'Our railway is carrying more people on it than any time in history'

It’s not easy being a technology disruptor - Christian Fry knows this only too well. The director of strategy and market development for Alstom’s systems, signalling and infrastructure division wants to revolutionise the UK’s rail network. But, as he acknowledges, this is not a revolution that can be fast-tracked: the pace will be more suburban stopping service than bullet train.

“It will be an industry transformation through incremental stages. Whilst the technology is available today the success of the digital modernisation of railway signalling will be determined by the management of change to peoples’ roles, responsibilities and industry processes” he says.

Few would disagree that the UK rail sector is facing some monumental challenges. Passenger rail journeys have more than doubled in the past 20 years to 1.69bn annually (pdf). The upward trend shows no signs of slowing. Industry body The Rail Delivery Group forecasts that Britain’s train fleet will have to double by 2045 to meet demand. The daunting task is how to increase capacity on an already crowded and congested network.

“Our railway is carrying more people on it than any time in history, even going back to pre-Beeching days when the network was twice the size,” Fry says. “Rail connectivity has gone up, but so has demand. Continuing to work in the same old ways will not fix the problem.”

Traditional approaches to freeing up capacity included remodelling junctions to reduce bottlenecks, and extending platforms to accommodate longer trains. Now that much of that work has been done, shifting to digital signalling and traffic management systems is the major prize for technology evangelists such as Fry. Network Rail agrees. CEO Mark Carne has said that digitisation could increase capacity by as much as 40% in suburban rail networks.

As Fry explains, signalling systems used in the UK today are not radically different from those in the early days of rail.

“Semaphore signals evolved into coloured lights on sticks. Drivers are essentially using the same information as in Victorian times,” he adds.

It’s a system that relies on drivers remaining alert. Crossing a red light, or mistakenly responding to the wrong signal can have catastrophic consequences.

The revolution that Fry believes the UK must embrace is the adoption of the European Train Control System level 2 (ETCS L2) standard. In this arrangement, digital signals are sent to the driver’s cab over a dedicated rail communications network. The constant flow of information allows the driver to adjust the speed according to the trains ahead.

As well as enabling more energy efficient driving, the technology reduces the need for uncomfortable stop starting, creating a smoother journey for passengers. ETCS L2 also makes it possible to space trains closer together, allowing more trains to run on the network. There are additional safety benefits: the system automatically stops drivers from travelling through red lights or going above the speed limit.

According to Fry, the rollout of ETCS L2 technology has been slower than expected in Europe. But one country that is leading the charge is Denmark. After years of underinvestment, the government is overhauling its entire rail network. Work has been split into several mega-contracts. Alstom is installing its proprietary Atlas signalling and traffic management systems on the eastern side of the country. It is also fitting out 800 trains with onboard signalling equipment. The project goes live next year and is scheduled for completion in 2023.

“The entire network is migrating, line by line, to ETCS L2 within five years. Nothing has been done like this at a national scale before,” Fry says.

But expecting the UK to be transformed at the same pace as Denmark will only lead to disappointment, Fry believes. Although ETCS L2 standards are being introduced on some UK lines – Alstom has been awarded the contract for rolling out Atlas on the Great Western Railway – there are many obstacles to a “big bang” switchover. For one thing, our rail network is much bigger (Denmark’s network is roughly the size of Scotland’s), and capacity problems in the UK are far more severe than on the continent. Work must be carried out while as many services as possible are kept running.

As the system relies on the new technology being installed on trains as well as trackside, rollout would also require closer involvement from more parties than on traditional infrastructure projects. Fry argues that current commercial arrangements are discouraging investment and innovation.

“On some UK lines, there are as many as 16 different train operating companies. Short franchises can make long term investments in future technology economically challenging, which can be a barrier to new technology adoption,” he argues. “Government interventions such as longer franchise periods would help.”

But Fry is encouraged that Network Rail is exploring the possibility of introducing new business models and attracting alternative sources of finance. For example, providing the industry with the opportunity to better align incentives and encouraging the supply chain to take on more risk and receive financial reward related to improved performance.

“The supply chain has a wealth of experience from deploying digital signalling technologies around the world,” he says. “By placing suppliers closer to the end customer – the passenger, understanding their needs and contracting for performance outcomes, the industry can leverage this experience to deliver a transformation in Britain’s rail services. The industry has a limited window of opportunity to transform our railway to one that can support the growth in demand in future and the time for action is now.”

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