Crossrail
The First Interconnected CBTC
Railway in the UK
Duncan Cross
Deputy Director Operations
London Overground & Crossrail
Agenda
What is Crossrail
Route
Key Features – Connections, Key Dates
Current work
The signalling challenge
Specification
Interfaces with other systems
Future Challenges
Bringing Crossrail into service
What is Crossrail
New railway under Central London, linking Liverpool Street and
Canary Wharf in the east with Paddington in the west.
Operates over the wider United Kingdom rail network
Required an Act of Parliament to give powers to acquire land and
construct the new railway
£15.9 billion project budget for construction
£2 billion for a new depot at Old Oak Common and a fleet of new
trains
Complex funding arrangement, with both Transport for London and
UK Department for Transport as sponsors
Central Government funding
Business rate increases
Money from third parties
Crossrail Route
Key Features
Major new tunnel connecting Paddington in the west to
Stratford and Abbey Wood in the east
10 new stations (all connected to other transport networks)
New maintenance depot and train stabling facility at Old Oak
Common in West London financed by TfL through a
concession arrangement
70 new trains, financed off balance sheet by TfL through a
concession arrangement
£2.3 billion of works by Network Rail on existing railway
funded through a user charge back to TfL for Crossrail
services
Crossrail – Connecting the Capital
Project Key Dates
Design and specification 2008 to 2012
Construction 2011 to 2018
Rolling Stock contract – 2014
Appoint operator - Sept 2014
Operator starts services on existing routes - May 2015
New rolling stock delivery commences - 2017
Testing and Commissioning - 2018
Trial Operations - 2018
3 Stage Opening – 2018 to 2019
Ground breaking construction
The Crossrail experience
Signalling Challenge
24 trains per hour in each direction in the peaks
Perturbed capacity of 30 trains per hour in each
direction
Interface with platform edge doors (PED) as
platform dwell times are critical to the successful
operation
Interface with tunnel ventilation system,
Provide outputs to the performance analysis
system on train running data
Complex and changing interfaces with
neighbouring networks
Interfaces with Other Rail Systems
Pudding Mill
Lane
Portobello Junction
Abbey Wood
Interface Requirements
Interfaces with Network Rail Infrastructure at
Pudding Mill Lane, connection to the Great Eastern Main Line
from Liverpool Street Station in the East with a standard Multiple
Aspect Signalling (Track Circuit Block) system with UK train
protection warning system (TPWS), later full ERTMS level 2, post
2025
Portobello Junction outside Paddington, connection to the Great
Western Main Line, interface Multiple Aspect Signalling (Track
Circuit Block) with Automatic Train Protection then by 2017 with
ERTMS Level 2, initially as an overlay then fully supervised, but with
un certain cutover dates
Abbey Wood on the South Eastern branch of Crossrail with a
proposed non signalled connection for engineering access purposes
only.
The CBTC Decision
Proven technology – where is a system
operating today
Deliver the train service specification (24 /
30 TPH)
Ability to interface with platform screen
doors and other operational systems
Not be at the technological cutting edge –
Crossrail is too large a project to be a test
bed
Simple Solution?
Crossrail is tailor made to a CBTC
signalling solution
BUT
Crossrail is an Interoperable Railway
AND
CBTC systems are not currently compatible with
Technical Standards for Interoperability
Derogation Required
UK sought a derogation against the Co-Co Sig TSI from the
EU for a CBTC installation in the Central Tunnel Section of
Crossrail as opposed to looking for an ECTS option from
service commencements.
Derogation granted in late 2011 with one big caveat.
We agreed with the EU as part of the signalling contract, the
successful supplier will provide a migration plan to move from
the CBTC system to ECTS Level 3
TfL as Infrastructure Manager for the Central Tunnel Section
will determine when the changeover will take place.
What Does it Mean for Crossrail
Allows Crossrail to go with its preferred CBTC option to meet the
service introduction date of Dec 2018
Removed the risk associated with being the first to develop a
Level 3 solution for a metro application
Migration plan will outline the steps and work required to move
from CBTC to ETCS L3
Migration will only take place when there is proven technology
available, which meets the train and system performance
requirements to allow a seamless changeover between the two
systems
Someone else will have to go first
Challenges for the CBTC System
Interfaces with other systems – Crossrail is not a closed
system like many traditional CBTC applications
Interfaces change over time so needs to be adaptable
Ability to work with ventilation systems for the tunnel section
an additional layer of capacity restriction
Future adaptability to ETCS L3
opportunity for CBTC suppliers to develop L3 compatible
systems
Opening Stages 0 and 1: Dec 2015 – May 2018
Crossrail TOC operating on the Great Eastern: migrate rolling stock from
Class 315 to Class 345 in 2017
NR Signalling from Liverpool St IECC.
