By the book: September’s new standards and updates
The quarterly standards update shares revisions around route- and line-proving as well as new signage, which together are expected to bring benefits in excess of £45 m.
Tom Waghorn Senior Rail Operations Specialist, RSSB
Standards keep the trains running, our passengers happy, and our frontline workers safe. They’re also in a constant state of evolution. To keep up with new processes, knowledge, and technologies, regular updates are essential. Further to September’s edits that keep these crucial resources up to date, there are some new additions.
Route proving is a process that proves the railway is safe for use after extreme weather. Line proving, meanwhile, proves the equipment is working correctly after a long closure. Until now, there has not been a consistent process for using trains for these activities. But following the derailment in 2020, RAIB’s Carmont report recommended clarifying the arrangements for the operation of route-proving trains.
The new standard, RIS-3771-TOM, provides a consistent set of requirements and guidance for route proving and for the operation of line-proving trains. Railway undertakings can now focus competence frameworks for staff and give them more effective briefings on these processes.
There are four updates to modules in the Rule Book to support the creation of this standard. For drivers, track staff, and signallers, they set out rules around:
the preparation and movement of trains
general signalling regulations
general duties and track safety for track workers
individuals working alone, controllers of site safety, or protection controllers blocking a line.
This will support staff welfare, clarify the choice of rolling stock, and provide good practice for drivers, to name a few.
In total, we estimate that this change can bring over £6 million of benefit to the industry over five years.
The main value for industry will be in improved reliability and operational performance. This is because being able to communicate route and line issues ahead of booked reopening times will give operators more of a chance to implement alternative measures.
Of course, there will also be benefits for health, safety, and security, as well as customer experience and industry reputation. Notably, this new standard should prevent incidents like Carmont from ever happening again.
Certain types of permissible and temporary speed restrictions will now be dictated by a new sign. Rather than ‘T’, for ‘termination of speed restriction’, some sites will now see an acceleration indicator, denoted by an ‘A’. ‘T’ signs tell a driver that the speed restriction has ended, but they can’t accelerate until the rear of the train has passed them. ‘A’ signs mean that the driver can focus ahead, rather than behind, and increase their speed when the train reaches the sign.
For temporary speed restrictions, this is limited to level crossings with reduced sighting distances. For permanent speed restrictions, it’s to control the risk of collision. In this instance, the ‘A’ signs are currently only in use in two places on the network following successful trials.
So, how can a change that just lasts the length of a train benefit drivers and the wider industry? For drivers, it can be disruptive to have to think about where the back of the train is, rather than focusing on the track ahead. The new signs will make this process easier for them.
The commercial benefit, estimated to be in the region of over £41 million over five years, comes from regulating the speed of the trains. Instead of travelling at a lower, restricted speed over a certain distance, the train can accelerate sooner. For a long freight train, this can make a difference in operational performance. It’s another step on the ladder to increasing network capacity and reducing delays and journey times.
Visit our website
Watch the webinar
