NR’s Digital plan
70% of services could be ETCS-enabled in 15 years under plans unveiled by Network Rail in mid-May.
SEVENTY per cent of journeys on the UK rail network could be European Train Control System (ETCS) and Traffic Management System (TMS)-enabled within 15 years, according to Network Rail Chief Executive Mark Carne.
He was speaking at the launch of a Digital Railway strategy in York on May 10. At the same event, Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling said: “The industry wants to get on with this, but it needs to be carefully managed, which is why I want to be clear that all signalling renewals and upgrades in Control Period 6 must be digital-ready.”
Grayling likened it to people buying HD-ready televisions before the widespread rollout of HD channels. He said digital signalling was about getting the basics right, and that it was a response to the surge in passenger numbers.
“This growth has brought problems, and we need answers” he said. “We need a sustainable and reliable railway with faster journeys.”
In terms of timescales, Carne said that NR will focus on line of route deployment in Control Period 6 (April 1 2019-March 31 2024), and that the company has funding for early development phases of converting the East Coast Main Line to digital.
Grayling confirmed that the trans-Pennine route will be the first digital inter-city railway. He added that the first 40 miles from London Waterloo will be an ETCS railway within ten years, enabling a metrostyle operation.
NR plans to launch ETCS on the East Coast Main Line (including the Moorgate branch), at Crewe, at Feltham, and as part of the TransPennine Route Upgrade. It says rolling stock will need to be modified with ‘digital-ready’ components to allow ‘line-of-route’ approach to the digital rollout.
CP7 (April 1 2024-March 31 2029) will build on this, and focus on regional deployment of ETCS, with Carne saying major resignalling schemes will start to create ETCS railways as current signalling becomes life-expired. He said that some £20 billion worth of resignalling is required in the next 15 years (up to 63% of the current signalling assets).
An optimised plan for the rollout of DR should be developed in detail by 2021, said Carne, covering the funding periods for CP7 and CP8.
While acknowledging that digital train technology was not new, Carne said it will get better.
“That is no reason to wait,” he said. “We now have a stable enough platform from which to start the rollout, confident that future upgrades will be predominantly software and not hardware-related.”
Speaking to RAIL on May 10, Grayling said: “We are telling Network Rail to be digitally ready. I have said to the manufacturers that they must be ready. All the equipment must be there.”
NR’s Managing Director of Digital Railway David Waboso said: “This is the first time I have had the Chief Executive, heads of Rail Delivery Group, TOCs and Secretary of State saying this is the way this will go. It is hugely symbolic and important.”
Carne added: “What we want is trains wired and ready to run. It is a very clear message for franchises and ROSCOs. 45% of Europe’s most congested railways are in Britain. Train reliability has declined in the past six years. The system is full due to the old way of working. Those interdependencies are what the modern industry strives to avoid.
“The case for Digital Railway is compelling. It is the most costeffective way of delivering the improvements required.”
Railway Industry Association Chief Executive Darren Caplan said: “While the digital upgrade is implemented, it is important that existing conventional systems are maintained, too. We ask the Government and Network Rail to continue supporting suppliers of legacy signalling products and services, as we migrate from traditional signalling to digital in the years ahead.”
NR Chairman Sir Peter Hendy CBE said on May 10 that Carne’s decision to step down from the Chief Executive role does not affect digitalisation plans.
“Mark’s successor could make this speech and there won’t be a fag paper’s difference,” he said. NR sources have confirmed that the company has a preferred candidate to replace Carne, but have yet to reveal who it is. Carne himself said he was unaware of the person’s identity.
Rail Delivery Group Chief Executive Paul Plummer said: “Today’s announcement will speed up the journey towards a rail system that unlocks the power of technology to improve journeys for passengers with faster and more reliable journeys.”
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash called the announcement a “smokescreen”, and said: “To drag ourselves into the digital age will take more than a PR stunt.”