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IRSE NEWS | ISSUE 239 | DEcEmbER 2017 1
NEWS view 239Global and local
For many years HSBC branded itself as “the world’s local bank”. Time moved on, and their advertising changed, although it is still a phrase that many people instantly associate with HSBC.
Somewhat more modestly, but with similar intentions, the IRSE also tries to be “global yet local”. We have members in 55 countries around the world – sometimes amounting to many hundreds of people, and at the other end of the spectrum a few countries have just one member each! I hope you feel that you belong to a worldwide family of engineers who share common professional interests and aims.
We now have 20 Local Sections around the world – five of them in the UK, the remainder widely distributed across the world. Last month Japan was the most recent country to be added – a country that excels in high speed, highly reliable train services, with train control and communications systems to help deliver that excellence. Next year we hope to add a further IRSE Local Section, covering the London and South East area of the UK. If you have the opportunity to participate in
a Local Section, and perhaps even help organise events for it, may I encourage you to do so. You can find contact details for each Section on the IRSE website.
The Institution’s activities also reflect our worldwide span. In the last three years our International Technical Conventions have been in Australia, China and the USA. Next year’s will be in Switzerland (for which booking opens soon), with a core theme of “Safety in Long Railway Tunnels”. As further examples of our international nature, a highly successful ASPECT 2017 took place at the end of November, in Singapore, and our second CBTC Seminar has also just taken place, in Canada. In the UK we have a second Systems Engineering Seminar taking place in April, and a joint event with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in March.
We are also endeavouring to build more links with other organisations. Very recently we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration with the Institution of Engineers Singapore, and we are currently exploring how we might work with the IEEE in areas such as standards development.
Just as HSBC re-branded itself (as do all organisations from time to time), the IRSE is embarking upon a major re-branding exercise, to ensure we appeal to the upcoming generation of engineers. There will be more news about this in an edition of IRSE NEWS in 2018. We too want to be both global and local at the same time, and to convey the message that we are passionate about the worldwide industry of which we are a part.
Francis How chief Executive
Cover story
In this issueMain articles
Regular features
From the IRSE sections
The Moscow to Astana train sits in the cold of night before continuing with its journey. Read more about the experiences of travelling through Russia and China by rail. These include: having to leave a train for an hour while the wheels are changed, travelling at 5072 metres above sea level with oxygen available at every seat, and going through border checks which took four hours to complete. These are only a few of the challenges faced by IRSE stalwart Keith Walter as he travelled overland to his 33rd consecutive technical convention in Beijing in 2016. Keith’s story can be found on p12. Photo Keith Walter.
Train to Bejinga personal journey
Cab signallingwhat can it do for us
Dallas 2017convention report
IRSE NEWSDecember 2017
What can cab signalling ever do for us? Bob Barnard
2
Strategic drivers of change in the signalling industry Alan Rumsey
5
Thirty years ago Stephen Clark
8
by train to beijing and back Keith Walter
12
control and communications reliability Paul Darlington
19
News from the IRSE 23IRSE convention 2017 – Dallas 24IRSE Library – the latest donation 30Licensing 36Industry News 18, 36
midland & North Western Section: Derby remodelling, Smart motorways
31
Younger members Section: 21st Century professional engineering institution
34
York Section: 2018 Annual Dinner
38+44 (0)1332 343 585
Merry Christmas From all the team at Signet Solutions!
Thank you to all our clients and delegates for another great year of training excellence!
We look forward to seeing you in the new year!