Technical Meeting Papers

Technical Meetings are held three times per year.
Papers are available here for download.
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2000 – July – Martinovich – Extenson to Perth Suburban Rail System

Date Presented: December 27th, 2015

M P Martinovich Project Manager Perth Urban Rail Development Department of Transport Public transport accounts for 3% of inter-suburban journeys and 35% of peak hour trips to the Perth Central Area. Of all trips in the Perth Metropolitan Area, the public transport share is around 6%. A primary objective of the Department of Transport's Metropolitan Transport Strategy (MTS) is to significantly increase the number of people who use public transport. The MTS has set the following targets: to increase the public transport share of intersuburban trips from 6% to 12.5% by 2029; and to increase the public transport share of peak hour trips to the Perth Central Area from 35% to 50% by the year 2010, rising to 65% by 2029. The above requires an integrated public transport system which will complement, and provide a viable alternative to private car usage on major trunk routes. There is also a growing concern with regard to the air quality of the Perth Metropolitan Region, as detailed in the Air Quality Management For Perth, which highlights that private car travel is a significant contributor to degradation of air quality in the Metropolitan region.


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2006 – July – Sundareswaran – VPI Application with Radio Links

Date Presented: December 27th, 2015

Kaniyur Sundareswaran B.S. {Engg.Tech.}, M.S. {Soft. Sys.}, C.Eng., MIET, MIRSE United Group Infrastructure United Group Infrastructure have commissioned an ALSTOM Vital Processor Interlocking (VPI) system using radio links for transmission of vital signalling information, between two VPIs, each installed at either end of the Kinalung crossing loop, on the Parkes to Broken Hill line. This project is part of a contract with Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) for extending the crossing loops at Kinalung and Matakana, each crossing loop being extended to 1850 metres in length. This paper describes the VPI architecture employed in Kinalung and its interfaces to the radio link. It explains the basic components of a VPI system and its configuration for the Kinalung crossing loop. The paper also covers the type of radio system used for this communication, its configuration parameters and explores how a non-vital radio system could be used to communicate safely.


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1997 – March – Duffy – Signalling Changes for Operational Improvements – Dynamic Speed Indicators

Date Presented: December 27th, 2015

Michael Duffy, MIRSE Queensland Rail The initiative for the development of the dynamic speed indicator (DSI) came about as a result of drivers in QR. The idea of the DSI evolved through a number of workshops in QR. The workshops involved representatives of drivers and operational staff statewide, signalling and personnel. The main reasons for the changes in signalling philosophy in QR were: To improve information for drivers as it was found that improving information to drivers is often overlooked in the haste to install signalling. To improve train handling; To ensure the signalling aspects in QR were consistent.


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2011 – March – Taylor – A System for Broken Rail Detection Independent of the Signalling System

Date Presented: December 27th, 2015

Rebecca Taylor B. Eng (Hons) Mech Signals Engineer, Public Transport Authority of Western Australia This paper considers the problem of detecting breaks in a rail. It provides a review of types of rail break, which types need to be detected and why their detection is necessary. It also tackles the question of where the responsibility for detecting broken rails lies. Maintenance and management of the rail and track assets are the responsibility of the track maintenance group. Hence detection of conditions relating to the rail must therefore fall within that scope. Further to this, Signalling systems cannot be relied upon to detect all types of rail break. Signalling systems employing communications based train position detection or axle counters have no mechanisms whatsoever for detection of broken rails. This paper proposes a possible system that may be able to provide a better solution for detection of broken rails than traditional signalling systems and can do it independently of the signalling system.


