31/10/2010
Contents
T3: Transport Engineering and Operations
Railways:
Operation and Engineering
•
Railway in comparison with other transport modes
•
Basic Railway Operations
•
Basic Railway Engineering
Copy of this powerpoint file can be downloaded from
www.ucl.ac.uk/resilience-research
Taku Fujiyama
Railway in comparison with other
transport modes
Task 1
Discuss the advantages, and disadvantages of railway
(i.e. suburban rail, underground, light rail) in relation to
each of other transport modes, such as car, air, coach,
buses, cycling, ships, etc…
Then, discuss what kind of transport demands
(markets) the railway can be better than other modes.
Examples of
Advantages/disadvantages
v.s. car
• can carry many people much load
• safe
• fast in some cases
• Reliable (?)
• Less pollution
•
Timetabled (you cannot take whenever you want)
10 minutes
work in pairs
Examples of
Advantages/disadvantages
v.s. plane
• able to carry many people and much load
(e.g. A380 (typical) 525 seats
A Eurostar train: 750 seats)
• easy to take
•
slow
Examples of
Advantages/disadvantages
v.s. bus
• fast
• reliable
• Able to carry many people
•
•
Too much capacity
Need to go to a station, which might be far
1
31/10/2010
Mode suitability (1)
Examples of
Advantages/disadvantages
• Urban transport
Dimensions can be changed
according to your objective
v.s. ship
• able to go inland
• relatively fast
•
less capacity
http://yourdevelopment.org/factsheet/view/id/53
Mode suitability (2)
Commercial
Average Speed
(km/h)
50
40
What is the railway good at?
(Passengers)
• Large volumes
• Medium distances
• Medium-fast and reliable speeds
Heavy Metro
Light Metro
30
Light Rail
20
People Movers
10
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
(Goods)
• Large volume for inland goods transport
• Medium-slow speeds
Transportation Capacity (pphpd)
Mode suitability (3)
This means that railway is good at the following
parts of the market
• Inter-city passengers
(For the journey duration of up to 3-5 hours)
Mode comparison: CO2 emission
• Example of a journey from London to Manchester
Source: http://www.transportdirect.info/
(200 miles)
• Commuter passengers in large cities
(a certain amount of demand is necessary)
• Bulk freight
(especially inland transport)
Numbers would change according to the calculation method
2
31/10/2010
Railway Operations
Task 2
• What strategies can be taken to increase the
capacity of Northern Line by reducing the
headway?
(3 or more strategies)
10 minutes
work in pairs
The Train Graph
Railway Operations
Possible strategies
• Faster acceleration of trains
• Better signal to allow trains to run close to each
other
• Simplify the train operations
• Reduced dwell-time at stations
• Better station design to alleviate congestion
Having trains with
different
performances
reduces the capacity
Junction Types
The Train Graph (2)
Station A
location
A
Station B
B
Station C
C
9:00
10:00
time
3
31/10/2010
Railway Signal (2)
Railway Signal
• To run more and faster trains, the line is divided
into more blocks.
Alerting “the next signal is red” so that the
When the railway was first built
train does not overrun the red signal
Station/
junction
4 aspects
free
occupied
direction
Block-based signalling. For each block, only one
train is allowed to be in.
Station Stop Times
Railway Engineering
• Passenger movements are typically 1 m/s so need
to:
– Maximise the number and width of doors per train, and
run as many trains as possible, unchecked by signals
– Ensure that passengers use all the doors
– Design rolling stock so that passengers can move around
inside, and hold on to grab rails
– Minimise door closure and traction start times
– Maximise platform width and the number of
entrances/exits
– Minimise steps and gaps
– Ensure good signage and separate passenger flows
St Albans, Luton, Bedford
Moving block (cab signal)
(i.e. ERTMS Level 2)
Task 3
See Thameslink Programme video and answer the
following questions
• What kinds of engineering work are involved in the
programme?
