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Level 3 from High Speed Vision to Rural Implementation |
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Written by Wim Coenraad
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Saturday, 11 February 2012 07:38 |
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Written and edited by Wim Coenraad on behalf of the International Technical Committee of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers INTRODUCTION This article is part of a series of articles by the IRSE-ITC on the subject of “what is preventing ERTMS Level 3 from entering into service?”. ERTMS/ETCS (hereafter called “ETCS”) is a train control system designed to replace all existing national systems on the Trans European Rail Network. It enables trains equipped with on-board units from different suppliers to operate freely over track equipped by the same/different suppliers. It consists of both on-board and trackside subsystems. ERTMS is specified to allow implementation in three functional and performance levels. The levels range from a "conventional" but interoperable ATP system using spot transmission (Level 1), a level adding continuous communication via radio, allowing to increase line performance and the elimination of wayside signals (Level 2) and a level replacing wayside train detection with on-board localisation, allowing the elimination of much of the trackside train detection equipment (Level 3). Whilst Levels 1 and 2 have been developed and are in operation, for main line railways, Level 3 exists only on the drawing board. For main line railways, Level 3 promises significant benefits for the Infrastructure owners, but adds extra systems and complexity to the train-borne equipment. On top of that some difficult technical issues remain unsolved, limiting the potential field of application. A trial of ERTMS Regional (a specific implementation of Level 3 for regional lines) is being implemented on the Västerdalsbanan (Repbäcken – Malung) in Sweden and is about to enter into service, extending ERTMS applications to Regional Lines. This system is described in more detail in the November issue of IRSE NEWS. |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 11 February 2012 07:44 |
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Managing obsolescence of electronic equipment in signalling |
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Written by Ian Mitchell
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Friday, 27 May 2011 14:13 |
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Managing obsolescence of electronic equipment in signalling
Introduction The 1980s saw big steps in signalling technology as relay based systems began to be superseded by microprocessor based equipment. These interlockings and control centres are now more than 20 years old and the hardware and software components that they use have been rendered obsolete by rapid advances of computing and communications technology. This in itself is not a problem for the railway, as the systems are generally reliable and continue to deliver their operational and safety requirements, but it becomes an issue when there is a need to replace failed components or make changes to respond to new traffic demands. The problem is not unique to this particular generation of equipment: it also applies to older systems using analogue electronics and newer software based systems. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 27 May 2011 14:16 |
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Train Integrity is the Responsibility of the Railway Undertaking |
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Friday, 18 June 2010 08:47 |
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ERTMS/ETCS Level 3 remains to be fully specified but should offer railway infrastructure managers reduced cost and increased capacity. Despite this, existing projects in Europe and around the world are stuck at Level 1 and 2, so the International Technical Committee of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers has been studying the obstacles to implementing ERTMS/ETCS Level 3. This is one of a series of articles that aim to promote some radical debate on removing these obstacles. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 08 September 2010 17:39 |
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How to create the next generation of signal engineers |
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Written by Markus Montigel
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Friday, 27 May 2011 13:48 |
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How to create the next generation of Senior Signal Engineers Introduction It is generally perceived that there is a shortage of candidates to fill the future roles of Senior and Chief Signal Engineers. In particular, the age group between 40 to 50 years appears to be affected by this condition. This situation is deemed extremely critical: not acting could render this situation uncontrollable, thereby endangering the overall safety of railway systems in the future. This article aims to explain how this came to pass, and to develop elements of an active strategy for the creation of the next generation of Senior Signal Engineers. The IRSE is urged to take an active role in developing such a strategy and acting upon it. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 27 May 2011 13:52 |
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Semi-automatic, driverless, and unattended operation of trains |
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Written by IRSE-ITC
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Thursday, 17 June 2010 20:04 |
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The mission of any metro transportation undertaking is to provide safe, reliable, efficient, high quality service to its passengers in a cost effective fashion. To meet this business need, our metro systems are increasingly being automated. Any new metro system constructed today would almost certainly incorporate some level of automation with many modern metro systems now providing driverless or unattended train operation. In addition, higher levels of automation are also being introduced into the older metro systems around the world in response to demands for increased capacity on the existing infrastructure, enhanced levels of safety, improved customer service, and reduced operating costs. This article examines the benefits of automation, the various levels of automation that can be deployed, the maturity of the technology, and the challenges of selecting the appropriate level of automation for a specific application. The article focuses on automation of metro systems. Automation of our intercity main lines, high speed railways, and freight lines will be addressed in a separate article. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 17 June 2010 20:05 |
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