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1997 – July – Rustandi – Technology Transfer in Electronic Railway Signalling System

Date Presented: December 27th, 2015

Mrs Lily Rustandi Production Director PT LEN INDUSTRI In the second Long Term Develortment Plan (PJP II), lndonesia is expected to be a self sufficient country,  having tlie pr-oductivity and capability to compcte in the world market in the era of economic globalisation. LEN, a strategic state owned company has the mission to support the national developlnent in the field of professional electronics which includes electronic railway signalling systems. Transfer of technology cooperation is one of the methods chosen by LEN to increase the capability in  electronic railway signalling systems. Exanlining several factors, such as limitation of local budget, availability of loan financing, appropriate electronic signalling technology etc., Indonesia has selected V.P.1 (Viral  Processor Interlocking) from USA/Netherlands, S.SI (Solid Slate lnterlocking) from UK/France and WESTRACE from Westinghouse Signals Australia to provide the electronic railway signalling systems in Indonesia. This paper will present a picture of the technology transfer process experienced by PT. LEN INDUSTRI in cooperatioll with the Signalling Companies from Australia, UK, Netherlands, France and USA.


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2003 – March – McDonald – Signalling the Alice Springs to Darwin Railway

Date Presented: December 27th, 2015

Wayne McDonald BE (Elec) FlRSE Westinghouse Signals Australia The Alice Springs to Darwin railway is the largest rail construction project that Australia has seen and is likely to see for a century. This is a Build. Own Operate Transfer project for the Asia Pacific Transport consortium. ADrail is the design and construction contractor and their operating company is Freight Link. This paper reviews the special problems encountered signalling and protecting the level crossings on lhis new railway. A computer assisted verbal train order system meeting the Code of Practice for the Defined Interstate Network, autonomus self restoring points complete with vital LED point indicators at passing loops and constant warning time crossing predictors are being installed in a harsh, remote environment. All site installations operate from conservatively rated solar power supplies. Highly reliable low maintenance systems, appropriate to the area's remoteness, are being deployed. The system can be upgraded for greater control centre automation, train position reporting, maintenance management and driver supervision as the network utilisation demands.


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2001 – July – Dwyer – Advanced Train Running Information Control System

Date Presented: December 27th, 2015

Andrew Dwyer Rail lnfrastructure Corporation This paper describes the development, installation and commissioning of the Advanced Train Running lnformation Control System used within the Rail lnfrastructure Corporation, NSW. The paper details the background, control systems requirements, development and installations to date. lnformation on the system design including hardware and software are covered as is interface to other systems including I timetabling, station passenger information, electrical control, overhead power control and train radio.


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1993 – July – Port – Commissioning Work Package as used in State Rail

Date Presented: December 27th, 2015

David Port G.M.K. Engineering Pty. Ltd. The purpose of this paper is to explain the procedures developed and being implemented by the signalling discipline in State Rail to control the inspection and testing process. In particular this paper will concentrate on the Commissioning Work Package.


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2012 – Oct – Griffiths – Software Reliability – An Oxymoron?

Date Presented: December 27th, 2015

Alena Griffiths MIEAust, CPEng, PhD, BSc(Hons), LLB RGB Assurance Pty Ltd Rarely a week goes by without a major software failure featuring prominently in the news. Some problems, such as the reported "computer glitches" with Virgin Blue's check-in software in 2010, merely result in financial loss. Others, such as the Queensland Health payroll debacle, in 2011, contribute to the downfall of governments. And of course there have also been cases where software unreliability has contributed to unavailability of critical public infrastructure, and in some cases, loss of life. But how vulnerable is the rail industry to software unreliability, and what's the real likelihood that software problems could actually stop the trains (or even crash the trains)? This paper will provide a brief survey of the extent to which modern railways depend on correct software operation. We will show that this dependency extends from customer facing applications such as web-based journey planners and fare sales and collection systems, through to critical service delivery applications such as routing trains, scheduling essential maintenance, and responding to emergencies. Having elaborated the dependence of modern railways on software technology, we will then proceed to discuss the vulnerabilities this presents. We will describe the main reasons why software engineering is different from other engineering disciplines, and hence why reliability of software must be approached differently to reliability of other engineering products. The explanation will range from the science that underpins software engineering, through to the complexity inherent in modern software systems, and ultimately through to social issues such as regulation of the software engineering profession and the psychology of the software development process. In particular, we will consider traditional approaches to reliability engineering and explain why these approaches in general translate poorly to software. Finally, we will talk about how software reliability is being approached in the Australian rail industry today, and provide some suggestions for improving our handling of, and hence reducing our vulnerability to, software reliability issues.