• Challenges
Cambridge, Peterborough
Thameslink Programme as an example
• Main objectives:
Train lengthening to increase capacity
• Lengthening: from 8 to 12 carriages
• Expansion of the network
Gatwick, Brighton
Tonbridge, Dover
4
31/10/2010
Railway: Complex Systems
Engineering works involved in Thameslink
Programme
NEW INTERLOC KING S IN CONTROL
DUAL RUNNING INTERFACE TO EXISTING SIGN ALLING
(FIN AL S YS TEM )
(O VE RLA Y SYSTEM )
U N D E R G R OU N D
UN DE RG R OU ND
• Rolling stock: New trains, depot extension
• Stations: Platform lengthening, concourse and
transferring facility expansion, accessibility
• Infrastructure: Signalling, track and (electrical)
power upgrade throughout the route
 Asset of railway is huge
IM R
S2
EXISTING
I/L
OUTPUTS TO TRAIN
Emergency Brakes
Door Side Enable
Traction Inhibit
Door Indications
Service Brakes
Motors
WESTRACE
OD R
FCU
Tx
Driver Indications
Rx
PLATFORM ATO
COM MUN ICATOR
Driver's Display
Tx
FI
ATP
te
x An
TO T
To A
ATO
E
BR
OP
TI
C
L IN
K
BE
TW
EE
N
W
ES
TR
AC
ES
MCT
FBP
LSC
SER
APR Transponder
Train Information
Doppler
TMS
le r
opp
ar D
T o re o r e a r
T
r
de
R ea
AP R
O DR
Driving
Data
ATO Rx Antenna
WESTRACE
INTERLOCKING
Tachogenerator
(Speed Sensor)
CO NTROL
CENTRE
Train Information
MCUs
As you can see, in order to run longer trains,
you have to do many things!
ipp
e
Re d Tra
po
in
rt
APR Reader
Eq
u
Tachogenerator
(Speed Sensor)
SMS
Control Data
Points, Signals
Point detection
Track Circuits
n na
ATP
Antennas
PAC
S ta
Fe
a ky
Le
FIXED
COMMUN ICATIONS
UNIT
te o
fR
a ilw
ay
Eq
u ip
p
ed
a
Tr
R
in
at
St
e
ep
of
or
ts
a
ilw
Ra
y
Train Information
e
ed
r
F IB
RE
OP
T IC
L IN
K
T
BE
W
EE
N
W
T
ES
RA
S
CE
FIXED
BLOCK
PROCESSOR
Control Data
LOCAL / MAINTAINER'S
CONTROL TERMINAL
KEY:
AUTOMATIC TRAIN PROTECTION EQUIPM ENT
OPERATIONAL DATA
RECORDER
'BLACK BOX'
SIGNALLING EQUIPMENT ROOM
T e c hn ica l
P u b l ic a tio n s
LOCAL
SITE
COMPUTER
(LSC)
STATION
MANAGEM ENT
SYSTEM
(SM S)
AUTOMATIC TRAIN O PERATION EQUIPM ENT
INTERLOCKING EQUIPMENT
AUTOMATIC TRAIN SUPERVISION EQUIPMENT
EQUIPM ENT SUPPLIED BY OTHERS
Railway Engineering (Thameslink Programme
as an example)
Railway Engineering (Thameslink Programme
as an example)
Challenges
• Project duration: very long
• Weekend and night-time track closure
• Station closure
Customer care during the operation change
It’s very difficult to upgrade existing infrastructure in the
urban area
(This is the case for maintenance work as well)
It takes lots of time/investment to upgrade existing
infrastructure. Nevertheless, most of the railway
infrastructure in London was built in the 19th century.
•
•
•
•
Narrow space for work
Limited time available for work (while trains don’t run)
Inflexibility of trains because of their nature
It’s complexity
Summary
• An industry consisting of many departments
(complex system!)
(e.g. station, customer services, train operation,
rolling stock maintenance, track, power supply,
signal, etc…)
• Unique operational requirements (because of trains
inflexibility)
• A large amount of assets (track, rolling stock, etc…)
that otherwise cannot be used
5