Faster, safer departures with portable dispatch device
The prototype, tested last month at Preston station, gives greater flexibility to train dispatch staff.
Jasmin CollierEditorial Content Manager, RSSB
The process of dispatching a train is safety critical and timebound, but it’s well known that delays arising from longer-than-intended dwell times are common on the GB network.
There are already several options for train dispatch, depending on factors like staffing arrangements, infrastructure, and rolling stock. But, in many cases, dispatch staff need to position themselves at a fixed point on the platform to send a train on its way. This position isn’t always optimal, however, and if it obscures their view of the platform-train interface, it can have implications for safety and speed of departure.
To try to mitigate those risks, RSSB explored the viability of introducing a portable train dispatch system. In particular, the research looked at moving train ready to start (TRTS), close door (CD), and right away (RA) equipment to a handheld device from their current locations as fixed plungers or key switches.
The two-stage project explored:
the economic and risk implications of moving TRTS, CD, and RA capabilities to a portable device
the technical and ergonomic requirements for doing so—i.e., would it integrate well with current signalling systems and fit comfortably in dispatchers’ hands?—and a proposed route to market.
The project identified a strong positive business case for the introduction of such a device. Based on an analysis of implementing it at the 20 stations with the highest current levels of train dispatch delay, it’s estimated that the benefit-cost ratio for development and deployment would be somewhere between 2.04 and 4.88.
Following these encouraging early results, Network Rail North West & Central worked with Modux—who offer specialist consulting and software testing—to design a working prototype of a portable train dispatch device. And on Monday 13 November 2023, the device was trialled on Platform 3 at Preston station. Such was the success of this demonstration that Avanti permitted one of its passenger trains to be dispatched using the prototype.
The successful management of customers on and off trains is critical to the safe and punctual operation of trains at stations. [This project] is important to determine if modern technology can better assist our platform dispatchers in their vital role while improving both safety and punctuality of platform operations.
It’s important to note that all analysis conducted in this research was in the context of train dispatch being performed by station staff physically located on the platform from which the train was being dispatched. This is the context of existing dispatch arrangements and would be unchanged through the introduction of a portable train dispatch device.
Looking ahead, Network Rail North West & Central is refining this promising prototype and readying it for a longer trial. Excitingly, there has also been some interest in combining this piece of equipment with the Train Emergency Stop System, which was developed as part of RSSB’s COF-G21 research project. This combination would allow dispatchers to apply the train’s emergency brakes if they were to spot a serious hazard affecting the platform-train interface. It would, therefore, have significant benefits for the safety of passengers and the public alike—something that Network Rail is keen to build upon in CP7.
Read about Network Rail's plans to improve safety in CP7.
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To read the findings of our ‘Defining the requirements for remote connectivity for train dispatch’ (T1211) research in full, head to the RSSB Research Catalogue.
