The digital railway: now arriving on Platform 21CMark Fielding-SmithDirector, Digital Rail

Phil GruberGlobal Leader, Digital Operations

Transportation The digital railway: now arriving on Platform 21C

Where other transportation networks have been embracing innovative technologies, such as the marine industry – which has used artificial intelligence techniques to maximise loading capacity and improve logistical efficiency for some years – there is a perception that railways are lagging behind. But is this a fair assessment? We need to consider the challenges faced by rail, and also the progress. In the UK, the network reaches across some 10,000 miles of track. Since the mid-1990s its passenger numbers have doubled.

The UK’s railway is one of the most heavily used in Europe, if not the world. And, at peak times on the busiest parts of the network, Britain’s railway is full. So, there’s no doubt that we need to address the capacity issue. However, as things stand under the UK Government’s current franchise agreements, train operating companies can’t run more services. And, we can’t lay miles and miles more track – too disruptive, too expensive, and largely unachievable. However, by digitalising, and therefore adding more intelligence into the network, we can make a significant difference.

How to boost capacity?

Digitalisation of the railway by Network Rail will allow train operating companies using the network to boost capacity and vastly improve their operations on the track that’s already in situ, and have a much clearer, more accurate, and more responsive view of the network to support asset management. In terms of improving capacity, a good comparative model was the use of the legacy copper-wire telephone network to introduce new broadband services; most of us in the UK still get our home broadband delivered in this way, end to end.

And, by laying the new technology over that older network and giving it a massive shot in the arm, BT

increased the power of the network by digitalising it, meaning it could then introduce a broad range of new services. Applying a similar theory to digitalisation of the rail network, and we’ll be making good progress towards meeting the challenge of the continued rise in demand for passenger journeys – an extra one billion journeys by the mid-2030s.

KEY FACTS: the UK’s rail network

New technology, new opportunities

So, what will actually be changing? Network Rail is rolling-out its major Digital Railway programme to harness the benefits gained by making trains and tracks deploy new digital technologies and embrace the advent of smart

The digital railway: now arriving on Platform 21C

The digital railway is coming, and with it will come myriad opportunities to improve how we design and operate the network, manage higher volumes of traffic, and plan maintenance and management of assets. All of which spells good news for passengers, say rail digitalisation experts Mark Fielding-Smith and Phil Gruber from SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins business.

Source: National Statistics Rail factsheet 2017

Transportation The digital railway: now arriving on Platform 21C

data analytics. As part of this, in May 2018, Network Rail made a commitment not to spend any more money on conventional signalling kit, claiming the moment was “a turning point in the history of our railways”.

Instead, it says, new, proven, open-standard technology will bring together the two key areas of signalling and train control. New digital signalling, known as ERTMS, the European railway traffic management system, is now set to introduce greater integration between track and train. It will also bring greater safety into the network because trains’ approach speeds and emergency braking will be automatically controlled, reducing the risk of human error.

Not since the railway transformed from steam to diesel in the 1960s has a technological breakthrough held such promise to vastly improve our railway for the benefit of the millions of people and businesses who rely on it every day. The age of a digital railway has today moved from the drawing board and into reality as we reveal a blueprint that will improve the lives of millions of passengers and freight users across the country. Today’s commitment is to adopt and roll-out new digital technology, for both trains and track, that will deliver faster, more frequent services for passengers and businesses alike, giving our economy a massive boost.Mark Carne, outgoing chief executive of Network Rail speaking in May 2018

Safety first

Safety is paramount, so this is a key and very positive development. The railway already uses the SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins business’ driver advisory system, an on-board app that holds timetabling information which helps the driver compare progress with the railway timetable, and

provides appropriate, safe advice on what action to take to avoid delay and optimise energy usage.

Looking at the bigger picture, with closer convergence and sharing of data across tracks and trains, must come closer collaboration in terms of operations, communications, and integration of data between Network Rail and the train and freight operating companies that use their services. This is a key agenda that the UK Government is now increasingly pushing within the sector.

Introducing the ‘digital twin’

But the benefits of rail’s digital revolution go beyond new signalling systems. Digitalisation by creating a digital model or ‘digital twin’ of the network, will provide benefits across the lifecycle of the rail network – from designing and building new parts of the network, to operating and maintaining them. How is this possible? In 2014, we supported a national aerial survey of the full network for Network Rail – 16,270 kilometres – using a helicopter with a laser scanner to capture images of the whole network within an accuracy of three centimetres. By presenting this data digitally to the user, we have recreated the network as a fully mapped-out, three-dimensional digital ‘twin’ version of its physical self. That means Network Rail now has a definitive, digital guide to its assets – including thousands of miles of track, signalling, points, telecoms, stations, viaducts, bridges and embankments.

