THALES AXLE COUNTER & TECHNOLOGY USERS' GROUP SEMINAR

25TH - 27TH SEPTEMBER 2017, DRESDEN, GERMANY

A report by Brian Smith

An initial evening reception is the established means of enabling the Delegates attending the Thales Axle

Counter and Technology Users' Group Seminar to rekindle old acquaintances and welcome new faces to the

event, in anticipation of the following two days of Technical Presentations and discussion.

This, the eighth such biannual seminar, was no

exception and Thales Germany's Director Product

Business, Joachim Janle, (initiator of these seminars &

IRSE Member) had chosen Dresden as the venue on

this occasion.

100 Delegates, 21 Countries

Fourteen Railway Administrations and fifteen Railway

Engineering Companies were represented among

approximately one hundred Delegates, many of them

also IRSE Members, who had come from twenty-one

different countries to attend.

Usually at these events, this first evening is not so

relaxing for the Thales Representatives present, who

are also drawn from around the world, as the ‘Railway’

Delegates take this opportunity to take them to task

about their individual wish-lists and technical ‘issues’!

However, on this the evening after Germany’s Federal

Election, with us all assembled in Dresden, the cradle of

the new political party opposing Frau Merkel, it was

inevitable that current affairs featured in the

conversations between the many nationalities present,

thus relieving some of the stress on the Thales

Representatives! Whilst such discussions can never

result in definitive conclusions, a consensus appeared

to be reached about two things;

President Trump has never ‘tweeted’ about Axle

Counters nor are Axle Counters a specific subject of

discussion in the ongoing Brexit Negotiations!

Joachim Janle - Initiator of these seminars &

IRSE member

At nine the next morning Joachim Janle called the first

formal session of the seminar to order, welcomed us all to

Dresden and introduced the first presentation entitled,

“Quo Vadis Signalling?”.

“Marchetti’s Constant" - the

natural human urge to spend 66

minutes per journey ‘in motion

Quo Vadis” indeed, as the presenter, Carlo van de Weijer

from the Tom Tom Company in the Netherlands,

unashamedly introduced himself as an “Automotive

Man”!

Mr. van de Weijer started by showing some novel

comparisons between Train Travel and Private Car use

which went beyond the usual cost, speed, and availability

metrics so often quoted by “Policy Makers”. He

introduced us to “Marchetti’s Constant”, the natural

human urge to spend 66 minutes per journey ‘in motion’

and dispelled the old (British) adage “Let the Train Take

the Strain” by hypothesising that the car driver, sat still for

30 minutes in a traffic jam, feels less stress than the train

passenger does, sat for 3 minutes at a red signal! Why?

Because, sat in his own private space, the car driver still

has the perception of “Being in Control” whereas the train

passenger feels “Imprisoned with Strangers” by

circumstances beyond his understanding!

He presented us with “The Automotive CASE” for the

future (Case = Cost, Autonomous, Shared, Electric) and

reminded us that the exponential advance in the rate of

digitalisation will make autonomous vehicles reality, ‘very

soon’. Mr. van de Weijer concluded by suggesting that,

the Key Challenges now faced by Public Transport, if it is

to successfully compete with the Autonomous Road

Vehicle, are; demand driven availability, much shorter

headway (1 second or less!), and intelligence ‘on the

vehicle’, not in the infrastructure.

Carlo van de Weijer -An Automotive Man

„Exponential advance in the rate of digitalisation will make

autonomous vehicles reality, ‘very soon’.”

Public Transport is fighting back!

The second speaker, Alex Brand from the Swiss Federal

Railways (SBB), was able to reassure the Delegates that

Public Transport is indeed fighting back!

Mr. Brand presented “SmartRail 4.0”, the Swiss Railways’

vision of future train operation. He started by sharing with

us the five goals already laid down by SBB to achieve this.

These start with; Capacity, Availability, and Service. If we

now group together the other two, Cost and Safety,

under the title “Effectiveness”, then the SBB have

serendipitously put “The CASE for Rail” back in the

timetable!

