16.12.15
Thameslink test train runs across London under ETCS control
In a crucial milestone for the Thameslink programme, a Network Rail Class 313 test train has been able to run through central London entirely under ETCS control over two weekends of testing.
The trial’s success marked the culmination of six years’ worth of development work by the Thameslink team at test facilities in Hitchin and the lab in Southwark – and the first time a train has run under the in-cab signalling system in the capital on the national rail network.
Installing cab signalling is a vital part of Thameslink. When combined with automatic train operation, it will allow 24 Class 700 trains per hour to run in each direction between London Blackfriars and London St Pancras at peak times.
The infrastructure to enable ETCS operation has been installed on the line between Elephant & Castle and Kentish Town, under the command of which the Class 313 made multiple runs.
Paul Bates, project director for the Thameslink programme, said: “It was a credit to everyone who has worked on this project that the equipment worked first time, even on the technically-demanding switchover from traditional signalling to ETCS at Elephant & Castle.”
The test train was specifically created to test different suppliers’ ETCS equipment on a section of railway north of Hertford – but has since expanded to the Thameslink ‘core section’.
It ran under ETCS control during a closure of this core section to passenger services over the weekend of October 18 and November 1, using signalling from Three Bridges ROC.
An important aspect of this testing process was the transition between traditional signalling – and its associated warning systems – and the ETCS-controlled central area.
Following the trial’s success, the new Siemens Class 700s will not only be able to transition between signalling system but also between manual and automatic train control.
In spring, the Class 700 Desiro City will be taken to the test track for more intensive training with the Class 313. Later, in late summer, the Siemens-built train will being testing its ETCS equipment between Blackfriars and St Pancras.
It is expected that the Class 700s will be up and running across signalling systems in 2018.