Dell Award Recipient lecture
It is almost thirty-five years to day since the Clapham Rail Accident. Recent accidents and near misses suggest that the lessons from Clapham may be fading both in individual and corporate memory.
When looking back at some the oldest accidents there are recurrent themes which imply that it may be harder to imbed the learning than we might imagine.
There are reminders of these recurrent themes and of how they have played a part in more recent incidents. Even when apparently all the relevant precautions have been taken, mis-configured apparatus too can lead to potential disaster.
Jerry’s career began as an apprentice in 1976 when he joined London Transport as a Trainee Technician. After completing the scheme he joined the signal design office.
Over the years Jerry has supported a range of signalling projects including the re-signalling of Wembley Park, the Watford-Croxley re-signalling, immunisation works to support the introduction of the Heathrow Express and the acceptance of designs for the Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) project to the east of London from Green Park to Stratford.
Under the Public Private Partnership contract, Jerry moved to Tube Lines as a principal engineer. There he supported the delivery of the seven-car train project on the Jubilee Line and the introduction of SelTrac S40 onto the Jubilee Line.
After more than thirty years in signal design Jerry was appointed as the Signal & C&I Asset Engineer for Tube Lines, the official receiver of assurance for all of Tube Lines’ signal and C&I assets, both for design and maintenance. Here he oversaw the introduction of SelTrac S40 on the Northern Line and was heavily involved in the management and planning for maintenance during the 2012 London Olympics, where any failures or service perturbations would have had a much greater impact than normal. Jerry introduced 16-week maintenance cycles and eliminated the four-year routine change backlog through a phased reduction.
Jerry has continued in that assurance role as a Principal Engineering Leader within R&RTCS, supporting projects which have included the extension of the Northern Line to Battersea, performance improvements under “Working Timetable 58”, the capacity enhancement works at Bank as well as the new rolling stock for the Piccadilly Line.
DCASim (Depot Commissioning Area Simulator) - A CBTC Test Environment in a suitcase
The DCASim is a mobile virtual dynamic test environment . It can fool the Automatic Train Control (ATC) into driving while the train remains static to allow ‘dynamic’ testing and fault finding. By removing the need to build physical depot commissioning areas (test tracks) TfL saved £1.5-2m as well as the £2,500 per day operational costs of running a commissioning area
Alex Barber has 11 years of experience in the rail industry with a background in testing and commissioning of CBTC systems. Throughout his career, Alex has focused on optimising testing and maintenance activities through software automation, data collection and analytics to accelerate fault resolution. His achievements include remote condition monitoring of Victoria Line track circuits, design and implementation of a portable CBTC wayside simulator to allow in situ testing of onboard CBTC, and in his current role as Software and Data Lead at CPC Systems, the development of software solutions to assist service controllers and enable them to make correct decisions faster
RAIB: Learning from wrong side signal failures
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) investigates many different types of accidents and incidents that occur across the UK mainline, metro and heritage rail network. It does not apportion blame but seeks to identify the causes of unsafe events and make recommendations to prevent future occurrences. The branch publishes Summary of Learning documents covering the most significant areas in which the RAIB has ongoing concerns about the control of risk in the railway industry. In May 2023, and for the first time since the RAIB was formed, a summary of learning was produced covering wrong side failures of signalling. Several incidents had indicated an increasing trend in train control integrity being compromised by the incorrect application of design standards or testing processes introduced following the 1988 fatal accident at Clapham Junction. This presentation covers these incidents in greater detail and provides an insight into concerns about fading memories of the valuable lessons learned following a major rail accident.
Richard has worked within the railway industry for more than 30 years. Starting his career as a Junior Technical Officer within the Signal and Telecom department of British Rail, his time has included placements in Mauritania, Egypt, the Middle East and the UK. His experience spans signalling design, test and commissioning through to delivery of multi-discipline engineering projects. This wide-ranging experience has led to the RAIB and an appointment as Inspector of Railway Accidents. Over the last decade he has investigated many different accidents and incidents from track worker injuries to failures in high integrity software systems and making recommendations on industry to prevent reoccurrences.
