ATO for Thameslink
Trains began “flawlessly” running in Thameslink Core section using Automatic Train Operation technology from March 17.
TRAINS have begun running in the Thameslink Core section using Automatic Train Operation (ATO). March 17 was the first day of operation, with eight-car 700019 the first to use ATO.
Operator Govia Thameslink Railway said the Siemens-built train brought itself to a stand automatically at St Pancras International at 1354, having arrived empty from Kentish Town. It had transitioned into European Train Control System Level 2 Full Supervision prior to its arrival, and then formed the slightly late 1353 to Three Bridges. GTR said this was the first time a train ran using ATO on top of ETCS.
The driver checked the platforms, closed the doors and selected ATO, with the train running under these conditions to Blackfriars, where it transitioned back to manual control. The system was described as “working flawlessly”.
GTR Systems Integration Manager Jim Doughty said: “This is a real world-first and I’m delighted. It is the culmination of a programme of work that we have been involved in since the start of our franchise three years ago.”
Doughty said the train running followed almost two years of on-track testing. GTR said it has completed nearly 200 night and day shifts since testing began in April 2016, when work to dynamically test ETCS started at NR’s National Integration Facility at Hertford North.
Martin Chatfield, Network Rail Project Director for High Capacity Infrastructure, said: “Seeing the first UK main line train running in ATO for passenger services is a truly momentous day. It not only proves the digital railway technology within the heavy rail environment, it also demonstrates that an industry approach is the way to solving railway capacity issues in the future.”
GTR said ATO will initially operate between St Pancras and Blackfriars from May 2019, when 22 trains per hour are running in the Core, with ATO being extended to London Bridge in December next year.
Meanwhile, the first ‘main line’ train to use ATO ran on March 26, when the 0946 PeterboroughHorsham used the system while running through the ‘Core’. This was formed of 12-car 700110. When in full service, 12 separate TL routes will converge on the Core.