Resources

2019 – July – Andreevski Walker – 3D Signal Sighting Design Workflow

Author(s): Matthew Walker & Ivan Andreevski

Date presented: August 24th, 2019

Urban Circus has had the opportunity to work alongside Metro Trains Melbourne and the Level Crossings Removal Projects on the signal sighting for the Carrum to Kananook Level Crossing Removal Project on the Frankston Line. Utilising our in-house 3D visualisation tool, a myriad of data types and our Signalling Workflow Methodology, we were able to enhance and support the design, validation and approval process of the Signalling Arrangement Plan. This paper shares our findings while working on the Carrum to Kananook Level Crossing Removal Project.The paper is divided into three parts:• The first part consists of the project background, an explanation of the support we provided to the Signalling Design Team as well as the results we gained in the Review Workshops attended by the Signal Sighting Committee.• The second part of the paper introduces the Signalling Workflow Methodology that we developed while working alongside the Signalling Design Team and its impact on the design, validation and approval process of the Signal Arrangement Design process.• The third part focuses on Urban Circus inhouse 3d tool that was used to facilitate the Review Workshops as part of the Signal Sighting Workflow Methodology and its potential impacts on the Signalling Design package. The biggest learning for us was the level of collaboration and interaction that the process within the workflow created.

Read More

2019 – July – Roberts – Human Factors – We’re all programmed

Author(s): Richard Roberts

Date presented: August 24th, 2019

The mode selection function allows switching between the operating modes of the High Capacity Metro Train (HCMT) for the Metro Tunnel Project (MTP) in Melbourne, i.e. conventional signalling and CBTC modes under normal and degraded operating modes of High Capacity Signalling (HCS). The task of specifying and designing the associated systems (cab HMI, on-board CBTC, people and process) is complex, made so by the more obvious issues of multiple stakeholders, but also by the less obvious issues of our preconceptions and experiences. Each of these needs to adapt to some extent for integration to be successful. This paper provides a general context for the MTP and HCS scope and technical content from which a case study of the mode selection function is then presented. That illustrates how diversity of knowledge inputs and previous experience provides both positive and negative influence in reaching an outcome. Established principles of designing for driver interaction are discussed alongside the designer interactions and preconceptions as they are equally part of the human in the overall system. The seemingly simple act of appreciating the different perspectives and seeking to understand where the other party is coming from influence what the design outcome is, but also change how that is arrived at.

Read More

2019 – July – Pham – Delivering Ballarat Line Upgrade through the Eyes of Signalling

Author(s): Logan-Kai Pham

Date presented: August 24th, 2019

Ballarat Line Upgrade (BLU) is the first project in the $1.75 billion dollar portfolio of Region Rail Revival program that will see upgrades to every regional passenger train line in Victoria. Even more so, BLU is one of several Victorian rail projects taking place concurrently in the recent years of infrastructure boom. This brings a great security to those in the railway industry to not move interstate looking for project work but also brings many challenges to meet infrastructure needs. The paper intends to briefly outline the BLU project and provide a signalling perspective in the success and challenges of delivering major capital works. The content will mainly relate to signalling delivery, design, technology choices, program, procurement, standards, resource, cost, and time will be explored with practical application through past and recent experiences. The future of delivery of projects has an opportunity to share the lessons learnt with industry to mature and streamline the processes and applications of delivery.

Read More

2019 – July – Victoria – Rail Project Victoria Presentation

Author(s):

Date presented: August 24th, 2019

Read More

2019 – July – McInerney – HMI: The Safety Risk Hiding in Plain Sight

Author(s): Ronan McInerney

Date presented: August 24th, 2019

Any change to an operational system in the railway industry is met with rigorously engineered safety controls – whether it be a signalling system or a power distribution system, a strong emphasis is placed on engineering out risk: equipment should be designed and built with high resiliency, redundancy, availability, and so on. And yet even the most perfectly engineered signals, plant or rolling stock are still operated at some point by a human. Humans are part of railway systems too, but humans cannot be engineered like a piece of physical infrastructure. Their propensity for “faults” (i.e., non-conformance behaviour) has to be built into the design, rather than built out of the design. Most safety-critical systems require human operators to make decisions based on the information on a computer screen, and yet the design of this Human-Machine Interface (HMI) is often overlooked in the rail industry as a significant risk factor. This is despite decades’ worth of examples from other industries that have implicated poor HMI design as a contributing factor in catastrophic failures of safety-critical systems.

