REGISTER

Andrew Blakeley-Smith BSc(hons), MIRSE MIEAust

The Kuala Lumpur metre gauge suburban rail system is being double tracked and electrified at 25kV. The railway authority, KTMB, required tests to be carried out to prove that, under short circuit conditions, the electrification system would not induce hazardous voltages in trackside cables or produce hazardous voltages on t-mdlor between trackside metalwork such as electrification masts rails, exposed metalwork in stations etc. Andrew. Blakeley-Smith & Associates have been advising the Malaysian signalling contractor, Sapura Holdings Sdn Bdh on immunization measures including cable screening, maximum cable lengths and earthing and bonding practices. KTMB's requirement to prove safe operation of the communications system design, together with the immunization measures adopted by the electrification contractor,  ABB-Sapura, provided a unique opportunity to build upon knowledge gained from the original electrification tests carried out in the early 60's in the UK and examine how some of the electrification design changes adopted in Australia in the 80's and the computer modelling carried out performs in practice.