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Mike Schek (QR)

This paper looks briefly at the major events and influences which led to the in-house development of QR's Universal Traffic Control system. This evolution is based on a wealth of operating and technical experience which has now positioned UTC as QR's strategic control system for operation in all power signalled areas - be it a conventional CTC, urban, or yard environment.

QR control systems developed for un-signalled or dark territory include Computer Assisted Train Order System (CATOS) and QR Direct Traffic Control (QR DTC). The philosophy behind the QR DTC system and a comparison with train order operations is covered by Andrew Antoniou in part 2 of this paper.