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Test and Commissioning Activities in ETCS Signalling Projects

In ETCS projects the test and commissioning activities must ensure the timely completion of all tests required by system and subsystem requirements, safety and interoperability norms, operational scenarios, customer internal, national and international norms, etc. and must also assure the preparation and execution of commissioning activities.

Emch+Berger AG Bern provides highly skilled specialist for the Gotthard and Ceneri base tunnels and the Danish Fjernbane project, who consult the customer (and suppliers) in different test and commissioning topics, and specify and supervise all necessary test and commissioning activities.

Emch+Berger has done this successfully in the past in the Lötschberg base tunnel.

Client

BLS AlpTransit AG (Lötschberg), AlpTransit Gotthard AG (Gotthard and Ceneri), Banedanmark (Danish Fjernbane)

Period

1990

2021

Contact

Downloads

Fields of activity

Infrastructure;Rail infrastructure;Mobility and traffic;Rail systems / traffic management systems (TMS)

Delivered services

Consultancy service for test and commissioning, including elaboration of related overall concepts.

Verification of Suppliers’ test and commissioning documents

Supervision of test and commissioning activities

Specifications

Lötschberg Base Tunnel: 34.6 km length

Gotthard Base Tunnel: 57 km (world’s longest rail tunnel)

Ceneri Base Tunnel: Length: 15.4 km

Fjernbane Infrastructure Project Denmark: Over 2‘000 km of railway line that will be migrated until 2020

Used Signalling and Train Control System: ETCS level 2

Other Projects

2012

2021

Development of Advanced Traffic Management and Decision Support Functionality for Rail Networks

The Danish rail infrastructure manager BDK is carrying out a full replacement of all signalling equipment, control and Business IT systems. Two contracts involving control systems have been awarded, one to Thales for Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) West and Passenger Information and one to Alstom for CTC East, Advanced Traffic Management and Decision Support and Planning functions. Emch+Berger AG Bern played the leading role in the RAEP consortium supporting BDK in ensuring this portion of the East (Alstom) contract satisfies the expectations of BDK. The specific challenges included:

Visioning, Blueprinting and Specifying a completely new approach to Traffic Management and Decision Support for a large Network with mixed traffic
Aligning the existing Product Base of the Supplier and Instructing the Processes
Developing Real Time Database Systems that cover Rolling Stock, State of the Railway, Topology
Integration of Disruption Management including Maintenance Contract Requirements into the Design
The support of the Customer in preparing the business changes to make best use of the emerging Technology

2009

2017

ETCS Gotthard Base Tunnel, Detailed Design and Realisation Train Control and Signalling System

Assistance of detailed design, realisation and commissioning of the new train control and signalling system for the Gotthard base tunnel on behalf of AlpTransit Gotthard AG.

The project is carried out by a consortium under the lead of Emch+Berger AG Bern. The works includes all signalling related systems on an ERTMS-basis in the perimeter of the project such as control and communication system, interlocking, ETCS/RBC and is embedded over special interfaces into other neighbouring signalling systems (conventional signalling systems).

2009

2011

ETCS Level 2 Denmark, Traffic Management

The Traffic Management is the railway-operation’s central element to assure the expected improvement in operational performance put forward to justify the investments into the Signalling Programme, the implementation of ETCS level 2 on the entire network of Denmark. With regards to the duplication of traffic in the future, latest science operational processes are applied to traffic management by centralised traffic control centres.

The objective of operational performance is satisfying the expectations of present and future rail customers. The institutional relationship between the infrastructure operator and the train operating companies is designed based on responsibilities to align processes to achieve this. The improvement in the effectiveness of the Traffic Management is based on the introduction of a control loop model of traffic management incorporating also conflict-prediction and real-time rescheduling processes (conflict resolution).

2006

2021

Network wide renewal of signalling and traffic management systems

Banedanmark has undertaken the unprecedented move of replacing all signalling assets of the entire network at once, introducing advanced traffic management processes at the same time. This has resulted in the largest signalling project ever. The project execution is characterised by a high complexity with a large number of participants and stakeholders and the challenges caused by implementing the new signalling system in the changing railway environment within a time frame of 10 years. The consultancy provided by Emch+Berger (E+B) in the frame of a larger joint venture has allowed the customer to identify in an early stage all whereabouts of and all risks associated with such an undertaking, as well as the right ways of addressing them. Based on E+B’s experience in tendering large railway projects, it has been possible to produce tender documents encompassing more than 1000 pages within a year, and to run through the tendering process within two years. During the design phases, E+B staff brought to fruition its long-standing experience in running complex projects involving a large number of participants and disciplines over several years. E+B provided top-class expertise in several disciplines like railway business in general, considering management, operation, construction and maintenance, advanced traffic management and timetabling techniques, ETCS level 2, setting up a testing progamme.

2016

Operational scenarios for a new traffic management system in Norway

The Norwegian railways are replacing all signalling assets until 2030 and are introducing ETCS level 2 at the same time. A first step is the network-wide introduction of a new traffic management system, in order to replace the inefficient patchwork of existing traffic management systems and locally controlled stations.

To obtain a basis for tendering and design of the new traffic management system, it was necessary to set up operational scenarios that describe how the new traffic management system will be used to deal with operational situations under the legacy signalling systems and ETCS level 2.

2009

2011

ETCS Level 2 Denmark, Submission Train Control and Signalling System

Submission project for the by Banedanmark proposed total renewal of the Danish signalling infrastructure by the new European train control system ETCS level 2. Despite the train control system interlockings and central control shall be replaced too. The basics for the Submission have been set by the end of 2008 in a preliminary project which was proper designed also by Emch+Berger AG Bern.

The service contract was executed in a joint venture with Rambøll (DK), Atkins (DK/UK) and Parsons (UK). Emch+Berger AG Bern has been essentially responsible for the project management and development of technical issues of the long-distance rail network. This included the development of concepts, requirements and tender documents in the fields of ETCS, interlockings, traffic management systems, timetable concept 2020 or passenger information systems as well as the preparation and the execution of the offer evaluation.