Richard Harmer, chief operations officer at Young Rail Professionals (YRP), reflects on rail innovation and how emerging technologies are reshaping signalling, projects, and everyday working life across the rail industry.
Some days it feels like the rail industry is rolling out innovation as quickly as trains leave Crewe station, which is just a short walk from my Network Rail office. On others, when I look at some of the historic legacy systems around areas where there’ll be future projects (like Carlisle for the West Coast North Modernisation programme) I find myself wondering: is the European Train Control System (ETCS) still considered ‘new’?
I’m not a philosopher paid to portray my thoughts, though my role at YRP allows me to convey my ideas to my chairs / vice chairs of committees on their objectives for the year. Day-to-day, I’m a senior project engineer, specialised in signalling. I help lead the modernisation of the railway for passengers and freight, focusing on integrating signalling that spans centuries and working with other engineering disciplines trying not to upset them too much (or make things too expensive).
A day in the life
Even in my day job, it seems that some innovations have crept out of nowhere, the likes of which the 2017, newly-graduated me would not believe could be here. When travelling to work, for instance, I first arrive at Meadowhall train station, catching the 06:55 to Stockport for a change to get to Crewe. My train arrives and appears too long for the platform – but is it?
It turns out TransPennine Express has trains fitted with Coach Automatic Selective Door Opening (CASDO), which is an innovative way to ensure passengers can access the whole train safely, only opening the doors which fit within the specification for the platform length. I must get on at the right door, which I’ll admit can sometimes catch me out on the way home, having to quickly make my way through the carriages once the train has left Sheffield.
I walk from Crewe station to Network Rail’s Mannin House and arrive at my adjustable desk – another day-to-day example of innovation affecting our roles. I’ve had an adjustable desk since during Covid, and it helped break up the monotony a bit by getting me out of my seat, along with wandering around the house for the odd coffee and going for my daily walk.
‘Your wellbeing is always a priority’ – that’s a message that’s resonated with me while I’ve been at Network Rail. These desks get you up out of your seat, talking to colleagues whilst standing, and empowering you to move round to people more. They also help you to see who’s on a call, so I can manoeuvre myself towards them for a good chat or project update.
Now onto my work for the day, going through meetings to see discussions and actions for projects. Typically, Co-pilot, Microsoft Teams, and video transcripts are common tools that make basic tasks more efficient, such as tracking what we say in meetings. This technology has proved a huge help with recovering missing details in conversations, but it has its pitfalls.
As a relative railway newbie, I’m passionate about developing the next generation of industry leaders. Sometimes, I can’t help but feel that when graduates and apprentices first start out, wedging themselves into meetings by taking the minutes is critical for early development.
There are projects which would have been discussed in concept before most even started their learning journey in the railway, and this new technology can make it too easy to record key details without the same process of remembering, discussing, and, in many cases, clarifying what’s actually going on.
Standardised systems
Shift over to looking at documents from a recent visit to AtkinsRéalis’ Egham tech hub for a look at its Advanced Signalling Method (ASM). The signalling industry is progressing relatively well. Modular Signalling is a phrase I hear weekly, sometimes daily. Trying to standardise systems today so that future enhancements and renewals can be installed with minimal disruption and as cost-effectively as possible, could not be better emphasised, what with all the talk around money these days. Holistic systems like this can be a little intimidating at first, with the scale of changes or parts of the overall system affected but it’s great to see how, from the project to the end user, it’s all considered in the process.
In a similar way, I think about how ETCS will change the industry as it’s further introduced through the likes of the East Coast Digital Programme, Transpennine Route Upgrade, and WCN Modernisation, which has at its heart EULYNX, a signalling term common throughout not just the UK, but most of Europe on standardising Signalling systems.
When I look across Europe, there has been the introduction of technology such as Hand-Held-Terminals, which allow for the control and hand back of possessions by the PICOP on-track – a brilliant way of adding redundancy to the management of on-track improvement works, rather than just relying on comms between the PICOP and signaller.
Cyber security is a concern. How safe can any new system be from attackers? ETCS has ways of protecting the onboard and trackside systems through functionality like Online Key Management, using cryptographic keys to ensure the right technology talks to each other, uncompromised. However, I wonder if AI, the current flavour of the moment, will change that? We’ll wait and see.
Looking ahead
What progress and innovation would I like to see in future? I’m a big believer that the railway is like a living and breathing thing. When areas struggle or break, you feel it elsewhere, just like if you strain your back getting out of a car and can barely move for the rest of the day. Or, just like breathing, you don’t notice the fluidity of perfect travel. That’s exactly the type of innovation I want – full-scale, interactive, ‘living breathing’ models that allow project teams to truly understand how the system behaves through multiple changes. That said, if it’s too good it could put us all out of a job!
One of my favourites for simulation comes from UKRRIN at University of Birmingham. Called BRAVE, it’s a software I used in my master’s degree dissertation to simulate ETCS Level 3 on the Merseyrail network. It’s a great bit of software that works like simulators for timetable modelling; using it I was able to highlight the different failures in conventional and ETCS signalling systems and how the timetable would recover. I got to see its use for the Manchester Oxford Road Remodelling project too, where there’s a bit more complexity than my dissertation. It was great to see educational institutions influencing industry in innovative ways.
I love working in this industry and can’t wait to see what exciting developments come next. If you’re interested in sharing interesting progress or innovations with YRP or are interested in collaborating, contact us at [email protected] or our wider teams at [email protected].
Image credit: AdobStock/Alexey Fedorenko
