delivers the systems must be

tooled up to deliver whole life solutions
and incentivised on benefits to passengers
and freight.
When asked about ERTMS Level 3,
which will facilitate moving block and
allow the elimination of conventional
train detection equipment (track circuits
and axle counters), David commented
that proving train integrity remains a
fundamental problem, for which solutions
have eventually to be found. When
Level 3 does come, it is likely to be led
by industry but backward compatibility
must be assured. There are promising
signs from trials successfully completed
last year on Network Rail’s test track in
Hertfordshire.
Traffic Management Systems, originally
thought to be a quick win, have proved
more difficult to implement, but are
making slow progress and accelerating.
The Thales systems at Cardiff and
Upminster are finally being commissioned.
The GWML has the Luminate system, a

product from Delta Rail (now Resonate),
which has seen a smoother introduction
as it is an overlay to the IECC (Integrated
Electronic Control Centre) Scalable
product designed to interface with other

applications within a signalling centre.
The Hitachi system for Thameslink is well
advanced and development work for TMS
on Trans Pennine, East Coast, West Coast
and South East is well underway. Along
with these, real progress is also being
made in introducing C-DAS (Connected
Driver Advisory Systems) and also crew
and stock systems, which will deliver real
operational benefit. New entrants are also
being encouraged to enter the digital
railway market and David looks ahead
to CP6 as a real sea change in digital
technologies for the mainline network.
In all of these, David emphasises the
need to avoid a big bang approach and
introduce the systems in small stages.
There is an existing, albeit small, ‘critical
mass’ of digital railway expertise,
so growing this capability further is
important. When questioned about safety,
he reiterates it should be an integral part
of the culture of all railway engineers.
Safety starts at the design level and
should not become an overlay.
Does the Digital Railway group still
need to exist as a separate entity? David’s
teams support the devolved routes and
train operators that will ultimately deliver
the digital railway, but a central advisory

team has to continue in the immediate
future to give the operators a critical
mass of expertise. In the longer term,
integration into mainstream businesses
will happen.
So where does David go from here? At
63, he wants some time out as years of
playing rugby have played havoc with his
back. He has accepted a small number of
non-executive roles outside the rail industry
but looks forward to sharing his experience
with the next generation of rail engineers,
project managers and operators in an
industry he obviously loves.


SIGNALLING & TELECOMS

www.jobson-james.co.uk/rail

We are a Rail Specialist Insurance Broker
(RISQS Link up approved)

Rail Signalling Contractor
£14m Turnover

WE INSURE
• RRV and Plant Companies
• P-Way, S&T, S&C, SMTH, OLE and Civils contractors
• Rolling Stock Turnkey Modifications companies

• Manufacturers, Wholesalers and Installers of rail products
• ROSCOs and TOCs supply chain
• Rail Consultants, Surveyors and Engineering Companies
WHY US?
• Specialist Rail Knowledge
• NEBOSH/Safety approach producing lower premiums
• Contractual Liability checking
• Better Technical advice
• Specialist rail safety consultancy site audits funded by insurers

• Key exclusions identified with current liability and works
insurances which we negotiated out.
• Site survey, Management Interviews and Gap Analysis conducted
• Risk Report presented to the insurance market
• Fit for purpose cover secured with significant saving from that of
previous premium.
• Recieving recommendations from this happy client.

£44,000 SAVING
ON INSURANCE PREMIUM

Contact Keven Parker on
07816 283949 / 0121 4528717 / 0207 9839039
Email:

30-PAGE

RISK REPORT TO

INSURERS

PUBLIC LIABILITY
WORKS AND PLANT
DIRECTOR’S LIABILITY

MOTOR FLEET

£14M
TURNOVER

52%

SAVING

SITE VISIT

CONDUCTED

Offices in London and Birmingham. Nationwide coverage.
Jobson James Insurance Brokers Limited are authorised and
regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority No. 516147

JobsonJames_Advert_01.12.2015_B_Amended.indd 2

15/12/2015 10:33

Authorised
Rail Partner

RAIL

Guaranteed performance
– end to end.
Get graphics that deliver aesthetically, improve performance and come with
a warranty for the duration of their product life thanks to our new 3M Authorised
Rail Partners. 3M rail graphics not only offer you engineering excellence, but
peace of mind for the life of your wrap – guaranteed.
For more information visit engage.3M.com/authorisedrailpartners

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

23


24

SIGNALLING & TELECOMS

PAUL
DARLINGTON

the common bearer

A

common bearer (transport layer) telecoms network
takes advantage of the new digital technologies
and ‘big data’ applications in order to provide a
safe, efficient, reliable railway. In very simple terms,
this unseen telecoms network is the ‘glue’ that binds the

digital railway together and is therefore hugely important. It
will be the heart and veins of the digital railway.
Railways need to modernise
and to provide improved
capacity and on-time services,
especially as the competition
from autonomous vehicles
is gaining ground all of the
time. Reliable, efficient and
high-capacity connectivity is
essential in order for railways
to make efficiencies, innovate
and compete. There’s also a
growing desire and need to
improve mobile connectivity
for both passengers and
operational services.

