ROGER FORD explains the technology of the moment
Network Rail’s Digital Railway Programme (DRP) came into being in 2014 with the appointment of Mark Carne as Managing Director. It reflected one of Mr Carne’s priorities, which was to accelerate the implementation of the European Train Control System (ETCS).
ETCS was only part of the DRP. In 2009 NR had begun procurement of a Traffic Management (TM) system. As with ETCS, TM was seen as a painless solution to the problems arising from an increasingly busy railway.
DRP managers painted a glowing picture of the future Digital Railway. ETCS would allow trains to run closer together with TM rewriting the timetable in real time to minimise any disruption.
That ETCS would increase capacity by 40% was a given, avoiding investment in costly and disruptive infrastructure upgrades. This vision, naturally, appealed to government, which further boosted the Digital Railway ‘bubble’.
To date, DRP has delivered very little. However, the appointment of David Waboso as Network Rail’s Managing Director Group Digital Railway in March 2016, bringing extensive signalling experience from London Underground, has resulted in a more realistic assessment of the potential for digita…
