Unlocking Innovation - Digital Railway - The Future 
29 June - 03 July 2020
Live Webinar

Join our Unlocking Innovation - "Digital Railway - The Future" series taking place online, daily from 29 June - 03 July 2020. Each meeting will start at 14:00 and finish at 15:30.

This webinar series will look at how the Digital Railway programme is evolving into ‘business as usual’ for the Network Rail Regions as the first roll-out projects commence. Having run events on this topic at the University of Birmingham in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the 2020 event - which would have been at the University - will now move online. The successful partnership with Birmingham, the UKRRIN Centre of Excellence in Digital Systems, and with Network Rail, will continue as the event examines how the Digital Railway project is moving out to Network Rail’s devolved regions.

AGENDA

• Monday 29 June: Digital Railway - A New Structure
  • "The new Network Services Directorate" - Nick King, Group Director Network Services, Network Rail
    A new Network Services Directorate has been formed during the Network Rail reorganisation, incorporating the Freight and National Passenger Operators activities, as well as elements of the Group Digital Railway. This directorate will provide assurance for national operational performance and coordinate national programmes and capabilities.
  • "Operator's view on Digital Railway" - Paul Boyle, Head of ERTMS at London North Eastern Railway
    European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is currently being trialled in the UK and will become the standard system allowing for a more dynamic, reliable and flexible railway. Paul will talk about the challenges, opportunities, and the importance of digital signalling for UK Train Operating Companies.
  • “Why Digital Railway is important to Train Operators” - Paul Boyle, Head of ETCS, LNER 
    LNER will be the train operator end user of the East Coast Digital Programme which is underway. Learn about the benefits and challenges of digital railway from a TOC perspective 
  • "Digital Railway in the new Network Rail structure" - Andrew Simmons, Chief Systems Engineer Digital Railway, Network Rail
    The Digital Railway Programme looks at the impact of digital railway systems implementation across the UK rail industry, users and wider society. Andrew will update us on technical governance for this substantial programme.
• Tuesday 30 June: Digital Railway - Making it Real
  • "East Coast Digital Programme" - Toufik Machnouk, Route Programme Director, Network Rail
    The East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) is a cross-industry initiative that will help transform the performance of the East Coast Main Line. ECDP is the first intercity digital railway in the UK, fitting trains with the latest in-cab signalling technology and removing the old lineside signals, allowing signallers to provide instructions to trains continuously rather than only at fixed points. 
  • "Digital signalling cab fitment" - Ewan Spencer, ETCS Onboard Project Director, Siemens Mobility
    Siemens are responsible for a significant  proportion of the cab fitment programme for ETCS in-cab signalling to support ECDP. Ewan will look at the integration of an end-to-end system into train cabs.
  • "A Tier 1 supplier's view" - Andy Stringer, Chief Engineer, Siemens Mobility
    Siemens was recently confirmed as the train control partner (TCP) and traffic management partner (TMP) for the East Coast Digital Programme. Hear from Andy about the principal supplier's role and the challenges of this major programme. 
• Wednesday 1 July: Digital Railway - The Future Outlook
  • "The Long-Term Deployment Plan" - Pat McFadden, Head of Technical Policy & Strategy, Network Rail
    The Long-Term Deployment Plan (LTDP) takes account of the scale and complexity of fitting out in excess of 4,000 trains and the upgrading of more than 19,000 miles of network, and shows how modern signalling and train control technology can be delivered in a way that makes the best use of renewals funding.
  • "Project T190  and the Rail Sector Deal - getting Match Fit" - Martin Jones, Chief Control Command & SIgnalling Engineer and Susan Millington, Senior Programme Manager, Network Rail
    Target 190plus is a Network Rail led Research & Development programme which aims to provide the capability to enable safe, affordable and deliverable signalling to meet the future demands of the railway. European experience indicates that an infrastructure benchmark rate of £190k/SEU (or less) could be achievable. Hear how the Rail Sector Deal brings the industry together collaboratively to deliver the LTDP affordably and gets the industry ‘match fit’ for CP7. 
  • "The Rail Sector Deal - Digital Pillar" - Rob Morris, Managing Director, Siemens Mobility and Industry Champion of the Sector Deal Digital Pillar
    Rail Sector Deal looks to build strong partnership between the rail sector and the government to exploit opportunities of new technologies.  The Digital Pillar offers a reduction in whole industry infrastructure costs given visibility of an assets renewal roadmap, and digital railway strategy & delivery plan.
  • "Training for digital railway", Robert Hopkin, Head of Education Development, BCRRE
    Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) is the largest university-based centre for railway research and education in Europe. Learn about how the University is preparing the future generation of digital railway experts.
• Thursday 2 July: Digital Railway - Innovation Squared
  • "Network Rail's R&D support to the Degraded Mode Working System" - Karl Butler-Garnham, Programme Manager R&D, Network Rail
    The Degraded Mode Working System (DMWS) is an independent system to provide movement authority to the train driver if the primary signalling system fails. DMWS is part of Network Rail’s Research & Development Portfolio – its £245M investment programme over CP6 to drive improvements to the safety, performance and efficiency of Britain’s railway infrastructure.
  • “Accelerating Digital Railway Benefits” - Andy Doherty – Chief Technology Officer, Network Rail 
    Accountable for the Network Rail R&D Programme and Chairman of the cross industry Technical Leadership Group, Andy will outline how the Rail Technical Strategy and NR R&SD Programmes enable and may accelerate the benefits of ‘Digital Railway’  
  • "Simulated Environment" - Prof. Clive Roberts, Head of School of Engineering, Director of the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) and Andrew Hunter, Head of Technical Solutions Digital Rail, Thales
    A new shared tool, jointly developed between academia and industry to automate and accelerate the process of signalling design. Simulated environments enable testing and potentially authorisation for deployment, reducing the need for costly and time consuming on-site testing and commissioning.
  • "The Rail Sector Deal - Data Pillar" - James Bain, CEO Worldline UK&I and industry champion for the Data pillar of the Rail Sector Deal.
    The aim of the data pillar of the Sector Deal is to make rail commercial data more available enabling innovation and customer focused products and services.
  • "Rail Sector Deal - Data Pillar" - James Bain, CEO, Worldline UK&I
    Within the Rail Sector Deal, James is the Mobility/Data Industry Champion leading on the customer experience enhancement through innovation to transform the use of data by establishing a data platform to securely share rail industry information. 
• Friday 3 July: Digital Railway - Winning Work
  • Signalling Framework Suppliers; David Maddison, Regional Delivery Director (North), Alstom, and Alessandro Vernocchi, Senior Sales and Business Development Manager, Hitachi Rail
    Network Rail has awarded five framework contracts, worth an estimated £2.4bn over 2019-2024 and £3.6bn over 2024-2026, which will improve asset reliability and in turn reduce delays. Hear from two major suppliers about the scope, challenges and supply chain building, as well as opportunities for innovation.
  • "Signalling Innovations Group" - David Shipman, Innovations Engineering Manager, Network Rail
    Network Rail Signalling Innovations Group is a structure to enable development of a range of tools and services that drive the goals of reduced signalling costs, increased safety and lower maintenance costs. 
  • "Opportunities for SMEs in the Centre of Excellence in Digital Systems facilities at the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education", Jenny Illingsworth, University of Birmingham
    The Centre focuses on all aspects of digital railway innovation, providing a system-wide approach to transforming research, development and innovation.
  • “Delivering ISA for the Degraded Mode Working System” - Stephen Bull, Rail Technical Lead, Ebeni
    Ebeni Rail was recently awarded the contract to undertake the role of Independent Safety Assessor on the DMWS project. 

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