We’ve teamed up with our industry partners to trial a smart new tech that will digitally display speed restrictions along routes.
This means we can use and remove speed restrictions in a faster, more efficient, and safer way – avoiding lengthy train delays.
Speeding up speed restrictions
We want to make the way we display speed restrictions better – ultimately cutting delays to train journeys caused by renewal projects or track maintenance. That’s why we’re part of the Central Rail Systems Alliance – an alliance between us, infrastructure group Balfour Beatty, engineering company AtkinsRealis and railway specialist Travaux du Sud-Ouest that’s looking at ways to improve this.
Balfour Beatty already uses digital display boards on highways and motorways when there’s heavy traffic. But the alliance has gone further and made specific improvements to help the tech work better for the railway network. It’s created a remote-controlled magnet that is placed on the track a few miles before speed restrictions apply. This magnet helps warn train drivers of specific speed restrictions ahead.
Ameet Masania, head of innovation at Network Rail and Central Rail Systems Alliance, said: “Working in an alliance allowed us to transfer a tried and test method from highways into the rail industry.”
Manual boards
Currently, speed restrictions are displayed on metal boards along the railway. They must be physically placed along routes by track staff who sometimes have to close parts of a line to carry out this work safely. The track may also have to be closed to remove the boards.
This work and the resulting line closures can cause several minutes of delay and disruptions to your journeys so we wanted find a way to improve this.
Successful trial
The alliance has already held a successful two-week trial on some of our quieter lines in central England. Over 250 trains ran along the test section and used the digital signals successfully.
We were able to change the speed restrictions in seconds digitally thanks to this tech. And we could lift speed restrictions faster. This potentially saved countless minutes of delays to your journeys and helped keep our staff safe by removing the need for work on the track.
The digital speed boards also eased the pressure on our train controllers to warn drivers of speed restrictions ahead. The speed boards along with the magnet marker worked well to warn train drivers of upcoming speed restrictions.
Reducing and lifting speed restrictions faster also means we can in theory fit more trains onto our lines. So, this tech even has the potential to help us run more trains on our railway.
Christian Irwin, capital delivery director at Network Rail, said: “The innovation of the digital speed board is a fantastic step forward for our industry.”
We’re now working with the alliance to prepare further trials of this tech on our routes. This will help ensure the technology works across our railway.
