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Technical Meeting Papers

Technical Meetings are held three times per year.
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2024 – March – Zhu, Lauro & Nardi – Innovative Tablet Solution for Improving Rail Operation
By: Dr Bin Zhu, Gianluigi Lauro & Federico Nardi
Date Presented: March 12th, 2024

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2024 – March – Sudholz – Passively Active – Warning systems for passive & occupation level crossings in agricultural settings
By: Thomas Sudholz
Date Presented: March 12th, 2024

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
By: Neil Robinson
Date Presented: March 12th, 2024

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?
By: Trevor Moore
Date Presented: March 12th, 2024

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
By: Obaid Khan & Khairulzaman Kamarulzaman
Date Presented: March 12th, 2024

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
By: Rodrigo Alvarez
Date Presented: March 13th, 2024

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
By: Peter Burns
Date Presented: August 21st, 2024

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
By: John Boss
Date Presented: August 21st, 2024

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
By: Patrick Youle
Date Presented: November 1st, 2022

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
By: Hugh Hunter
Date Presented: November 1st, 2022

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


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2013 – July – Flinders – A Point of Principle

Author(s):
Date presented: December 27th, 2015

Richard Flinders MIRSE Product Line Manager Siemens Rail Automation Some time ago the Australasian Committee decided that at least one paper a year would be presented to the Technical Meetings which covered basic principles. They were to be presentations that took a basic signalling/telecommunication subject and went through the principles of use and operation. They were to be aimed at younger members and those who had recently joined the profession. However it is to be hoped that maybe they also passed on some new information to older members as well. This paper is part of that series and looks at point operation (also known as switches, layouts and turnouts) and discusses some of the methods of moving points both mechanically and electrically. It also describes the various means of detecting that the points have moved to the required position and that they have been prevented from moving as a train passes over them. By necessity, some Civil Engineer's terms will have to be used in this paper!

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2005 – March – Hickey – Battling Nature

Author(s):
Date presented: December 27th, 2015

Mike Hickey B.E.(Hons) Civil Grad Dip in P.M. and I.R.F.I.E. Aust Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation This paper is a discussion about the disruption to railways, particularly in the northem hemisphere, that falling leaves can cause and the various methods and research (in some cases top secret research) that has occurred in recent times to counteract the negative effects of these falling leaves. Some of the major problems encountered include: trains slipping on grade, or even zero grade, particularly when starting from stations or signals; longer braking required and station overruns as a result of the longer braking hence lower speeds; loss of trains "on train location" systems and signalling systems; trains proceeding past red signals; wheel bums on rails due to loss of traction and damage to trains due to wheel slippage.

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2011 – March – Moore – Understanding Signalling Overlaps

Author(s):
Date presented: December 27th, 2015

Trevor Moore B.Eng., MBA Technology Management, FIE (Aust), FIRSE Australian Rail Track Corporation signal at danger. This paper details the different types of overlaps, how they are determined and how they can be applied in a signalling design for a specific network. Network characteristics for Urban areas are typically different to those of Interurban areas and country areas often resulting in different application of overlaps. The overlaps become an important part of the signal locking principles. This ensures the separation of trains in complex situations.

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2009 – July – Gardner and Hughes – Australian Standards for the Railway Industry

Author(s):
Date presented: December 27th, 2015

Alan Gardner B.Eng (Mechanical) Manager Infrastructure and Engineering Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board Brett Hughes B.Eng (Electronics) M.Eng.Sc. (Traffic & Transport) PostGradDip.Business Director Policy, Australasian Railway Association The Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB) is wholly owned by The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) its primary activity is to harmonise the Australian Rail Industry. One significant activity of RISSB is the publishing of Australian Standards for the Australian Rail Industry. This paper will examine the evolution of standards from the state based rail systems through to the present environment. The issue of interoperability for train communications systems will be used as an example of how the industry identifies an issue at the strategic level and how RISSB develops it to the end product for publication.

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2010 – June – Weerakody – Upgrading of Level crossing protection on the Public Transport Authority Network

Author(s):
Date presented: December 27th, 2015

Don Weerakody BSc(Eng) MIRSE MIE(Aust) Public Transport Authority WA This paper discusses two PTA projects for upgrading of level crossing protection on the non electrified sections of the PTA network.The first project is to upgrade the protection at six road level crossings on the Armadale to Mundijong line and three road level crossings on the Fremantle to Robb Jetty line. This project is being funded by the Federal government.The second project is to upgrade the protection at three pedestrian crossings on the Fremantle to Robb Jetty line and upgrade a road crossing on the Armadale to Mundijong line to GCP operation. This project also includes providing a new pedestrian crossing on the Armadale to Mundijong line at Deerness Road. These projects are being funded by the Public Transport Authority. It is also envisaged that a new road crossing may be provided in close proximity to the Fremantle boat harbour with boom gates and double pedestrian gates on either side of the road crossing. This crossing has been proposed by the organisers of the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship (which is the qualification event for the 2012 London Olympic Games sailing events) as an alternative access to road and pedestrian traffic during the championship. This event will be held in December 2011. This paper will discuss the reasons for upgrading the protection and details of the technology used at each crossing.

