In the railway and signalling standard from CENELEC, i.e. the EN 50126 or 50129, it is mentioned that one of the strategy (if I am not mistaken) for designing a safe system is through the use of Defence in Depth. My understanding of this is that the there are various ways a function can be…
Someone asked recently on Linkedin, why aren’t railways using GPS for their train positioning. Here’s my answer below: 1. GPS is limited by infrastructure and obstruction2. GPS has lower accuracy, say for example, a norming point/balise. Quick google and saw it says around 1 – 5 meter accuracy. Based on this two points, it’s not…
Occasionally I read forums/facebook groups on transportation(s) in Malaysia. I’ve noticed that the questions most often would be along the line, “Why aren’t we having this ______ in Malaysia, it’s super advanced technology!” I would sometime reply and mention the restrictions and constraints related to the technology proposed. Sometimes people would reply, still pushing and…
In railway signalling, one of the most problematic or challenging part is, subjectively, the level crossings. It is the part where the road meets the rail, where normal railway operation which is rigid and structured, meets the road operation that in some ways, very loose and has many variables. It’s an interface and interface always…
02/10/2024 – Update: SARS is organizing a ‘repeat’ of this webinar, available for registration here. I joined a webinar yesterday, discussing the rail crash of a high speed train in Spain about 11 years ago. The presenter gave evidence during the court prosecutions, which resulted in the safety director being sentenced to 2.5 years in…
I am writing this ‘in conjuction’ to the closing date for the registration of the exam, which is tomorrow, but if you are reading it later than that, please take whatever you can from this. If you have been working in the railway industry for some time, I strongly suggest taking the IRSE Exam Module…
I had the fortunate opportunity of joining a ‘hands-on’ study session last weekend. It was organised by IRSE Younger Members, and graciously hosted by Signet Solutions in Derby. Was it useful? Yes. What did I learn? Other than how to use the word boffins (clue: it is the antonym to buffoons and normally accorded to…
When I started working in the railway industry, during the first few weeks, I was told that the metro system I was working on was GoA4. Alright, I thought, this is GoA4. Whatever that means. Over the years that piece of information becomes embedded and is accepted as the universal truth. One of the first…
According to reading material for Institute of Railway Signalling Engineer (IRSE) examination module[1], it says that there are four principle of signalling. They are: I am a bit confused with the word principle, as these doesn’t seem like the main reason why signalling exist. In my view, signalling exists to make money. How? Firstly train…
Recently a newsletter mentioned that Siemens was awarded to supply 28 new EMUS for Digital Node Stuttgart. LINK. I was intrigued, and wondered why would they need new trains? The article did mention that the digitalization requires retrofitting current trains, hence new trains are needed to support current use. But what is the digitalization about….