NR Route Control at Romford ROC and CTOC arrangements are yet
undetermined
GE train service regulated 'as now'.
CTOC Control TBD
GW Route Control
(Swindon)
IECC
RCC
Under Fit Out
GE Route Control
(Romford ROC)
IECC
15
TPH
Opening Stage 2 : May 2018 - Dec 2018
Dec 2017 - Crossrail TOC operating on both the GE and GW.
Signalled from Liverpool St IECC and Didcot (TVSC)
NR Route Control at Romford (GE) and CTOC to be determined.
Both railways regulated 'as now'.
CTOC Control TBD
GW Route Control
(Swindon)
IECC
4
TPH
CTOC Control TBD
RCC Supporting T+C
Trial Running and
Trial Operations
CBTC
GE Route Control
(Romford ROC)
IECC
15
TPH
Opening Stage 3: Dec 2018 - May 2019
8 months of dynamic testing/trial operations, to commission Crossrail tunnels.
Capability for CTOC Route Control (CIS / PA / Security) of Great Eastern and
Great Western migrates to Romford RCC.
GE, GW and COS all operated as 3 distinct train services, however interfaces
with NR routes will be commissioned and operable for movement of ECS.
GE and GW railways regulated 'as now'.
COS with dedicated timetable / rule set to support the ATR / headway regulation.
GW Route Control
(Swindon)
IECC
4
TPH
RCC
(Romford)
CBTC
15
TPH
GE Route Control
(Romford ROC)
IECC
15
TPH
Opening Stage 4: May 2019 - Dec 2019
Through running of GE services to the COS. GW operates discrete service.
Effectively run 2 separate traffic flows
12 trains per hour Paddington to Abbey Wood
12 trains per hour Paddington to Shenfield (plus 4 trains per hour between Gidea Park
and Liverpool Street)
Late running mitigated by decision support software leading to service
manipulation in COS or intervention on GE; coordinated from Romford RCC
GW Route Control
(Swindon)
IECC
4
TPH
RCC
GE Route Control
(Romford)
(Romford ROC)
CBTC
IECC
24
TPH
18
TPH
Opening Stage 5: Dec 2019 Onwards
Full Crossrail service in operation, all interfaces in full operational use.
'Regulation Strategy' will balance 3 inter-related train services.
Ability to both present and accept trains right-time at interfaces key.
RCC co-ordinates overall service (inc GE for GW) re presentation.
Single line at Heathrow and 2 platforms at Abbey Wood create constraints
on service patterns.
GW Route Control
(Swindon)
IECC
10
TPH
RCC
(Romford)
CBTC
24
TPH
GE Route Control
(Romford ROC)
IECC
18
TPH
Post Commissioning
Network Rail will deploy Traffic Management on Great Eastern Main
Line
Timing 2019 for Liverpool Street IECC Migration.
Interface specification to reflect ‘shared data’ for predictive train
running algorithms from each side of the interface – a single source
of truth.
Other
Region
GW Route Control
(Swindon)
GW NR TMS
10
TPH
RCC
(Romford)
CBTC
24
TPH
Romford ROC
GE NR TMS
18
TPH
Other
Region
Post Commissioning
NR Deploy TM on GW
Timing uncertain.
Interfaces as per GE
Other
Region
Didcot TVCS
GW NR TMS
10
TPH
RCC
Romford
CBTC
24
TPH
Romford ROC
GE NR TMS
18
TPH
Other
Region
Post Commissioning
Crossrail becomes a ‘sub-set’ of wider TM network.
Would require an enhanced ‘bespoke’ interface between NR TMS and Crossrail CBTC.
Impacts on RfL responsibilities (re regulatory framework) and Operations Concepts
(decision making and operational hierarchy).
Retain some functionality specific to Crossrail CBTC and wider COS; passenger
movement at stations critical and some autonomy is still required.
Development and deployment risk is relatively high and outside timescales.
Other
Region
Didcot TVCS
GW NR TMS
10
TPH
Romford ROC
CBTC
24
TPH
Other
Region
GE NR TMS
18
TPH
Post Commissioning
Crossrail has a commitment to adopt ETCS level 3 (+ATO) when available and risk
tolerable.
All regulation elements of the CBTC specification would not necessarily be replicated
and therefore need to be provided through a second system.
The regulation functionality may be provided through an interface with NR TMS,
however further work would be required to understand any gaps.
Other
Region
Didcot TVCS
GW NR TMS
10
TPH
Romford ROC
ETCS (Level 3)
24
TPH
Other
Region
GE NR TMS
18
TPH