The challenge
The Portuguese Railway Infrastructure Manager REFER EPE required a brand new Operation Control Centre (OCC) to boost the rail network's efficiency and capacity by integrating all of its exploration, operation and maintenance tools in one place.
Developing a new OCC for the centralised control of about 65% of the country's total rail traffic was a highly complex task. Five existing CTCs were replaced by the OCC, requiring not only interfacing and integration throughout but calling for new products and subsystems to be developed.
Thales managed the 28-month project with turnkey responsibility, from the first draft to the finished and operational building, including the extension to all Lisbon suburban area.
The solution
Thales brought an international team of Railway Signalling and telecommunications specialists together, under the lead Rail Signalling Solutions team in Portugal, to design the Lisbon OCC from scratch.
A purpose-built building
Thales developed an entirely new process to address construction issues from the architect's drawing board to EMC screening and civil engineering. The scale of the state-of-the-art Control Management Centre was set by the size of the massive video wall required to show every single train within the OCC's operational area. CAE studies enabled planners to assess the impact of technology and operational changes in advance. Preliminary studies of the interior design's acoustics, lighting, stress and vibration ensured the future optimal operational working conditions.
Increased operational efficiency
The OCC controls every conceivable rail system within the designated area thanks to the missioncritical power, telecommunications and signalling solutions installed by Thales.
Thanks to Thales network integration skills, the different systems were interconnected in a coherent manner, facilitating user control. Integrated systems include visualization systems (Video Wall), transmission, Voice communications (PABX), Trainto- ground Radio, Voice & Data recording, CCTV, SCADA, Adio & Video Conference.
CTC/Advanced Signalling systems
Cutting-edge solutions for train exploration communications, and the remote control of PIPC and SSI interlocking systems were developed and added to the existing command of ESTW-90 interlocking, replacing the five CTCs and merging their operational areas - originally designed for Line Management - into the new OCC for truly Regional Management.
Two new subsystems for Automatic Route Plan Generation and Train Describer for Non Controlled Areas were delivered for seamless interconnection to NetTrac 6613 ARAMIS network management solution (ARAMIS stands for Advanced Railway Automation, Management and Information System).
Fully Automatic Operation
NetTrac 6613 ARAMIS network management solution automatically visualises and records the actual traffic situation enabling automatic train route setting, operations and public information. It shows the variations of the forecasted versus the planned train movements and proposes an optimisation.
Operator user friendly Interface
The OCC gives REFER EPE seamless control of operations across the entire rail operations through graphical interfaces with modules for planning, disposition, timetable construction, control, recording, statistics, rolling stock, traffic and slot management and information distribution.
The result
Through the savings on centralised operations, maintenance and training, the new Lisbon OCC delivers the ROI REFER EPE were looking for. From the project's first presentation at Innotrans 2006 to its inauguration the following year, the Lisbon OCC confirms REFER EPE rail market leadership. The Lisbon OCC underlines Thales preeminent position in the industry, backed by 55 years experience with railways in the Iberian peninsula.
Key Benefits
• Global project concept
• Significant cost savings through efficiency gains
• Enhanced end user service quality
• Lower operational expenses
• Increased traffic capacity
• Seamless interoperability
• Fully integrated systems solutions
• Innovative implementation
• Field-proven features
• Integration of 3rd parties solutions