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 [...]
In the early days of railway history there were no interlocking systems. It was considered enough to have personnel at the train stations manually observing trains and operating signals. The need for automatic signalling eventually became evident: human beings tend to make mistakes, which can lead to serious accidents, and the capacity of railroads was [...]
On August 31, 2017, the Swedish Transport Administration's Director General, Lena Erixon, submitted to the Swedish Government the "Proposal for National Transport Planning Plan 2018-2029". Erixon points out that the starting point for this plan has been to work with, and contribute to an efficient, modern and sustainable transport system. This plan represents a financial [...]
The digitalized railway signaling systems of today are becoming increasingly complex with more and more functionality added to make better use of the existing infrastructure, while maintaining the highest level of safety. This also means that the task of assessing the safety and function of these system becomes more and more complex and often constitutes [...]
