198807 – Whybird – Telecommunications Requirements in the Main Line Electrification Environment of Queensland Railways

In association with the Main Line Electrification Project, the Department’s extensive private telecommunication network has been undergoing radical changes.

Existing open wire pole routes which, prior to electrification, formed the backbone of the communications network, are progressively being demolished and replaced with the latest optical fibre and microwave radio based Pulse Code Modulation (P.C.M. ) digital communication systems.

Departmental operational requirements dictate that communications channels must be available at the following locations:-
(a) Major equipment rooms and microwave radio access points.
(b) Centralised Train Control (CTC) installations.
(c) Station Master’s (SM) offices.
(d) Feeder Stations (PS).
(e) Track Sectioning Cabins (TSC).
(f) Autotransformer Installations (AT).
(g) Motorised Isolator Installations (NI).

The system chosen had to be capable of being immune to the overhead traction system as well as being able to economically access the above locations, which in practice, are distributed unevenly along the track with relatively close spacing. For example, on the Gladstone – Rockhampton – Blackwater and Branches section there are 407km of track with 77 required communication access points. This gives an average separation of 5.28km between points.