And, the timetable for “SmartRail 4.0” includes detailed

activities to be achieved by 2019, objectives to be realised

by 2022 and a strategy which goes beyond 2035. The

starting point is the increased application and more

effective integration of existing technologies such as

ETCS, Centralised Traffic Management, and Driver

Advisory Systems. Mr. Brand indicated how improved

accuracy of the reporting of actual train position, as well

as the location of lineside assets, was key to improving

those aspects of operation that can lead to increased

capacity. These include, more efficient work site

protection, improved despatching of shunting

movements and reduced possession times for signalling

and associated works.

Any future migration to Automatic Train Operation (ATO)

will also require real time information about the position

of both the head and rear of the train. He gave examples

of existing and evolving localisation technologies being

used or considered by the SBB and emphasised that all of

these require secure and reliable communication to be

effective. He suggested that satisfying these

communication needs might require the integration of

the Railway and Public Data Networks and that

investigation of the technical, financial and regulatory

aspects of this scenario was becoming urgent.

Alex Brand - Rail Strikes Back„

The starting point is the increased application and

more effective integration of existing

technologies”

Are sufficiently accurate

localisation methods already

available?

Graeme Burden, from Thales UK, who also described

himself as “not a railwayman”, was now given the

opportunity to answer this question with his

presentation, “Train-Centric Precise Positioning

System”

Mr. Burden, who is from the central Research and

Innovation Division of Thales started by taking one

step back and considering if we really need more

accuracy and if so, where do we need it. This led to a

consideration of the difference between an “automatic”

train and an “autonomous” train, the respective “Grade

of Automation (GoA), of such trains and the

subsequent requirement for location accuracy.

He continued with a resume of the functions and

limitations of those technologies available today, in

particular, GPS; Radar; Inertial Measurement Units

(IMU); Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) and

Cameras. Except for GPS, which requires a clear view of

the sky, all rely on recognising fixed “Landmarks” along

the lineside which have been previously defined in

their bespoke data bases and as such, have varying

degrees of inaccuracy between the landmarks.

To significantly reduce these inaccuracies Thales has

developed a “Train Positioning Sensor Fusion

Architecture” which combines the information

provided by a number of such individual sensor

systems in an evaluation algorithm to provide a more

“absolute” train position.

Mr. Burden described the encouraging results obtained

from the system in various test scenarios. These started

with synthetic analysis and have now progressed from

the use of a laboratory robot, and a model railway, to

currently having a test train running with the

Württembergische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (WEG)

between Nürtingen and Neuffen.

With all three speakers now comfortably seated on the

podium, Joachim Janle, asked for contributions from

the floor to open the first discussion session of the

seminar.

The first contributor suggested that the autonomous

car wouldn’t replace the demand for High Speed Rail

between distant cities nor the need for Metro in

densely populated inner cities although the

autonomous lorry could indeed have an adverse

impact on rail freight. Mr. van de Weijer concurred with

this opinion and stated that it was for the “Policy

Makers” to find the correct mix of transport modes. Mr.

Burden added that the autonomous train would enable

metro systems to be more flexible in their response to

demand and thus remain competitive in the changing

environment.

With all three speakers now comfortably seated on the podium, Joachim Janle, asked for contributions from the floor to open

the first discussion session of the seminar.

Mr. Brand was asked if there was a limit to the

complexity of the technology required to achieve

“SmartRail 4” after which benefits diminished. In reply

he pointed out that SBB was particularly seeking new,

but simple, technologies with which to achieve their

goals but conceded that simple was a relative term!

This led to a question about the effort required, or

indeed the ability, to obtain Safety Approval for

software based systems with “exponentially increasing

complexity”. Mr. Burden replied that this was

something which Thales was aware of, and taking

cognisance of, during the development of such

systems. The session closed with the remark that the

words: “Axle Counter” had not yet featured in the

proceedings!