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1997 – March – Bozzolo – Safety Architecture for Railway Applications

Date Presented: December 27th, 2015

Daniel Bozzolo Ansaldo Segmalamento Ferroviario S.p.A. This paper aims to offer an overview of the vital computer-based Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario's S.A.R.A. product line, its application, capability, performance as well as its flexibility and scalability in the following Sections. Section 2 describes the major system applications for which the S.A.R.A. product line can be used, some examples are offered in order to demonstrate its versatility and capability of meeting particular customer needs. Section 3 lists the major features offered by the S.A.R.A. product line regardless of the actual application on which it is being used, and discusses system performance. Section 4 describes the S.A.R.A. product line system architecture both functionally and via block diagrams. Emphasis is again placed on the flexibility, safety and availability that is achievable with such architecture. Section 5 gives a quick overview on the software structure related to the Computerbased system that performs all the application functions. Section 6 concludes the paper offering a typical example on the ACC field application relative to the large-size project for Roma - Terminal station. Some key data is presented in order to give a clear idea on the size of the project and the actual capability offered by the S.A.R.A. product line.


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2024 – March – Zhu, Lauro & Nardi – Innovative Tablet Solution for Improving Rail Operation

Author(s): Dr Bin Zhu, Gianluigi Lauro & Federico Nardi

In this paper, we would like to introduce an innovative proposal based on the research conducted by the Hitachi Rail Innovation team to further improve the existing available tablet application, particularly

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2024 – March – Sudholz – Passively Active – Warning systems for passive & occupation level crossings in agricultural settings

Author(s): Thomas Sudholz

This Paper investigates the issues regarding use of passive level crossings for livestock movements in the agricultural industry. This unavoidable practice presents a different risk profile to the typical user, with livestock movement being

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2024 – March – Robinson – Barriers to innovation in signalling design, verification, and validation

Author(s): Neil Robinson

I started in signalling more than 30 years ago at British Rail, where I learnt how to design interlockings, initially in relay circuits, and then by programming Solid State Interlockings. This work sparked my interest in safety critical syste

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2024 – March – Moore – Signalling Principles – What are they and where do they come from?

Author(s): Trevor Moore

The term signalling principles is often referenced with regards to the design of a signalling system. It is also used as part of the title of a person ‘Principles Verifier’ or ‘Principles Tester’. Some rail managers also reference signalling p

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2024 – March – Khan & Kamarulzaman – FRMCS – Integrated Migration Strategy

Author(s): Obaid Khan & Khairulzaman Kamarulzaman

This paper offers a detailed FRMCS integrated migration strategy as a preparatory guide for current GSM-R users, particularly Rail Transport Operators (RTOs), as well as for projects in the planning and developmen

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2024 – March – Alvarez – Case Study – FRMCS Migration Path in Perth

Author(s): Rodrigo Alvarez

The Public Transport Authority of Western Australia (PTA) is currently building a new mobile radio and backhaul transmission communications network across the Perth metropolitan electrified railway network. 

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2024 – August – Burns – Human Factors at Level Crossings

Author(s): Peter Burns

Today’s railway fatalities are arguably more likely to occur at level crossings than in the train collisions we tend to focus most attention on controlling. Designing for level crossing safety can be messy and grey, especially when the dependen

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2024 – August – Boss – Human aspects of managing cyber security in delivering ERTMS

Author(s): John Boss

The Netherlands is rolling out the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) across the national network. The government created a Programme Directorate to manage the rollout. Cyber security for both ERTMS as well as the transportation syst

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2022 – November – Youle – Qualitative analysis – the more efficient approach to managing risks SFAIRP

Author(s): Patrick Youle

To support the acceptance of safety risk for configuration changes to railways, systems engineering recognises both qualitative and quantitative hazard and risk assessment methods. Quantitative analysis can be perceived as objective and quali

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2022 – November – Hunter – Cybersecurity in the Railway Industry

Author(s): Hugh Hunter

Cybersecurity is a hot topic worldwide with regular attacks being performed against multiple domains.

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