Rail
Our core specialism is interlocking design, independent checking and principles testing. Around it we deliver the whole signalling lifecycle, from survey and design to installation, testing, commissioning and maintenance, on conventional, computer-based and digital systems.
Capabilities
We take schemes from early review through to maintenance, using our own teams, approved partners or a managed subcontract.
Early review and optioneering
Independent scope and efficiency reviews and option studies before commitments harden, so the budget goes further.
Signalling design
Requirements, principles, scheme and detailed design, including functionally equivalent renewals of life-expired assets.
Scope
- Scheme plans and control tables
- Source and application data
- Location plans and interfaces
- Functionally equivalent renewals
- Depots, metro, light rail and sites where access is difficult
Interlocking assurance
Independent checking and principles testing, carried out by different competent engineers from those who designed the data.
Scope
- Check records and an assured baseline
- Principles and regression testing
- In-house simulation for SSI, Smartlock and Microlok
- Designers, verifiers and mentors for manufacturers
Testing and commissioning
Licensed testers at every grade up to Tester in Charge, with off-site testing completed before we go on site.
IRSE licensing and assessmentScope
- Factory and site integration
- Off-site testing before site access
- Controlled entry into service
Level crossings
One of the most experienced crossing design teams in the country, with more than 30 crossings designed, from relay-based AHBs to PLC-based MCB-ODs.
Scope
- Automatic, manual, open and foot crossings
- Obstacle detection, traversers and overlay systems
- Ground plans, interlocking controls and signal regulation
- CCTV control for user-worked crossings
Axle counters and train detection
Section design, installation and testing, with reset and restoration strategies for mixed train-detection areas.
Signalling power and electrification
Signalling power from 650V supplies through to substations, delivered alongside the signalling works.
Power and energyScope
- Principal and functional supply points
- Relocatable equipment buildings
- Earthing and points heating
- Depot, trackside and station lighting
- Substations
Telecoms
Operational communications, station systems, CCTV and security, including migration from legacy systems to IP.
Train control and control systems
ETCS and ERTMS migration, CBTC, traffic management, control centres, train describers and SCADA.
Surveys and digital engineering
Condition surveys, point-cloud data and federated BIM, so design starts from accurate asset information.
Scope
- Condition, degradation and correlation surveys
- Point-cloud survey
- Federated BIM in ProjectWise
- Signal siting from project-wide 3D models
- Drone-assisted inspection where access is difficult
Maintenance and fault response
Embedded route maintainers, periodic testing and fault rectification after entry into service.
Track and S&C
Switch and crossing and plain line work, from fault analysis and asset condition inspection to design, build and maintenance.
Scope
- Fault analysis and asset condition inspection
- Permanent way CRT management, design, build and maintenance
- Gauging
- Practical track training
Turnkey delivery
Design and build as Principal Contractor and Principal Designer, with civils and OLE delivered through approved partners.
Rail logistics and asset disposal
Removal, transport, storage and responsible disposal of redundant rail vehicles, infrastructure and equipment, including disused trains removed from the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Scope
- Transport and removal of decommissioned rail assets
- Short and long-term secure storage
- Environmentally responsible disposal and recycling
- Heavy haulage, cranes and specialist rail handling partners
Training and safety consultancy
Specialist training in signalling and track safety, with consultancy on plant reliability, HAZID and HAZOP, and risk management.
Interlocking and assurance
We take interlockings from scheme and control tables through independent checking and principles testing to entry into service, so errors are found in the office rather than on site. We are one of the few UK companies with full SSI capability.
- 1
Requirements and architecture
We establish the operational need, the architecture and every interface.
- 2
Principles and scheme design
Scheme plans, control tables and location plans for a solution that is safe, operable and testable.
- 3
Interlocking and data design
Approved principles become source and application data and interface circuits, under change control.
- 4
Independent checking
A separate engineer checks the data and resolves comments, so errors are caught before they become delivery risk.
- 5
Baseline and principles testing
Testing on our own simulation systems proves the data implements the approved principles, with full logs and regression evidence.
- 6
Integration and commissioning
Factory and site integration, train detection and handover, for a controlled entry into service.
Interlocking technologies we work with
Legacy and conventional
Mechanical, electro-mechanical, relay and route-relay, GEC geographical and bespoke interface circuitry.
Computer-based
SSI, Smartlock, Westlock, Microlok, VHLC, WESTRACE and ElectroLogIXS.
Digital and metro
SelTrac CBTC, control-centre systems, ERTMS scheme, interlocking and wayside design, and ETCS migration.
On site
Selected projects
Recent work for asset owners, manufacturers, principal contractors and design houses, in the UK and overseas.
Isle of Wight Island Line
South Western Railway
Early optioneering secured significantly more renewed railway for the same budget and blockade. The full upgrade took eight months and doubled train service capability.
Project detail
- Challenge
- The Island Line was life-expired and had to be renewed within a fixed budget, a fixed blockade and an immovable deadline, ready for new Class 484 trains.
- Our role
- Engaged at PACE phase 1, we optioneered the scheme before commitments hardened. We then delivered design and build as Principal Contractor and Principal Designer, replacing route-relay signalling with SSI and adding axle counters, track and platform works.
Cross River Rail, Brisbane
Egis
Interlocking design and off-site testing delivered entirely from the UK, with SSI to Microlok interfaces validated before site access.
Project detail
- Challenge
- The project needed specialist interlocking design and test capacity, working remotely to Australian standards.
- Our role
- Detailed design, including equipment building and location design, interface specifications and control tables, then principles testing and validation to RISSB AS7716 for Rail Control Systems. We trained and mentored junior testers throughout.
Southampton Freight Lengthening
Southern Alliance
Longer freight paths commissioned on a live railway, with signalling, power and telecoms delivered as one package.
Project detail
- Challenge
- Extend freight capability on a busy, live railway where signalling, power and telecoms all had to change together.
- Our role
- Design to Approval for Construction, then installation, testing and commissioning. The work included Smartlock data, Eastleigh panel and train describer changes, 650V supply restorations and new signalling locations.
Beckton Depot, Docklands Light Railway
AECOM
Signalling for the new maintenance facilities, staged so the depot kept working while its PLC was integrated with the SelTrac main-line interlockings.
Project detail
- Challenge
- New DLR trains needed new stabling and maintenance facilities at Beckton, built while the existing fleet continued to be maintained there.
- Our role
- Detailed signalling design to Approval for Construction, from scheme and bonding plans to control tables and wiring, with design CRE support, construction support and commissioning cover.
Liverpool Street IECC
Network Rail
A clear migration strategy for new signaller workstations, planned around a fully operational control centre.
Project detail
- Challenge
- Replace signaller workstations in a control centre that must stay fully operational.
- Our role
- As Principal Contractor, we optioneered the workstation layouts, carried out the ergonomic assessment and set the migration strategy.
Tyne and Wear Metro
Nexus
Signalling installed and tested on a live metro, with the work completed ahead of schedule.
Project detail
- Challenge
- Install and test new signalling on a metro that stayed in passenger service.
- Our role
- Signalling installation and testing for Nexus.