The concept of "Fibre Bragg

Gratings” (FBG)

Two years ago, we were introduced to the concept of

"Fibre Bragg Gratings” (FBG) converting a mechanical

strain into an optical wavelength shift" and how this

phenomenon, already widespread in Wind Farm

Monitoring, could be utilised for Axle Counting. Having

allowed the Delegates the indulgence of a coffee

break, Lars Hoffmann of the “Fos4X” Company brought

us up to date with the intervening development of FBG

for Axle Counting as well as other monitoring

applications relevant to signalling.

He started his presentation by assuming that we all

accepted that “simply” gluing the end of a fibre to the

rail would indeed produce a usable wheel detection

impulse and by referring any “Doubters” to his

demonstration in the adjacent Showroom, where by

standing on a piece of rail an accurate weight

measurement would result.

The substance of his presentation was, can it be used

in a safety relevant situation and will it be reliable

enough? A quick resumé of the advantages to be

gained from the use of this technology was followed

by a list of eight reasons why it won’t be acceptable!

Mr. Hoffmann then produced the theory and

supporting test results to successively disprove the

eight “Unacceptables” in his list.

With all the Delegates now convinced that the Humble

Fibre will be the Wheel Detector of the future the

question remained, just how “simple” is it to glue it to

the rail? Especially in the middle of that wet stormy

night on the edge of the steep embankment where the

noise of the raging torrent of water below drowns out

all attempts at conversation with your colleagues!

No (significant) problem at all! This was the answer

given to us by Dr. Christian Lammel, a mechanical

engineer from IFF GmbH, who by his own admission,

“Got stuck in the Adhesive Industry” quite early in his

career. Dr. Lammel took us through the basic theory of

Adhesive Bonding and showed many examples of its

successful use in critical situations, including in

applications in other sectors of the rail industry. He

then described the preparation necessary to make the

work at the rail, on the night, a simple sixty second

process. The resulting bond between the Fibre and the

Rail has a life expectancy of twenty years. Once again,

the Delegates were referred to the adjacent Showroom

where they could use their own weight to test the

effectiveness of such Adhesive Bonding, in a hammock

hanging by a glued fibre joint!

Kai Schicker & Ignacio Molina;

We speak your Weight. (l to r)

RMA goes mobile!

Any inclination to post luncheon inattention was

quickly dispelled by Marc Rasic of CFL who started his

presentation of Luxembourg Railway’s practical

experience with the use of Thales’ Productivity Tools by

reference to the Sledgehammer! This, he explained had

in the meantime been replaced with a “Mobile App”.

Over a six-month period, a gentle swipe of this “App”

has unfailingly produced more timely and accurate

information about Return Material Authorisations

(RMA) than was previously possible, even by

“hammering at the door” of the Thales’ Depot.

He described how the introduction of this “on-line”

system had brought discernible benefit to CFL’s

Materials Handling process and simplified the planning

of refurbishment and spare part allocation.

Mobility goes Additive: Clones

and Mutants

Staying with the theme of spare parts Arvid Eirich

leader of Deutsche Bahn’s participation in the cross

industry “Mobility goes Additive” project, entitled his

presentation “Clones and Mutants”. It was the lack of a

simple coat hook that was threatening the early

withdrawal of some otherwise serviceable coaching

stock which sent DB down the track

of 3D Printing. Mr. Eirich took us

through the various 3D Printing

processes and explained how these

are increasingly being applied to the

production of difficult to obtain parts

or to economically produce small

quantities of modified parts and

prototypes. He explained the future

potential of these technologies and

introduced us to the possible

financial, procedural and qualitative

effects this will have on DB’s Spare

Parts’ Business Model.

Discussion around these two presentations concerned

the security aspects of on-line tools for critical

commercial transactions and the legal aspects of 3D

Printing components which could be the intellectual

property of others!

