Technical Meetings are held three times per year.
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Win Coenraad Control and Signalling (CCS) systems are expensive to develop, and are even more expensive in terms of system assurance activities and system acceptance. Yet they are developed for a mature market where innovation or product development does not create significant new revenue, neither for suppliers nor for operators, unless they provide improvement in speed, capacity or indeed safety. Typically new products only replace existing product lines. This is true even for ERTMS/ETCS. The increased speed of technological development and innovation leads to a shorter technical life expectancy. Changing demands for transportation services imply a need for more flexible technical systems, able to adapt "rapidly" to changing performance needs (throughput/capacity, reliability and robustness etc.) Hence CCS systems will need to be able to be adaptable and upgradeable. The signalling industry/profession cannot hope to meet the demands of its clients, i.e. the train- and rolling stock operators, (local-) governments etc. and perhaps even survive, if the lead-time for development and acceptance and the associated costs are not brought under control. One of the objectives of the ERTMS/ETCS project is to address this issue, in part, by specifying a harmonised system, for a larger market, applying the principles of interoperability and mandatory crossacceptance of constituents. In this context it should be interesting to examine ERTMS/ETCS, a system development that started in late 1989 with the founding of UIC/ERRI A200 and is now, more than 17 years onwards, starting to see its first deployments in commercial projects. Whilst specifications are still being finalised, a common factor in the first deployment projects appears to be that none, or not many of them, were completed in time and on budget. In an effort to learn from the collective experience of both the suppliers, the infrastructure operators and the ultimate users, the passenger and freight operators, I would like to centre the theme for the 2007-2008 technical meetings, the international convention and the technical visits around lessons learned and paths forward towards better control of the cycle time for system development, system and product acceptance and deployment. For this year’s international convention in the Netherlands, this is the theme chosen for the visits to the Dutch projects.
Les Brearley BE (Elect), Grad Dip Bus, FIRSE, RPEQ Manager, Systems Safety and Quality Union Switch & Signal Pty Ltd The technology supplied by the railway signalling industry requires the support of appropriate education and training to deliver safe and efficient systems for railway operations. In the past there has not been a common, formally structured course available for the signalling engineering profession in Australia. The need for such a course has increased with the ongoing changes in the rail industry structure over the past decade and the agingprofile of signalling engineers in Australia. To fulfil this need, the Co-operative Research Centre for Engineering and Technologies (Rail CRC) has sponsored the development of a project based, distance learning course for railway signalling in Australia using innovative teaching approaches to meet the needs of individual States. The objective of the signalling course is to develop in the students the skills and knowledge required by competent signal engineering practitioners. The course is being developed with wide input from industry and will require further support during the delivery phase. The successful establishment of this course is a vital element in ensuring that there is sufficient competent signal engineering staff for the future. This in turn is a fundamental requirement in ensuring the effective implementation of signalling technology for railways. This paper builds on a paper presented to the Institution in August 2002 and sets out the stakeholders in the course and the innovative education approach that is being adopted to meet the industry's needs.
P. Knowlton and A M Godber Union Switch & Signal Pty Ltd. & Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd Hamersley Iron has recently commissioned its Integrated Control & Signalling System to provide total control of train movements on its heavy haul railway in Western Australia. This paper discusses some of the issues associated with the testing and commissioning of a complete new system covering the whole railway, with particular reference to the systems integration testing required. The challenges and opportunities presented for the maintenance of the railway are then discussed. Finally, the further developments made possible by the new system are outlined.
Kim Kjaer-Olsen Queensland Rail PO Box 1429 Brisbane, AUSTRALIA. 4000 This paper describes Queensland Rail's Train Control (or Train Dispatching), Real Time Information and Business Systems Applications existing and planned from a distributed PC based systems perspective that either directly or indirectly contribute to Customer Information (passengers, ports, mines, freight forwarders, etc). A cursory description of some Mainframe based applications is also mentioned where those applications play a role in this papers theme. Queensland Rail's computer based systems have been described in this paper starting at the datdinformation source, passed through real time information systems or manually updated systems, to data storage and manipulation systems. This approach has been chosen as an appropriate method of describing how the various applications link together so that information can be exchanged between applications, used by QR personnel and i or provided to the public or customer. Some historical (over the last decade) and future (up to 10 years) system perspectives are given so that the evolution of Queensland Rail's computer based systems can be better appreciated and understood. Where some systems have not been described, they have been mentioned at the end. This paper has also been submitted to the IRSE (Institute of Rail Way Signalling Engineers, Australia) conference in Brisbane - July 1999.