Read More

2019 – July – Haden – How Can Signalling Projects be Setup to Succeed?

Author(s): Ross Haden

Date presented: August 24th, 2019

A recent IRSE article discussed ‘why do signalling projects fail’ and provided valuable insights into what defines a failed project, as well as the inherent risks that contribute to this. It was identified that the primary challenge is to optimise project scope whilst ensuring it is compatible with project schedule and cost constraints and considering signalling project delivery risks (Rumsey 2018). Achieving this trade-off for signalling ‘brownfield’ sites can be even more challenging due to the legacy issues and complexities involved.

Read More

2019 – March – Yagyu Mazzino Nardi – Innovative Solutions for Digital Railways

Author(s): Daisuke Yagyu

Date presented: April 27th, 2019

The evolution of digital technologies and information and communication technologies represents a great opportunity forrailway managers and operators to manage efficiently the railway infrastructure and to improve their services. Important steps in this direction have already been taken by railway equipment suppliers, and smart solutions areavailable in the market. This paper describes the innovative solutions for the digitalization of railway infrastructure and the achievement of highcapacity, reliable, and cost-efficient rail transport. Two solutions are described: The evolution of ETCS, for improving network capacity, and minimizing infrastructureupgrading, and the Intelligent Asset Management System, for exploiting the vast amount of available data bytransforming it into knowledge for supporting decision-making. These two solutions provide a broader vision of a futurerailway by forming part of an integrated transport eco-system in which information is exchanged between differentservice providers and transportation modes ultimately to deliver reliable integrated mobility.

Read More

2019 – March – Mocki – New Generation Integated Digital Engineering to Embrace Document Revision Identification

Author(s): Jacek Mocki

Date presented: April 27th, 2019

Engineering process embraces tools, methodologies and resources to make sure the outcome of engineering process is safe so far as is reasonably practical (SFAIRP) and that there is a clear and transparent translation of the document application that leads to efficiency. Currently, significant focus is on integration. Digital engineering is just one aspect of integration. In our signalling discipline, there can be some challenges when delivering a project, for example: senior designers not having enough time to guide younger designers. Consequently this could lead inexperienced designers to apply outdated standards. Similarly, when approved drawing revisions are updated, there is potential for incorrect and outdated versions to be utilised by installation and test teams. These two examples will lead to significant rework and delivering poor project outcomes.  

Read More

2019 – March – Nikandros – To Be Sure

Author(s): George Nikandros

Date presented: April 27th, 2019

Assurance is increasingly being mandated for Australian rail projects as the means to satisfy ever-increasing governance requirements. The size and complexity of projects like Sydney Metro, Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel, and Brisbane’s Cross River Rail require consortium-based delivery models, be that Alliances, Public Private Partnerships, or some combination resulting in many interfaces, not only within the project delivery structure but with many stakeholders. Hence the need to assure that project outcomes will be achieved. Assurance however is not a guarantee of the project objectives. Assurance is about providing a level of confidence that the objectives will be achieved, and hopefully increasing that level of confidence as the project progresses through its development lifecycle. However, when delivering fixed assets and rolling stock, project sponsors and RTOs need to be assured that they are not just safe but are also fit-for-purpose in terms of functionality, performance (deliver the task and responsiveness), configurability, constructability & testability, reliability and availability, security, and supportability over the service life expected. The paper elaborates these fit-for-purpose attributes and proposes two key aspects for any Assurance Case; namely compliance and correctness.

Read More

2019 – March – Dey – Systems Engineering Assurance – A Holistic Approach

Author(s): Subhajit Dey

Date presented: April 27th, 2019

Modern rail projects are complex.  They use multiple systems and need to be planned, designed, constructed, interfaced, intergrated and tested in an agreed and assured manner to commission a safe, reliable, available and maintainable system.  With the help of advanced technology, a Holistic Systems Engineering Assurance methodology can be implementaed at the beginning of a project and carried forward through the whole life cycle to ensure successfuc completion o fhte project. This paper answers: What is the holistic approach in Systems engineering assurance? Why do we need it? Where does it apply? How do we establish it for a complex rail project? and Detailed implementation strategy of the Holistic framework This paper aims to establish a well-defined Systems Engineering Assurance framework to achieve the performance levels that are important to and expected by stakeholders.

Read More