UK: Alstom has completed a £49m project to install ‘innovative’ signalling and ‘first-of-type’ level crossings between Farncombe and Petersfield on the Portsmouth Direct line.
The project forms part of the Major Signalling Framework Agreement for the Southern Region which Alstom secured in 2020.
Scope of work
The work undertaken during a nine-day blockade in November included:
- installing 90 LED signals and 30 km of new cable;
- deploying SmartIO object controllers to connecting trackside equipment such as signals and points directly to a central control system. The 17 trackside equipment housings do not require air-conditioning, heating or domestic power supplies, helping reduce carbon emissions and costs;
- transferring control of the signalling from three local signalboxes to the Basingstoke Rail Operating Centre, using Alstom’s modular remote signalling control;
- digital interlockings to increase reliability, performance and capacity;
- replacing track circuits with axle counters, which Alstom said will provide a 50% power saving across the project area and improved safety for trackside maintenance staff;
- upgrading 11 level crossings, with seven equipped with new obstacle-detection technology, two with CCTV installed and two foot crossings receiving miniature warning stop lights.
Digital-ready signalling
‘Alstom has been proud to partner on one of the most significant investments ever made on the Portsmouth Direct line, replacing life-expired equipment with cutting-edge technology that will transform reliability and performance for years to come’, said Emmanuel Henry, Digital & Integrated Systems Managing Director UK & Ireland at the supplier.
‘By introducing digital-ready signalling and advanced level crossing systems, we’ve not only modernised a route that dates back more than 150 years, but we have also created a foundation for the digital railway of the future.’
