Written evidence submitted by Thales (TFF0038)
Introduction
Thales is a global technology business operating across the Aerospace, Defence, Digital Security, Identity Management, Space and Transport sectors. In 2017, Thales contributed over £1.7 billion to the UK’s GDP, supported over 27,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs and the average productivity of a Thales employee was over 40% higher than the national average. We pride ourselves on bringing high tech jobs that drive balanced, sustainable growth, and contribute to building inclusive economies, and delivering prosperity to people everywhere across the UK.
In the transport sector, Thales is a global leader in rail, road and urban transport, offering advanced signalling and control, integrated communications and supervision systems, and comprehensive services that set the standard in the transportation industry. Thales supports the UK’s major cities in attracting global business and providing cleaner, safer and more efficient transport systems for a growing population through the provision of various solutions.
Thales believes that there is a significant role for rail to play in decarbonising and improving air quality which is essential if we are to reach the Government targets on air quality and carbon emissions. However, achieving that goal will take more than new trains. A more efficient system, taking full advantage of the digital transformation, could deliver increased capacity, improve the passenger experience and offer the opportunity to get more freight off the road and onto the railways.
1.1 Thales believes that taking full advantage of innovation and digitisations will be crucial to decarbonising rail.
1.2 There are a number of products that are already in service that demonstrate how technology should be looked at as a significant aspect to reduce rail’s carbon emissions, beyond just trains.
1.3 One example is the use of intelligent algorithms that save power by identifying opportunities for coasting.
1.4 SelTrac, Thales’s communications-based train control (CBTC) solution, meets the need for fast, frequent services on metro and urban rail network whilst providing several energy savings functions including coasting and synchronised traction and braking.
1.5 Conventional systems and signalling are based on the fixed block principle where trains must be separated by a fixed number of track blocks of a predetermined distance. SelTrac is based on a more flexible approach to the block principle whereby blocks are constantly recalculated to enforce a minimum safe distance, creating a moving block.
1.6 This solution is now used on 86 metro lines in more than 40 major cities around the world, including on London’s Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines as part of the 4LM project.
1.7 SelTrac not only delivers increased capacity- a 33% increase in peak-hour capacity for 4LM- but the latest version, SelTrac G7, reduces a train’s energy consumption by 15%.
1.8 Similarly, the use of a driver advisory system (DAS) can significantly reduce energy output while improving passenger comfort and on time journeys.
1.9 A DAS allows real-time and fully secured exchange of information between the railway system and the train driver in order to optimize the driving of the train and reduce CO2 emissions.
1.10 Thales’ Driver Advisory System- GreenSpeed- provides a continuous flow of synthetic information to enable drivers to make the right decisions en route, and is already in service in the UK (South West Trains).
1.11 GreenSpeed uses a set of complex algorithms to calculate the optimal speed for saving energy. The algorithms are adapted to each individual challenge using the optimal driving strategy.
1.12 Knowing the conditions of a route enables GreenSpeed to give the driver real-time advice that improves punctuality and cuts power consumption by up to eight per cent.
2.1 In order to encourage more passengers onto public transport and off the roads, digital technologies must focus on improving the passenger experience, making rail a more attractive choice. We know that central to that is a good quality, reliable and punctual service.
2.2 Digital Railway control systems can be used to increase reliability and add capacity to the Main Line networks. ETCS – the European Train Control System – is a standardized signalling and train control technology that allows trains to cross national borders without the need to stop to change locomotives.
2.3 ETCS continuously calculates a safe maximum speed for each train, with cab signalling for the driver and on-board systems that take control if the permissible speed is exceeded
2.4 Thales has 20 ETCS systems in operation and was the first in the world to introduce the latest ETCS standard in Denmark, which has been integrated with our ARAMIS system, reducing delays up to 720k hours a year for local passengers.
2.5 Onboard ETCS is an essential building block of the Digital Railway programme. It improves railway operators’ performance and reliability. The technology will also unlock capacity constraints that exist on the railway network which will benefit the travelling public- ETCS can boost the capacity of existing networks by up to 40%.
2.6 Digital Railway Traffic Management (TM) and signalling systems also offer solutions to reduce delays and the impact of network events, keeping passengers moving with minimal disruption.
2.7 ARAMIS (Advanced Railway Automation, Management and Information System) is a solution that provides optimized planning, supervising, dispatching, control and analyses of train services, safely and efficiently guiding more than 50,000 trains per day on over 100,000 kilometres of track.
2.8 ARAMIS automatically sets routes, supervises the infrastructure, visualizes the status of the railway network in real time and optimises resources and calculates forecasts based on actual data.
2.9 Through integration of technology with advanced Traffic Management Systems, the throughput on networks can be increased by giving operators the information to take effective and result-oriented decisions.
2.10 In addition, the Traffic Management System enables operators propose slots for transportation on short notice, acting at the demands of the railway operators, transporting passengers or goods, allowing networks to be reactive to changing circumstances.
3.1. There is also the potential for an increasingly digitised railway to reduce associated carbon emissions of rail by revolutionising railroad infrastructure maintenance, boosting system reliability for better service, safety and cost.
3.2. Predictive maintenance through data and AI could make an impact on the associated carbon emissions of rail; using smart infrastructure to spot potential problems before they happen and reducing the need for visits and van miles travelled on the road.
3.3. In Europe alone, rail operators spend between an estimated 15 and 25 billion Euros every year on maintenance and required renovation of their infrastructure.
3.4. One of the big challenges with traditional inspection and maintenance is that it’s not the most effective way of identifying when equipment is about to fail.
3.5. The cost and carbon footprint of maintenance can be reduced by cutting in half the time needed for on-site inspections and reducing operational downtime.
3.6. Data coming from that smart infrastructure allows AI to spot potential problems before they happen. Instead of having to send out crews to determine what went wrong on the track and come back with the equipment to fix it, predictive maintenance can analyse in a few seconds a source of probable failure to allow the rail operator to establish what needs to be done, reducing the amount of road travel and associated carbon emissions.
3.7. The technology behind all of this is already proven in service. In the UK, for example, Thales monitors more than 40,000 point machines for Network Rail.
3.8. As rail equipment becomes digital by default, smart infrastructure will revolutionise operations, creating huge opportunities for cost and carbon savings and service improvement.
3.9. Similarly, analysis of freight capacity on network could be used to reduce trucks on the road and increase the amount of freight delivered by rail.
3.10. As, mentioned in the preceding section, digital solutions like ETCS can increase capacity on networks, allowing for more freight to be moved by rail. Given that rail freight produces 76 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions than the equivalent road journey, this could have a significant impact towards Government carbon targets.
August 2019