Use cases
There are potentially a
lot of use cases to support
along the rail corridor.
These include operational
voice and data services for
train control, SCADA for
electrification control, remote
condition monitoring, CCTV,
CIS, GSM-R, IoT, business
voice and data, third-party

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

commercial fibre connectivity
and broadband track-to-train
connectivity.
The digitalisation of the rail
network means finally bringing
all of these services together
on a cost effective, reliable
and resilient fibre network that
delivers not only on security,
with the potential to create
virtual private networks (VPN),
but also on an ability to expand
over a 30-year period.

In some railways, the data
services today run across
disparate, ageing networks
which can be costly to manage
and, invariably, fail from time
to time. The networks can be
near impossible to correlate
together and require significant
resources to ensure safe, reliable
operation. Aging infrastructure
(copper, fibre, transmission
equipment) can lead to common
problems around manageability,
to a high cost to maintain and

upgrade, and in some cases to
operational failures that can lead
to train delays.
Globally, many railway
infrastructure managers and
railway undertakings currently
use the interoperable radio
communications network,
GSM-R (Global System for
Mobile Communications Rail), for operational voice
communications and to
provide the data bearer for
ETCS (European Train Control
System). In the European
Union this is legally mandated
in the Technical Specifications
for Interoperability that are
applicable in the European
Member States. Voice and data
communications are also used
for various other applications.
GSM-R has been a huge
success all over the world, not
just Europe, but it is a MOTS


SIGNALLING & TELECOMS

(modified off-the-shelf technology) system
based around manufacturers’ commercial

GSM offerings, enhanced to deliver specific
‘R’ (railway) functionality. Due to the product
modifications required to provide this
functionality, and the need to utilise a noncommercial radio spectrum, much of the
equipment utilised for GSM-R comprises
manufacturers’ special-build equipment and/or
software variants. The use of MOTS technology
for GSM-R has proven expensive for the
railways, both interms of capital and operational
expenditure.
The predicted obsolescence of GSM-R
by 2030, combined with the long-term life
expectancy of ETCS (2050) and the railway’s
business needs, have led to identifying a
successor for GSM-R. This will have to be future
proof, learn from past experiences/lessons and
comply with railway requirements.
The successor is the Future Railways Mobile
Communication System (FRMCS). This is
envisaged to provide the same services, plus
a higher data speed capability for operational
and business purposes (including real time
video), with the option of providing passenger
mobile connections. Some metro networks are
also interested in FRMCS, not just the main-line
railways. All this will require each railway to have
a reliable, high-bandwidth common bearer.
Every GSM-R or FRMCS failure for ETCS will
shut the railway just as surely as a track circuit
failure would; so high availability is essential.

CBTC systems for metros are also reliant on
some form of radio connection. While the future
of train control in both ETCS and CBTC will be
radio-connection based, radio will only provide
the last few kilometres of connectivity, and the
majority of the connection path will still be via
fixed telecommunications using fibre, routers
and switches with a common bearer.

(5G) broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps onboard all UK mainline train routes by 2025. This
is supported by the communications regulator
Ofcom, which has set out its vision for the data
connectivity that will be required by 2025 on
British trains. From its research, Ofcom says that,
in seven years’ time, a crowded commuter train
is likely to need 3.6Gbps of mobile data capacity
to meet the connectivity needs of its passengers.
A report by Kinetic and Exterion into the
spending habits of commuters estimates that,
across the whole UK, country commuters
apparently spend an average of £89 per
week using their mobile devices, with London
commuters spending £153 per week. The
report says that, in total, commuters spend an
astonishing £23 billion per year via their mobile
devices while on the move. So, the bandwidth
demand is there and growing, but how can it be
delivered?
The required track-to-train connectivity
will involve many different considerations,

such as determining the business model on
which such a service would be run, how the
deployment would be funded, and potential
interoperability across multiple routes or
TOCs. The UK rail network is a complex one,
with lots of stakeholders - Network Rail, train
operators, rolling stock providers and mobile
networks - so making the change to deliver the
required connectivity requires a high level of
co-operation. But, at its heart, a high-bandwidth
fixed trackside data service bearer will be
required, irrespective of whether the radio
system is FRMCS or relies on public mobile
network operators, as of today.
FRMCS is likely to be based on a private or
shared LTE/5G platform and telecommunications
specialist Nokia has already successfully deployed
private LTE networks in other transport industries,
including networks to control autonomous
vehicles and freight shipping ports. It is also
one of leading players in the development and
deployment of the next generation of 5G radio
networks all over the world.

Passenger bandwidth requirements
Mobile coverage and Wi-Fi are increasingly
considered as the essential ‘4th utility’, similar
to water, gas and electricity, and rail passengers
now expect a reliable and seamless service.
The government’s current proposals are to

provide for ‘uninterrupted’ Wi-Fi and Mobile

Rail Engineer | Issue 172 | March 2019

25