News November 2020 Innovation System design Back to basics learning from automotive in the digital age telecoms part 2 the new we've normal... got this! The Glasgow Subway is an underground light rapid transit line in Glasgow, Scotland and on page xx we report on the Young Rail Tours visit to the depot at St Enoch. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the third-oldest underground metro system in the world after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro. It is also one of the very few railways in Signet Solutions continue to followthe government world with a track runningguidelines, gauge of keeping our staff and clients safe. We are offering courses4 ft (1219 online mm) as well as operating from our Derby training school. We’ve altered classThe Subway sizes is currently to comply undergoing with a social distancing £288m (€336, $370m) modernisation measures, we can alsoprogramme use bigger that will classrooms see the introduction if required. We’ve adapted to the ‘new normal’of and all new we driverless feel trains, it’s newworking signalling quite well! Please look and 15 stations upgraded. out for upcoming courses online and at our training school - there’s something for everyone. We’re happy to discuss our new way of training at any time, please call today or go online to find out more. From all of us thank you for your continued support and stay safe! +44 (0)1332 343 585 [email protected] www.signet-solutions.com the new we've Is 5G delayed? Work began on the 5G mobile radio standard in 2015 with Release 15 and now in Issue 271 2020 the content of 3GPP Release 17 is agreed, which will include the requirements for Future Railway Mobile Communications System (FRMCS) . Following the news November 2020 from 3GPP of the potential delay to the Release 17 date by three months, it is a good opportunity to explain some of the features of 5G and the potential benefits and normal... got this! challenges for rail. In this issue 1) New Radio (NR) has been developed to provide low latency high data rate services. In Release 17, further work on Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Feature articles Communication (URLLC) is expected to meet the critical machine-to-machine reliability and latency requirements for automation applications. 2) 3GPP has continued to work on advancing practically implementable Multi-User Automating our 2 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) techniques. MU-MIMO enables the railways – lessons transmitting and receiving of more than one signal simultaneously over the same learned from bold radio channel where the wireless terminal has access to multiple antennas. automotive innovators 3) The NR Cellular-Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) solution enables direct Tom Jansen and Rick Driessen communications to allow vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-to- mobile and vehicle-to-infrastructure. Enhancements to the NR C-V2X for Back to basics: 11 broadcast, groupcast, and unicast unlocks the potential for multiple train-to-train Telecoms part 2 communication links. Paul Darlington When I studied for the IRSE exam I remember occasions of disheartenment; thinking and Trevor Foulkes of counterparts in fast-moving tech industries – busy developing the latest and Command, control and 22 greatest in telecoms – whilst I learnt systems of the 80s. Despite my disheartenment at the start of my studies, I grew to understand and enjoy attaining knowledge signalling design in the of legacy systems, while also learning about the latest 5G exciting performance digital age improvements. Dominic Taylor, Alexei Iliasov, Despite the potential delay to the 5G Release 17 date, I cannot help wondering Karl King, Oliver Jarratt whether the rail industry can keep up with the telecoms industry. Generations Silas Benson and William Dearman of telecom equipment are delivered roughly just eight years apart, so can we continue to source experts for telecoms systems separated by up to 30 years of News and opinion technology change? Aaron Sawyer, chair, IRSE Younger Members Section Industry news 30 Book reviews 39 Your letters 41 Cover story From the IRSE This month’s cover photo shows the News Hither Green depot in London and the November 2020 News from the IRSE 34 Signet Solutions continue to follow government guidelines, keeping our staff and Hither Green Area Resignalling Project, Professional development: 35 serving Lewisham, Central London and clients safe. We are offering courses online as well as operating from our Derby Engineering Council into Kent. The work is part of Network training school. We’ve altered class sizes to comply with social distancing registration Rail’s programme to improve signalling Past lives: 37 and track reliability through the Lewisham measures, we can also use bigger classrooms if required. Raymond Leonard Weedon area of South East London. It was the UK’s first major commissioning to be delivered Membership changes 40 We’ve adapted to the ‘new normal’ and we feel it’s working quite well! Please look during the