T
he Shepperton branch line in the south west of London
and north Surrey, which is part of the Feltham signal
box area, connects to the Kingston loop by a triangular
junction between Strawberry Hill and Teddington
stations. The line opened on 1 November 1864 and was briefly
named the Thames Valley Railway, with access only from the
Twickenham direction. The line was electrified using 630VDC third
rail on 30 January 1916.Demand and population in the area rapidly increased after the
railway’s relatively late introduction to the network, and today
Hampton station is the line’s busiest, with more than 1.2 million
journeys, up from 0.7 million only ten years ago.
Feltham signal box is a large route relay-interlocking system
dating from 1974 and it was high-time that it was replaced -
resignalling had already been deferred and the asset condition
was such that further deferment was not an option. The
Shepperton branch was selected as the first stage of the renewal
of Feltham signal box, with full renewal taking place in six
stages over several years, such is the complexity of the Feltham
signalling area.
The task of resignalling was to be delivered using ‘future
signalling systems by Atkins’- a strategic programme to change
the way signalling projects are delivered in the UK. The system
involves 11 separate product acceptance approvals and uses a
wide range of products and components to deliver a full train
control, signalling and power system - from interlockings to level
crossings, barrier arms, power supplies and cables.
Over the weekend of the 22/23 June, Atkins recommissioned
the Shepperton branch - the first use of its first ElectroLogIXS
electronic interlocking and level crossing controller system on the
main line railway.
ElectroLogIXS is a proven programmable logic controller
licensed to Atkins, exclusively for UK rail use. It is the first all-new
type of interlocking to be introduced onto the railway for some
time, so the commissioning was a significant milestone in the
introduction of modern state of the art signalling interlocking
systems to the UK, together with new innovative ways ofproviding signalling infrastructure which have been developed
by Atkins. All this will deliver many benefits to railways and the
travelling public.
Initially, the Shepperton branch will be controlled from a
single workstation located at Feltham signal box before being
transferred to Basingstoke rail operating centre (ROC) in a later
stage within the overall Feltham resignalling. A maintenance
training facility has been provided at the ROC, which will allow
technicians to familiarise themselves with the state-of-the-art
signalling equipment. The training facility will provide the ability
to generate physical and virtual faults, to practise equipment
repair and reconfiguration - essential for modern IP networked
assets in an off-network environment.
The recent Atkins commissioning followed the successful
introduction of the ElectroLogIXS system at Old Oak Common
depot in 2018. This was the first installation to use the ElectroLogIXS
digital interlocking, which is now performing well as part of the
validated signalling system for this vital Crossrail depot.
The new signalling system is not just about new equipment
though, as Atkins has successfully introduced innovative
production methods to deliver a flexible, future-proof, digital-
signalling-compatible solution. Its approach is technology
agnostic - Atkins has considerable expertise in a wide range of
signalling products and is not tied to any one product, being
able to choose and work with the best equipment available. This
knowledge and experience of all types of signalling also means
that Atkins is ideally placed to manage the interface requirements
with other types of signalling, often the most difficult and risky
part of any signalling scheme.NEW MAIN-LINE
PAUL
DARLINGTONENTERS SERVICE
interlocking
64 FE ATURE