Trevor Moore B.E. (Elec), MBA, FIRSE, FIE(Aust) Director Endeavour Management & Engineering Pty Ltd Project Director TOMS, State Rail Authority IT & T The CityRail Division of the State Rail Authority of New South Wales in late 1998 embarked on the Safe Station Program to improve the safety and security of passengers at 302 CityRail stations. This included the provision of improved lighting on all stations and the installation of closed Circuit Television on all stations. The CCTV to be monitored from 17 regional security control centres and a central security control centre. The Philips Projects Division was awarded the contract for the CCTV system in late 1998. In 2000 Philips sold the Projects Division to Tyco Integrated Systems who have continued to undertake the contract for Philips. There is also a long term maintenance contract. Following a technical performance problem with one of the CCTV products, the installation works were separated into three stages. The first stage covered the installation and commissioning of cameras and 2 frames per second recording at 70 stations critical for the Olympic Games. This work was completed by the end on August 2000. This included remote viewing of these cameras from 9 regional security control centres. The second stage was the installation of cameras at the remaining 232 stations and 8 regional security control centres. The third stage is the implementation of 25 frames per second recording and remote viewing, installation of help points and long line PA.
George Erdos Chairman IRSE Australasian Section Licensing Sub Committee This paper builds on recent events in the rail industry both in Australia & the UK and explains the need for adopting an accreditation scheme, in Australia, for employees involved in the profession of railway signalling and telecommunications. The paper further looks at the reason for adopting the UK IRSE licencing scheme and progress made to-date in Australia for implementing this scheme. The IRSE licencing scheme was first conceived in the UK. It stems from a number of major rail signalling related disasters, including the Clapham Junction accident. As a result of these accidents an independent UK board of inquiry found it necessary to recommended that only "Competent Employees", skilled in the profession of railway signalling/telecommunications should be allowed to work on railway safety critical signalling systems. It was considered that this could be best achieved by a process of accreditation/licencing and continuous auditing. British Rail (BR) and London Underground (LUL) subsequently began examining mechanisms by which they could best introduce an employee certification scheme. They eventually considered that the lnstitution of Railway Signal Engineers (UK) would be ideally suited to undertake this independent certification task. Although the scheme has been developed at the specific request of British Rail and London Underground it is designed to be flexible enough to be adopted by almost any country. The IRSE (UK) is infact encouraging its overseas membership to review the scheme for possible adoption as appropriate.
Jim Warwick Signal Maintenance CO Ordinator Thiess lnfraco On the 2gth August 1999 the Victorian public transport system was privatised. Bayside Trains, Swanston Trams and VlLine Pass were franchised to National Express. Hillside Trains were franchised to Melbourne Transport Limited. Yarra Trams were franchised to Metro Link. With the announcement that National Express Group had won the bid for Bayside Trains, Swanston Trams and VlLine Passenger, the long process to make the new venture viable had begun. A joint venture between Thiess Contractors and RSA provide such services as to enable the best management possible of the assets. Thiess lnfraco has an alliance contract with National Express Group to maintain the infrastructure for Bayside Trains and Swanston Trams. Risks are carried by the party in the best position to do so, with profits dependent on achieving Key Performance specified in the contract.
John Gifford FIRSE Signalling & Compliance Manager, Hunter Valley Australian Rail Track Corporation Most of you will be aware of the term Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM). It is a standardised, defensible Maintenance Requirements Analysis process. The process originated in the military and aviation industries and is now accepted by, and applied across, many engineering organisations throughout the world for the development of system preventive maintenance requirements. The RCM process is derived from the application of Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) and recognises that preventive maintenance can only enable assets to achieve the inherent level of reliability designed and built into the equipment or system. Identification and selection of preventive maintenance tasks are based on: • Reliability characteristics of the equipment;• Operating environment of the equipment; and• Consequences of equipment failure. In the event no effective preventive maintenance task is identified to manage a particular failure mode then the alternatives are: • Run the equipment to failure;• Design out the failure mode; or• Continually Monitor the equipment Most modern day signalling and control system equipment have undergone Reliability Availability Maintainability and Safety (RAMS) analysis during the development phase. Usually this is a standalone process that does not look deeply into the interfaces, e.g. RAMS analysis for point drive equipment does not go deeply into the track interface, train axle loads, etc. I have observed maintainability, including occupational health and safety aspects of many the signalling systems, comprising a variety of equipment and interfaces that have not been adequately considered. Many opportunities for improvement in asset performance have been lost, largely through blind adherence to entrenched prescriptive standards, paradigms, beliefs and homage to the sacred cows. This paper will focus heavily in this area of opportunity and challenge engineers, designers, constructors and maintainers to question these paradigms, beliefs and sacred cows for the betterment of our railway industry and "keep the trains moving".
Lyle Jackson Managing Director Union Switch & Signal Pty Ltd Change has had a significant impact on the railway industry over the past decade and will continue to provide significant management challenges as we enter the new Millennium. Change has impacted on all aspects of the industry including the corporatisation and privatisation of previously government railways, the segregation into above rail and below rail organisations, the introduction of rail safety regulators, the increased documentation demands for equipment approval, the mobility of the workforce as well as the technology used. It is envisaged that there are more significant changes on the horizon with the impact of business focus on the management of railways, the introduction of more perfonnance driven solutions and the resultant need to change the customer contractor relationships. There is likely to be rationalisation of both the railways and the supplier organisations as each strive for efficiency and improved returns to the stakeholders. In the end only the fittest will survive. Those organisations with the ability to adapt and to work more closely in client/supplier teams to deliver systems which improve the performance of the railway industry will move forward into the new millennium.
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