In this, the third and final, blog post on Signal Design Automation we will look at how Formal Verification and automation are used at Stockholm Metro to increase railway safety. The rail-based public transport system in Stockholm, Sweden is relatively complex and diverse with a combination of subway, light rail and heavy rail. It also [...]
In our previous blog post, we looked at some of the challenges commonly faced in delivery of rail control projects and proposed a remedy: the use of detailed and clear requirement specifications that enables automated development and more efficient safety verification. We will now take a closer look at this process for signaling systems design [...]
The delivery of rail control projects often suffers from high costs, unpredictable schedules and delays. Moreover, the life cycle of modern, computerized, signaling systems is often shorter than those of traditional relay-based systems, with higher maintenance costs. At the same time the need for new, more advanced rail control systems is growing, to optimize the [...]
It is clear that there is a trend in the railway industry towards using modern tools and concepts for developing signaling solutions. Most interlocking system projects today are developed with the following characteristics: Errors are found late Late changes are costly Schedules to deliver interlocking software are long and unpredictable There is a need to [...]
To enjoy the full benefits of Signaling Design Automation, particular care needs to be taken regarding the Specific Application Configuration. Characteristics of Specific Application Configuration Specific Application Configuration (SAC) often involves large amounts of safety critical data organized in an inhomogeneous fashion. Data might be given as scheme plans, control tables, and/or in written documents, [...]
The IRSE International Technical Committee recently published an insightful report on Strategic drivers of change in the signalling industry. It includes the perspectives of both the user and supplier side, and gives an excellent summary of the challenges currently faced by the signaling industry. IRSE views the primary technology drivers to be: Continued emphasis on [...]
The global rail sector is growing! Its market is estimated at € 113 billion for 2017-2020, with annual growth of +1.5%. France is resisting well and positioning itself as the world's third largest railway market behind Germany and China. The French domestic market increased to € 8.2 billion in 2015-2017. France enjoys a significant reputation [...]
On November 14-16th, the RSSRail Conference was held in Pistoia, Italy. The conference brought together researchers, engineers and academics from the rail industry, who are interested in building critical advanced railway applications and systems. Our Chief Strategy officer, Arne Borälv, was there to represent Shift2Rail and Trafikverket. In November I attended the RSSR2017 Conference on [...]
With the opening of Roslags Näsby on December 10, we proudly conclude that we contributed to 10 interlockings so far with auto-generated programs in service. At Roslags Näsby, Roslagsbanan forks into two branches, which makes the station a bit more involved than the average, with 14 switches. The project of auto-generating programs for Roslagsbanan with [...]
Software for automating the development of signalling control solutions is critical for fast, cost efficient and safe development and deployment of modern rail control solutions. Business case for rail control solutions To build a business case for software automation for rail control you should compare traditional methods for developing signalling applications with a state of [...]