Tyne & Wear Metro signalling system
The Tyne & Wear Metro has been in operation since 1980, this presentation will provide a brief overview of its original railway origins, the Metro’s inception and how it has grown to the current system of today. It will cover the present railway signalling system design and operation, highlighting some recent changes, including light-hearted unusual features found both within signalling and the railway as a whole. Completing with, what is in the future for what may be the largest Metropolitan railway in the UK, outside of London?
Ken, currently Principal Engineer Railway Signalling for the Tyne & Wear Metro, was always aware of railways and there operation being a son of a freight operation railwayman. Ken’s career began as an apprentice in 1980 when he joined British Rail as a Trainee Signalling Technician at Newcastle upon Tyne, involving all forms of signalling available at the time in the area (no digital signalling then); with many different teams, learning the craft and where the best Cafes were! As part of this training, he was involved in signalling recovery works, before the Metro took over parts of British Rail infrastructure. After completing the scheme, he continued for a short while as a Signalling technician. Unfortunately the railways of the North East were in decline, and progress within British Rail was limited. Ken moved to London to work for GEC General Signalling as a Signal designer; being involved in British Rail traditional signalling projects, Freight railway in Brazil and the first full British Rail Solid State interlocking ‘Inverness’, after the successful trial at ‘Leamington Spa’.
During this time he was approached by a small computer hardware support company in the North East of England. Ken continued with computers and networks with a bias for hardware and system administration, through the 1990s to 2010 in various roles and organisations. However has always kept in touch with railways, mainly through his father’s work.
In 2010 Ken found Nexus, which operate the ‘Tyne & Wear Metro’, were looking for a Railway Signalling Technician. It had been long time, was it like riding a bike? With some reading up and refreshing, Ken was successful in obtaining the role, not realising how rare railway signalling experience is in the 2000’s.
Nexus operates in a lean manner, with a small core of signalling staff; an Engineers post became available in 2015, alongside the Principal Engineer ‘PE’, Head of Railway Signalling. Ken was successful in this post and due to retirement, the PE role became vacant in 2016. Ken applied, was successful, with a steep learning curve and support from colleagues all through his time at Nexus, has been Principal Engineer Railway Signalling for the Tyne & Wear Metro to date.
AGM and Recent events in aviation and what we can learn from them when developing, deploying and using vital systems
The Society's Annual General Meeting will be followed by a talk on Recent events in aviation and what we can learn from them when developing, deploying and using vital systems.
This talk will reflect on the accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 Max, and how it reads across into the way that vital railway systems are conceptualised, developed, deployed and used. It will look at the organisational, technical and user-related factors and seek to engage the audience on how we as an industry can learn from these unfortunate events.
Tim Whitcher is a Technical Director in AtkinsRéalis. He has more than 15 years’ experience across both the supplier and client sides of signalling and train control and has deployed mission and safety critical systems on light rail, metro, mainline and heavy haul railways around the world. Due to his focus on complex systems, and ability to ask lots of questions, Tim often gets pulled in as a troubleshooter or integration specialist and has been fortunate enough to work on a range of projects. This experience includes deploying DTG-R on the Victoria Line for Westinghouse/Invensys, TBTC on JNUP and the ATC Systems Readiness project for Thales, a Level 3 moving block system in Australia and helping pave the way for high speed ETCS Level 2 on HS2. Tim is currently supporting New York MTA with the development of the strategy and specification for Work Train fitment and how to manage the integration of this diverse fleet into the operational railway.
Anjay Raj is a Technical Director in AtkinsRéalis who runs the Systems Integration Practice within their Rail Consulting business. Anjay's career spans 17 years having started as a graduate trainee in Metronet before he continued his career within LU in Project Engineering capacities on various projects as part of SUP and then 4LM. He led the 4LM programme engineering team through the enabling works and CBTC commissionings on the Circle, Hammersmith & City, District and Metropolitan Lines, before he then joined AtkinsRéalis where he has been working on international CBTC assignments in USA and more recently on ETCS on the East Coast Mainline. His experience centres around the delivery of line upgrades with a signalling systems bias, and he is passionate about collaborative working to deliver safe and high-performing railway system solutions.