COVID-19 pandemic. out for upcoming courses online and at our training school - there’s something for During a nine-day blockade, control of the everyone. We’re happy to discuss our new way of training at any time, please call route was transferred from the London Bridge Signal Box to Network Rail’s Three today or go online to find out more. Bridges Rail Operating Centre (TBROC). From all of us thank you for your continued support and stay safe! 12-car trains can now stop at platform Innovation learning from automotive System design in the digital age Back to basics three at Grove Park and new facilities telecoms part 2 have been created to enable trains to turn back in the event of delays or during engineering works. New computer based interlocking and trackside systems have replaced interfaced solid-state interlocking at Hither Green and remote +44 (0)1332 343 585 relay interlocking at Bromley North. 58 signals and 254 axle counter heads have been provided. [email protected] Photo by kind permission of Network Rail. www.signet-solutions.com 1 Automating our railways – lessons learned from bold automotive innovators Tom Jansen and Rick Driessen This, the second paper in the 2020-2021 roads, more leisure time and higher capacity for Presidential programme, was presented in our infrastructure. Even if these promises could Switzerland and online on 30 October. be achieved, when applied to the railway system they challenge us with complex questions. What The global demand for passenger benefits do we get by replacing the driver by transportation is growing (disregarding computers and how do we demonstrate the the current short-term effects of the safety and integrity of a self-driving train and its Coronavirus pandemic). In large parts of software? How safe do these innovations need western Europe demand is outgrowing to be before we adapt them and what will be supply, with almost 3000km of track the role of the legislator? How can we improve declared as congested [1], and with only our business case making use of automation conventional technologies the sector is knowledge and products from other industries? struggling to keep up. Currently available technical solutions such as ERTMS have This paper will highlight and discuss the key “The railway some potential to optimise the utilisation of challenges for further automation of the railway industry is facing the railway system, creating some breathing industry, in order to stay competitive and to potentially space, but on its own it is doubtful whether optimise the market share for rail transportation, ERTMS will provide sufficient capacity while comparing these challenges with recent existential threats increase in the long term. innovations in the automotive industry. The from innovative main question is therefore: How can recent Besides this challenge in capacity, the railway developments in the (autonomous) automotive competing industry is facing potentially existential threats industry benefit the railways to ensure safe, from innovative competing transportation modes. transportation sustainable, comfortable, affordable, and The Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) modes” timely means of transportation, to meet the for cars in the short term, and self-driving cars predicted growth in passenger transport demand and even Urban Air Mobility in the long term, in 2030 - 2050? are welcome additions to the transportation ecosystem. Since innovation in the railways has Goals of automation been very slow in recent history, the question that To be able to understand the benefits of comes to mind is: How can the railway industry automation, we will first look at the goals the still be competitive and attractive enough in the automotive and the railway industry are striving mobility landscape of the future? for. There is a significant difference between what Luckily, the railway industry has become aware both are trying to achieve and why each industry of its challenges and has seemingly entered a has taken up automation as one of the leading period of rediscovery. Soon major choices will drivers for innovation. have to be made regarding the strategies required Automotive goals to tackle these challenges. One of the major areas of interest has recently been focused on The automotive industry has been innovating the topic of automation. The great promises of towards automated driving for decades, with automation, such as the automotive industry has the first automated vehicle concepts being envisaged, include benefits such as safer public showcased in the early 1920s and 1930s, then 2 IRSE News | Issue 271 | November 2020 anticipate nearby vehicles, even when there is no visual information available. On the other hand, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication will allow the vehicles to anticipate, for example, traffic signs and traffic congestion. Additionally, telematics and infotainment services will further improve the car’s operation while increasing comfort by letting the passengers, for example, stream their favourite movies to the car’s displays.