Reliability is Reality

“Reliability is Reality” was the presentation to follow

the coffee break. Well timed indeed, as being wide

awake was essential to fully appreciate the

ReturnIt App

Dr. T Solleder, J Janle,

B Silberber& A Arezki:

Facing the Questions (l to r)

mathematical modelling explained by Dr. Thomas

Solleder, Thales Germany’s member of the FIDES

Group, and Björn Silberberg of TÜV Süd. The FIDES

Group is a co-operation between eight defence and

aviation companies investigating improved reliability

prediction methods on behalf of the French Ministry of

Defence.

Dr. Solleder explained how the resulting “new

predictive reliability methodology based on the Physics

of Failures” is now being applied to Thales

Transportation Mission Profiles to give a more realistic

assessment of expected reliability. The methods, which

include improved modelling of environmental

conditions and actual mission profiles, were first

compared against real data collected in Switzerland

about AzLM and Zp 30H equipment. The calculations

and comparisons were then validated by TÜV Süd to

prove their fidelity (Latin=Fides) in order to confidently

apply the methods generally in the Thales’

Transportation Sector.

Component Reliability will without doubt be essential

“When Robots take Control” which Dr. Amine Arezki,

also from Thales Germany, assured us they will in his

presentation about the “Challenges of Autonomous

Trains”. This presentation considered the development

of Robotics relevant to railways and took us beyond

GoA5 to consider the application of Artificial

Intelligence to train operation. Consideration was given

to meeting the challenges of, for example; coupling

and uncoupling, differing train dynamics, degraded

operation and not least, Safety Certification!

The final discussion period of the day was primarily

concerned with who controls the “Robots in Control”

although the relative sensitivity of the individual data

sets in the “New Reliability Model” and its applicability,

or otherwise, to software, also received the attention of

the Delegates.

Initiation into Dresden history

The Graf & his Consort initiate Joachim

Janle into Dresden history

The evening provided a diversion from the

Transport Challenges of the Future by

consideration of Dresden’s history; from feudal

to more recent times. Graf Heinrich von Brühl

(1700 – 1763) and his Consort guided us on a

walking tour of the old town.

Suffice it say that Saxony’s Capital City has

repeatedly played a role in forming Germany’s

destiny, be it with political surprise or, as the

Delegates experienced, with both culinary and

conjuring dexterity!

The irreplaceability of rail

The first speaker of the second day was Dr. Alfred

Veider, Vice President Strategy and Product Policy of

Thales Main Line Systems.

With a quiet but determined enthusiasm, he

underlined Thales commitment to Public Transport in

general and Rail in particular. He emphasised the need

for continued investment in product development, to

keep pace with the growing demand for capacity,

especially in Metro Systems and the new challenge of

protecting passenger security, against civil mischief

and the threat of terrorism. Dr. Veider reminded us

that investment in Rail is an investment for decades

and called for more recognition of this from “Policy

Makers” as without this the supply industry alone

cannot provide the systems that the future will require.

Whilst recognising the role that the car, autonomous

or otherwise, has to play in transport as whole, he

convincingly laid out the reasons why it cannot replace

guided public transport.

Joachim Janle thanked Dr. Veider for his contribution

and for having attended the whole of the Axle Counter

and Technology Seminar.

He then introduced Metros and LRT as the morning’s

main topic.

London Underground 4 Lines

Modernisation

The first presentation brought Craig Miller, from

Transport for London, to the podium to speak about

“London Underground 4 Lines Modernisation”. He was

assisted by Shantilal Morar from Thales Canada.

After giving a brief history of the use of Thales Axle

Counters and Rail Automation Products on London’s

Railways, they described the extent of the current

modernisation project. This includes the Metropolitan,

Circle and District Lines as well as the Hammersmith

and City Railway. With sections of CBTC; Moving and

Fixed Block and the need to operate non-CBTC Trains

on certain lines, the project has complex technical

requirements. These include exacting specifications for;

fire retarding materials, compatibility assurance

regarding parallel tracks with similar equipment, and

rolling stock traction equipment; as well as for

diagnostic capabilities. Add to this bullhead rail profiles

and incompatible plug couplers and we can put aside

tomorrow’s Strategic Challenges, here are today’s

practical problems being mastered in real time by

today’s competent technicians!

