An eager audience packed the board room at Network Rail’s Mailbox offices to hear Richard Inglis talk on the subject of Modular Signalling and its application to the railway between Shrewsbury and Crewe. Richard, Invensys Rail’s senior Project manager for the scheme, gave a detailed account of the business drivers behind the development of modular signalling, these being principally the “cost of signalling” (itself a product of the costs of operation, equipment, projects and ownership); changing technology (including network communications, ETCS, higher reliability and lower power usage); and changing attitudes (largely about challenging preconceived notions and established perceptions). One small example from this, being implemented in the Shrewsbury-Crewe scheme, is the use of low-power and reintroduction of battery-based technology operating equipment at 12 and 24 volts – a significant change with enormous cost and carbon footprint opportunities over classic 110v and 650v power supplies traditionally used in signalling.
Richard went on to illustrate the partnership approach to modular signalling which sees important changes to established processes, and results in the vast majority of design, build and test being completed off site in a factory with physical implementation in the railway environment reduced to a very small proportion of the whole, quite a reversal from historic practices. Richard was candid about the challenges these new approaches bring – product approvals have proved rather more demanding than might have been anticipated and much of the challenge has been one of winning hearts and minds.
The advantages modular signalling brings are clear. Invensys are one of two suppliers working with Network rail and the industry on the development presently, the other being SSL who are delivering the Ely-Norwich route using the new technology approach. Both companies are keen to point out that the success of modular signalling in part is about exploiting other existing low-cost technologies and in some respects not much “new” technology has been created directly.
Attendance: 30.
Copies of the presentation are available from mike.christelow@networkrail.co.uk. Richard Inglis would be happy to hear from anyone wishing to discuss the Invensys approach to Modular Signalling.