REGISTER

Wayne McDonald BE (Elec) FIRSE

Westinghouse Rail Systems Australia

The Alice Springs-Darwin Railway is the longest Australian rail construction undertaken in over 100 years. Trains travelling over its 1,420 km join with the existing Alice Springs-Tarcoola railway to provide a land bridge between the port of Darwin and the southern capital cities.

This paper describes the peculiar requirements for the signalling system to control the new (Alice Springs-Darwin) and existing (Tarcoola-Alice Springs) railways that both transverse long, sparse distances. Trains are controlled for the whole route from an Adelaide based computer assisted train order system compliant with the (Australian) Code of Practice of the Defined Interstate Rail Network and utilising electronic equivalents of the existing paper forms all linked to track overview display. Train pass and cross at autonomous, train-operated passing loops fitted with self restoring points interlocked over a vital end to end radio telemetry link.

The design of this signalling system is predicated on an expanding traffic volume from an initial low base and so the system has to both fulfil prime cost targets and provide expansion and automation capabilities to support the growing traffic without increasing Signaller and Driver loading. Foreshadowed enhancements are described.

ADrail required minimal trackside equipment that must operate ultra reliably in a harsh and remote environment where maintenance can be many hours away. Trackside communications infrastructure is almost non existent and trains must utilise satelite communications with the control centre or short range local radio.