This ‘digital twin’ of the UK’s rail network is already being used to support automation of the design process. The model can be used as a guide to upgrade the network, as recently demonstrated by the £450 million scheme to modernise the railway in South Wales, which SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins business has been pivotal in delivering. This is important work for South Wales’ commuters,

Transportation The digital railway: now arriving on Platform 21C

because the scheme is focused on re-signalling to create more capacity on that stretch of the network, and therefore deliver faster, more frequent rail services for passengers, boosting economic growth throughout South Wales. We used the network’s ‘digital twin’ in this project to help semi-automate the design with total precision, saving months of work. Using the digital twin, we removed the need to go onto the site and manually measure and estimate gradients, and we used the model to make accurate determinations of new inventory and equipment requirements such as cable and connectors. This automation of the design process saved money and made good business sense.

We need a railway that is sustainable, reliable and delivers a better experience for our passengers – one which accommodates more trains, faster journeys, with improved safety and reliability… that is exactly what the Digital Railway will help us do.

The Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, Secretary of State for Transport, during a key policy announcement in June 2018

A step-change in asset management

In addition to increasing capacity and automating the design process, the advent of the network’s ‘digital twin’, along with the broader digitization of the network, support a step-change in asset management practices. At Network Rail, this programme is called Intelligent Infrastructure, and as SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins business we are at the forefront of helping to shape and define this work from an engineering point of view.

Intelligent Infrastructure is set to be supported by a multi-million pound budget to transform the way Network Rail maintains and operates the UK’s rail network. This programme will mean a radical departure from working to traditional maintenance schedules, and the ‘break then fix’ model towards taking a proactive, predictive and preventative approach to managing the network’s assets using data collected from the digital rail. Our work will focus on how we can accurately capture that data and turn it into engineering brainpower that predicts when something is likely to break, using artificial intelligence. In support of this work we recently co-signed an agreement with an expert partner whose world-class technologies, combined with our own industry-leading engineering capability and knowledge of asset management and operations, which will provide a step-change in asset safety, efficiency and reliability.

This ‘predict-and-prevent’ model will save money, increase capacity, and eliminate the passenger’s worst nightmare – an unplanned delay or service cancellation. Could we be looking to a near-future where failed kit and unexpected delays, even during rush-hour, become a thing of the past? We certainly think so.

Valuable data-gathering

This capturing of data, and turning our engineering knowhow into usable, intelligent data is already in operation farther afield. Etihad Rail in the United Arab Emirates is a new 264-kilometre railway that carries granulated sulphur for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. We equipped the track and trains with sensors to monitor vibrations and frequencies, and data collected from the sensors is then streamed to data servers in Sweden. We then use machine learning models to pinpoint pending problems with the track and take the appropriate action. As with Network Rail, we are helping Etihad move from the ‘break then fix’ model to a ‘predict-and-prevent’ one. However, there’s a challenge that comes with increasing digitalisation. With all these new data sources comes additional security vulnerability. Cyber-security is therefore of primary importance to keep the digital railway safe, and we’re playing a pivotal role here as well.

Because we combine traditional engineering skills with leading cyber-security and cyber-resilience knowledge, our know-how is embedded and is front and centre to every major infrastructure project we work on. One current example involves our cyber-security railway experts helping to deliver a secure online key management system for UK trains to communicate securely with the wayside signalling system using encryption keys. Primarily, we’re working on the solution for the UK Digital Railway test track and then we’ll design a solution for national usage, backed by knowledge already gained from supporting delivery of cyber security, including online key management, for the Danish Railway.

Transportation The digital railway: now arriving on Platform 21C

Truly transformational opportunities

We know that the digitalisation of our railways offers enormous transformational opportunity – from state-of-the-art signal engineering to ‘predict-and-prevent’ management of assets, and a vastly-improved customer experience. SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins business is a forward-looking, global organisation. Our capabilities cover the breadth of services in this sector from design right through to build, operations, maintenance, cyber-security and procuring finance. Our global reach and resources put us in an advantageous position to deliver traditional engineering with the latest techniques.

Working collaboratively, with a mindset of continual improvement, we are enormously excited by the opportunities the digital railway’s journey ahead will bring. We’re heading into an era of seamless passenger experiences, increased capacity, optimised operations, reduced risk and increased safety. We think this signifies a revolution for the modern age in rail travel.

Mark Fielding-Smith is Atkins’s Director of Digital Rail, and Phil Gruber is SNC-Lavalin’s Global Leader of Digital Asset Management and Operation. Working across Europe and globally their teams combine traditional railway engineering expertise with the latest techniques to support clients in transforming rail networks and shaping the future of transport. Today, the combined SNC-Lavalin and Atkins business is now one of the world’s largest consultancies with over 50,000 people globally, including 5,000 specialist rail consultants, delivering all scales of rail projects across the globe, including the Doha Metro, Dubai Metro, HS2, Canada Line, Crossrail and the Sydney Metro.