Geographically somewhat “East of London”, lies

Danhai, a rapidly growing town near Taipei with an

evolving LRT System. At first sight Andrea Cioci’s

presentation of the signalling solutions provided by

Thales Italy for this and two other LRT Projects in

Taiwan are also “far away” from those encountered in

London. But, look again and we are also hearing of the

successful surmounting of similar practical problems of

implementation, Embedded track, grooved rail profiles,

equipment in restricted locations and mixed traffic

operation, all not quite the same but all not quite

different either! More practical problems being

mastered in real time by today’s competent

technicians! (And, on time and in budget too?)

Dr. A Veider; the irreplaceability of rail, Craig Miller; practical problems being mastered in real time, G Koepfler; Leading the

Metro Dynasty

Signalling Solutions for a

Booming Urban Rail Market

A little to the west of Taiwan lies mainland China, a

cradle of civilisation stretching back through many

well-known Dynasties. Georg Koepfler took to the

podium to introduce us to “Signalling Solutions for a

Booming Urban Rail Market”.

China has 180 cities with more than three million

inhabitants, only thirty of which already have a modern

urban rail system. Mr. Koepfler, CEO of the

Thales/Shanghai Electric Corporation Transportation

Joint Venture, presented the investment plans of those

other cities that have published intentions to build new

urban rail systems. The scale of these plans is such that

China is now very much in “The Metro Dynasty”!

So, is this “Paradise” for the Thales Transportation

business? Not quite, as not only do the other Global

Players have competent technologies on offer there,

but local Chinese Companies are quickly becoming

Global Players in the rail industry themselves! However,

Mr. Koepfler assured us that Thales is confidently

facing the challenge of keeping ahead of China’s need

for innovative rail systems.

The following discussion revolved around whether it

was reassuring or dispiriting that in practical terms the

problems encountered with installation were still the

same as forty years ago; where and how to mount

equipment; compatibility of connectors etc! In answer

we heard that today’s biggest problem was (relatively)

new; administrative coordination in the fragmented

world of the privatised railway!

Morse Key to Fail Safe IP Train

Control

The other rapidly expanding market for rail technology

is of course, India. Mr. A. Saksena of Railtel India had

prepared his contribution “Morse Key to Fail Safe IP

Train Control” for this seminar.

Unfortunately, at the last minute he had been unable

to travel to Dresden and had asked Raviprakash

Karcherla, of Thales India, to present it for him. The

other rapidly expanding market for rail technology is of

course, India. Mr. A. Saksena of Railtel India had

prepared his contribution “Morse Key to Fail Safe IP

Train Control” for this seminar. Unfortunately, at the

last minute he had been unable to travel to Dresden

and had asked Raviprakash Karcherla, of Thales India,

to present it for him.

He told us that; on India’s vast rail network, despite

ongoing modernisation, there are still many sections of

line worked by “Morse Key” principles. Railtel is the

division of the (nationalised) Indian Railways

responsible for Signalling and Telecommunications

and as such tasked with reducing the number of

collisions and major traffic incidents occurring on the

system, currently an average of 87 per year. The

replacement of “Morse Key” sections is part of this

initiative and this is increasingly being done using

digital Axle Counters. We heard that an overriding

requirement in these renewals as well as in other

modernisation projects is maximum availability. This

has led to “Dual Detection” Axle Counter Systems

being installed extensively on Indian main lines

and now also the newly designated “Dedicated Freight

Corridors” across the country.

Ask and ye shall receive!

Two years ago, at the seventh Axle Counter and

Technology Seminar, Geoff Mitchell from London's

Docklands Light Railway spoke about the difficulty of

assessing the consequences of the approaching

obsolescence of Control and Signalling equipment in

use on DLR. He challenged Thales to define the

expected equipment performance beyond its

theoretical life expectancy! This he said, was necessary

to enable a mature migration plan to be developed.

