ROGER FORD explores Siemens Mobility’s cutting-edge signalling technology
It was the industrialist Percy Barnevik who, back in the 1970s, came up with the strategy for industrial conglomerates of ‘think global, act local’. I’ve always had problems visualising how this works, but Siemens Mobility’s Rail Automation business has finally provided the practical example I have been seeking.
Rail Automation is the classic example of the modern global industrial group, with all that means in terms of support for its national operations, but as Mark Ferrer, Operations Director Digital Railway, emphasised several times during the interview for this feature, the biggest strength of the business when it comes to signalling is its UK capability. As Mr Ferrer puts it, ‘delivered in the UK for the UK’.
This applies across the board, from business and systems development, product design and systems integration to manufacture and commissioning. ‘We have people who understand how UK systems work and how they are migrating to new forms of operation because we talk to our customers and understand their objectives.’
THAMESLINK PIONEERS
Network Rail’s decision to signal the Thameslink central core with the European Train Con…
