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Systems Architecting in Railway Signalling : Bridging legacy yard signalling systems with ERTMS

Stekelenburg, J.F.G. (2025) Systems Architecting in Railway Signalling : Bridging legacy yard signalling systems with ERTMS.

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Full Text Status:Access to this publication is restricted
Embargo date:5 July 2030
Abstract:This thesis investigates the development of a future-proof, capability-enhancing architecture for Dutch railway signalling systems in yards, facilitating the transition from legacy systems to the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). To provide the necessary context for this study, Chapter 1 starts with an introduction to ProRail, the organisation responsible for managing the Dutch railway infrastructure. This is accompanied by a brief explanation of how to perform railway signalling and the required hardware, ensuring safe and efficient train operations. Chapter 2 presents a systems engineering approach that is adopted in the research. It emphasises the use of reverse architecting to understand the existing legacy systems and the employment of the Department of Defence Architecture Framework (DoDAF) to develop a future-proof architectural description. The research extracts architecture knowledge and applies various systems engineering tools to abstract and present the architectural information, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the legacy systems and their interfaces. The research findings in Chapter 3 give an overview of the challenges associated with legacy railway signalling systems, including high life cycle costs, electromagnetic compatibility issues, and the limited availability of skilled labour. This chapter provides context for the argument that standardisation and modularisation can enhance system capabilities and lower life cycle costs. While Chapter 3 investigates the present situation, Chapter 4 takes a further look into the future, representing the development of ERTMS-specific signalling systems. It examines the potential advantages and disadvantages of integrating ERTMS Level 1 train protection into legacy systems, promising to enhance interoperability and thereby make the railway infrastructure future-proof. As a result, Chapter 5 presents the outcome of the design goal, which is an architecture referred to as the Bridging Architecture. It highlights the importance of transitioning to ERTMS specifications to achieve long-term improvements in safety, efficiency, and interoperability within the Dutch railway network. The design outcome introduces increased capabilities of legacy hardware by deploying standardised, modular signalling systems on yards in a distributed manner. The findings in this thesis provide valuable insights into the architectural design and implementation strategies that can support the future development of railway signalling systems. Reflection upon the design research outcomes is discussed in Chapter 6. This involves the study’s results, as well as the approaches and processes used. Chapter 7 concludes the thesis and highlights the key findings of this research. This chapter also addresses the design question and its sub-questions. Lastly, Chapter 8 provides actionable suggestions and outlines future work for ProRail and the scientific field of Systems Engineering, based on the findings from and during the execution of this master’s assignment.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Clients:
ProRail, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Faculty:ET: Engineering Technology
Subject:55 traffic technology, transport technology
Programme:Industrial Design Engineering MSc (66955)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/106612
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