The final formal presentation of this the eighth Seminar

brought us up to date with the subsequent solution to

this problem. The DLR Signalling

Engineer, Jon Miller, presented the Axle

Counter Replacement Programme now

being implemented by the railway as

the backbone of their future Migration

Strategy.

J Miller; Ask and ye shall

receive!

He took us through the analysis and resulting options

identified for obsolescence management and

explained the incompatibilities that would arise during

implementation of the preferred option. Together with

Thales, DLR specified an interface converter and

migration methodology for its testing and subsequent

commissioning in a “Without closures or disruption”

scenario. Mr. Miller then gave details of the bespoke

change-over equipment racks which are required as

well as the new “Quick Clamping Device” for fitting the

AzLM Detection Heads to rails of BS80A profile. He

gave details of what he called the “Four Key Stages” of

the work and the numerous intermediate stages each

of these requires. These include periods of shadow

running and live testing during the short periods of

engineering hours available at night.

The final discussion period of the Seminar started with

questions about whether the improved availability of

Dual Systems was really cost effective and technically

beneficial. The logistics and staffing requirements for

system change-over during testing at DLR were also

discussed. Mr. Miller was specifically asked how DLR

was suddenly able to make progress with what two

years ago seemed despairingly difficult. He answered

that, your supplier can only know you need something,

if you ask for it!

Joachim Janle was then able to declare the formal

proceedings closed and allow the Delegates time for

lunch before attending the technical visits planned for

the afternoon

This was also the last opportunity to visit the

Showroom. Thiss not only contained the “Glue and

Weight” demonstrations referred to above but also

enabled Delegates to try out the Thales Eye, a

maintenance support tool utilising virtual reality; see a

demonstration on a model railway of the Train Centric

Precise Positioning; to learn more about Legacy and

Modularity in Axle Counters and experience the

Advantages of the IP Interface.

Technical visit

Two options were available as Technical Visits in the

afternoon; Dresden’s Transport Museum or The

Transport Faculty of the Technical University.

Dresden’s Transport Faculty has a long tradition and

excellent reputation, gained well before the German

Reunification, which it has maintained unto the

present. In addition to undergraduate studies in many

aspects of Public Transport, there is a wide selection of

research projects taking place relevant to optimisation

and development of guided transport systems, i.e.,

railways!

The Delegates were given an interesting summary of

these activities and could visit the laboratories where

demonstrations had been arranged. One of these

laboratories also contains interesting heritage

signalling equipment, which brought a smile to the

faces of some of those present.

Smith; He only Smiles in the Absence of Software!

Final discussion period of the seminar

Showroom

Despite the appealing entertainment the conversation overheard during dinner repeatedly returned to the subjects of

the Seminar. However, the words Axle Counter were rarely to be heard, the talk being more about the new and

evolving signalling technologies that were presented. So Mr. Janle; does the next seminar have the title reversed,

“Technology and Axle Counting”?

In two years we’ll know the answer.

Whilst Joachim Janle is the initiator of the biannual Thales Axle

Counter and Technology Seminar it is Melanie Wissmann’s

organisational skills which make it a success. These skills extend

beyond the precise arrangements for the presentations,

demonstrations and accommodation into the evening social events.

Ms Wissmann’s influence in Dresden Society came to the fore as

once again Graf Heinrich von Brühl and his Consort took charge of

our group.

The Graf’s motto is “Only the deserving are rewarded”, so we were

relieved that all of us were led into the “Kleiner Schlosshof” to first

partake of an aperitif. Thereafter the Graf’s kitchen staff excelled

themselves by providing the Delegates with an excellent dinner

whilst his jesters and courtiers amused us with diversions of

distinction. These included a courtly dancing display and the Graf’s

personal string quartet, whose charms would surely sooth the wroth

of any unfriendly Dignitary who may happen to have designs on his

estates!

The Graf escorts Melanie Wissmann; the

deserving are rewarded!

Soothing our Wroth