Redundantly Engineered POINTs (REPOINT) For Enhanced Reliability And Capacity Of Railway Track Switching

Points on railway networks enable different routes through the network to be achieved, thereby allowing rail-transport links between many different destinations. However, they are critical parts of the network as a points failure often leads to delays, re-routing and cancellations. Even when fully operational they represent an important capacity constraint because route setting makes assumptions about what would happen in the event of points failure(s) in order to ensure safety.This project will investigate whether so called redundancy approaches that are used in other safety critical situations (like aircraft) can be applied to points for track switching. If successful this will fundamentally change the nature of a junction to comprise multiple sets of points rather than just one single set. The result is that the junction will have some built in redundancy to faults which means higher reliability of the junction and potentially improved capacity. The capacity improvement will come in part from the reliability improvement and in part due to changes in the operating rules of the railway that become possible when the points are redesigned to be more reliable.

The research hypothesis is: A fundamental re-think of railway track switching would ease some of the current route-setting constraints to provide higher capacity, and provide a significant reduction in operational unreliability arising from failures in switches. The potential impact from the project is extensive, not least because it can play a key part in helping the UK Rail industry to meet its future aims of significantly enhancing reliability and increasing capacity through network nodes. In terms of timescales it must be appreciated that the redundancy approach has not been previously considered for railway switches. By the close of the project the technology should be around TRL 2-3 and, provided the steps to follow up the research are successful, the benefits should begin to be available to industry in the medium term as the TRLs are increased. In the longer term the benefits of the uptake of the proposed new technology will begin to have an impact on government and society as the improved reliability and capacity improvements provide improved access to rail travel and to goods delivered by rail. These will both provide benefits to the environment, as part of a sustainable transport policy for the UK. Beyond the traditional dissemination methods of conferences and academic journals a number of key activities are planned to maximise impact. These are summarised below: The outcomes of the research will be disseminated to researchers via high quality international journals and conferences. In addition to this, one or two articles will be aimed at journals more popular with industrialists e.g. IET's Engineering and Technology and IMechE's Professional Engineering magazines. Finally, opportunities to present the results at relevant UK Railway Events will be actively sought. Indeed it is anticipated that there will be good opportunities to do this in a structured way as part of the EPSRC/DfT/RSSB strategic partnership. These steps will bring the research and potential benefits to the attention of a wide range of appropriate rail-industry users/manufacturers. Finally, at the conclusion of the project potential routes for exploitation will be identified with both RWA Rail Ltd and Network Rail. It is anticipated that, due to the TRL levels and the necessary industrial engagement required to progress through to 6,7,8, it may be most appropriate to consider a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP - an PDRA working in industry) as a follow-up activity to ensure maximum impact. Regarding Intellectual Property, it is standard practice for the university to negotiate collaboration agreements for research projects having industrial partners. Any patentable outcomes from the work will be identified by the investigators, discussed with the collaborators and protected in the most appropriate manner (with help from the University's Enterprise Office).