Development of Axle Counters
The Frauscher Axle Counter FAdC is a cutting-edge technology that revolutionizes railway safety and operational efficiency. FAdC is being successfully used in many countries for track vacancy detection application in mainline, metro, freight, tram lines. This presentation aims to explore the key features and advantages of the Frauscher Axle Counter system. By accurately detecting and counting the passing axles, this advanced solution offers reliable train detection, ensuring the safety of railway operations. Additionally, its modular design and flexible integration capabilities enable seamless integration into existing signalling systems. The presentation will delve into the various applications of the Frauscher Axle Counter, including train detection, track vacancy detection, and level crossing protection. The session will also cover the benefits of Supervisory track section, Counting Head Control and Data transmission functionalities, which can enhance the availability of the system.
Attendees will gain valuable insights into the capabilities and benefits of this state-of-the-art technology, leading to enhanced safety, efficiency, and reliability in railway operations.
Dinesh has 15 years of experience in railway signalling projects, spanning design, execution, testing, commissioning, and maintenance. Starting at Hitachi Rail in Bangalore and leading design teams at Siemens, he joined Frauscher India as its first ever employee. There, he streamlined design processes, secured product approvals across multiple countries, and oversaw the commissioning of thousands of wheel sensors on the Indian railway network. Currently, as the Head of Sales Operations at Frauscher UK, Dinesh continues to drive technical sales and operational excellence.
The future of Signalling in Australia/New Zealand
Steve will provide a presentation on "Major Rail Signalling Projects within Australia & NZ"
He will provide an overview of major projects occurring in Australia & New Zealand, covering Mining railways, metros, level crossings, tunnelling, suburban rail loops and systems, freight projects and the future needs.
(Please note : Meeting is planned to start at 16:30, an hour earlier than usual )
Steve Boshier is a career rail professional, having gained experience on both sides of the fence, having worked for government, private railways, consulting companies and contractors working on a range of freight and passenger networks.
Steve’s a Fellow of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). For IRSE he is their global President and an active supporter of the rail industry.
He has first-hand experience with Major Projects, Asset Management, Railway Signalling and the implementation of the “state of the art” rail systems into the industry throughout Australasia.
As a technical expert, a rail advocate and someone who is well respected in the industry, he is currently the Manager, Asset Integration & Completions for the Level Crossing Removal Project $30B program of work to remove 110 level crossings and other brownfield projects in Melbourne.
Carbon in Rail Signalling : How to save thousands of tonnes of Carbon
What is the Carbon Footprint of London Underground’s Signalling Systems? Could TfL reduce its Carbon Footprint by adopting particular types of signalling systems over others? How does the Jubilee & Northern Lines (TBTC) signalling carbon footprint compare to the new Four Lines Modernisation (4LM) signalling system (CBTC) deployed on the District, Circle, H&C, Metropolitan Lines?
Join Aditya Gurtu (Senior Engineer, TfL) who will tell us more about this industry-ground breaking work modelling & comparing the carbon footprints of TfL’s signalling systems, how it was done, and how TfL can potentially save thousands of tonnes of Carbon!
Aditya Gurtu is a Senior Engineer within TfL’s Environment & Sustainability Engineering team. Aditya completed his Engineering Masters degrees from Bristol and Cambridge Universities. He is a Chartered member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology and Royal Academy of Engineering Leadership Award holder.
Aditya spent the last decade working on Transport for London railway projects across the lifecycle. This includes multi-disciplinary depot upgrade delivery, and as a Signalling Project Engineer managing the design, delivery and integration of the new Thales CBTC Signalling System across of key central London areas of the District, Circle, Metropolitan, H&C tube lines (Four Lines Modernisation). He was the Carbon Lead for this railway programme.