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2008 – July – Palazzi & Norris -Resignalling Regional NSW: Providing Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Infrastructure

Author(s):
Date presented: December 27th, 2015

Mr Bill Palazzi, BEng (Elec) Hons, CEng, MIRSE, PB Australia Mr Graham Norris, Grad. Cert. Mge, Dip. Qual. Mge, MIRSE Rail Infrastructure Corporation This paper outlines the scope and approach taken in resignalling work that has been undertaken throughout the Country Regional Network in NSW. This resignalling includes the replacement of token safeworking systems (electric staff and staff and ticket) and mechanical signalling with a combination of Train Order Working, Centralised Train Control and remote- controlling of signal boxes. The overall suite of signalling works to be completed on the CRN within a limited timeframe presented all stakeholders with many challengers with each of the projects exhibiting specific issues. The goal was to always achieve a cost effective solution with minimum signalling infrastructure installed. Operational objectives were always considered paramount, and Signalling Engineers worked directly with Operational personnel during the investigation and concept phases of the projects to ensure that the most effective solution was identified.

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2011 – July – Williams – 2016 Train Services, The Transport Foundation of the 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide

Author(s):
Date presented: December 27th, 2015

Mark Williams B.Eng (Civil), MEngSc South Australian Government Department for Transport Energy and Infrastructure The South Australian and Australian Governments are jointly investing $2.6 billion into Adelaide's public transport system between 2007/08 and 2018/19. To meet Adelaide's population and land use targets there has been a fundamental change in South Australia's planning strategy outlined in the 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide, including significant increases in population density adjacent to train stations. Although there is much interest in the various technical aspects of the investment, that range in a scale factor of a million from the longest bridge in South Australia at 1.2 kilometres to dipped weld correction of 1.2 millimetres, unless the investments deliver a substantial increase in public transport use in Adelaide, and are a catalyst in the development of higher densities within the Adelaide urban area, the public transport investments will be rightly judged by the community as a failure. At the core of the train service improvements is the aim of providing a weekday 15 minute 7am to 7pm interval service to most railway stations, with key interchanges having a peak service interval of less than 10 minutes. This paper describes the process that was followed to develop an affordable, feasible plan for the development of train services that is predicted to result in a substantial increase in public transport patronage.

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2003 – November – Furniss Virtual Track Surveying

Author(s):
Date presented: December 27th, 2015

Paul Furniss BEng (Hons) CEng MIEE Omnicom Engineering Pty Ltd Following the privatisation of the UK rail industry in 1994, resource migration to the devolved business units caused knowledge of the railway infrastructure to be lost from the core. Acquiring quality track-based asset information has historically been both a slow and dangerous process that involved track possessions or working between operational traffic. With line speeds and train frequency increases new methods of gathering this information was required and prompted development effort to provide a solution. The OmniSurveyor3D system, developed by Omnicom Engineering, has taken the lead by providing a world class solution that is safe, due to users collecting information from their desktop PC, and cost effective because the raw data is collected from a rail vehicle that can operate at line speeds. This paper describes the methods used to collect the raw data, how it is processed and made available to the end user. The paper goes on to examine the requirements for such a system and its increasing number of varied uses within the rail industry.

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1997 – July – Ness & Wagner – The Overseas Work Experience – The Pros, The Cons & The Necessity of Winning International Projects

Author(s):
Date presented: December 27th, 2015

David Ness Connell Wagner  

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2013 – June – Szacsvay – Washington Metro Train Crash

Author(s):
Date presented: December 27th, 2015

Paul Szacsvay FIRSE Interfleet Technology At 4:58 pm on Monday, June 22nd, 2009, in the middle of the afternoon rush hour, approaching Fort Totten station, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Metrorail train 112 ran into the rear of train 214 at close to line speed. The impact caused the rear car of train 214 to telescope into the lead car of train 112, resulting in the death of nine people on board train112, including the train operator (driver). 52 people were transported to local hospitals, and a further 28 people with minor injuries were treated at the site and allowed to home. Initial investigations by the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) focussed on human error and the possibility that the operator of train 112 may have been using her mobile phone at the time of the crash. As the investigation progressed it became clear that the crash was wholly attributable to the unsafe failure of a track circuit to detect train 214, and that this failure mode was far from being a one-off incident. The accident was largely attributable to failures of the signalling equipment and by the signalling discipline. This paper describes the history of an unsafe failure mode dating back over 20 years, and the equally long chain of events and actions which not only failed to prevent the accident, but also made it almost inevitable that something like this would eventually happen. Each individual incident, response and subsequent action or failure to act has parallels in the author's experience, and undoubtedly the reader will be able to relate the issues to their own experience. Far from being impossible in our own rail environment, it is evident that similar events could well have combined in our own working environment to produce equally dire outcomes. It may be only a matter of  good fortune that we are now in a position to draw lessons from others' misfortunes, rather than our own.

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