50-539: The Integrated Electronic Control Centre ( IECC ) was developed in the late 1980s by the British Rail Research Division for UK-based railway signalling centres, although variations exist around the world. It is the most widely deployed VDU based signalling control system in the UK, with over 50 workstations in control centres that manage many of the most complex and busy areas of the network. IECC consists of
100-661: A chairman and nine to fifteen other members appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport . The Board, now reduced to a minimum membership of a chairman and one other member, continues to exist to hold the French law benefits and obligations of the Channel Tunnel Rail Usage Contract. The BRB was created on 1 January 1963 under the Transport Act 1962 by Harold Macmillan 's Conservative government to inherit
150-536: A complete system for Yoker (Glasgow) and the ARS for the Waterloo area. This was the first time a software house became involved in railway signalling after competing against the main incumbent suppliers of GEC-General Signal and Westinghouse Signals Ltd. The solution used off-the-shelf microcomputer technology (Motorola 68000 microprocessors and VME Bus) to host the sub-systems of IECC in high availability configurations linked via
200-473: A duplicated Nine Tiles Superlink local area network. Subsequent contracts were let to CAP Group (became Sema Group in 1988) for further operational IECC systems involving the supply of turnkey hardware and software. These included the first IECC to go live at Liverpool Street in Easter 1989 quickly followed by York. In September 2020 the original Liverpool Street IECC was replaced with a new IECC Scalable system. As
250-534: A high-speed tilting train intended to accelerate Britain's Intercity services. This work, begun during the mid-1960s, was in part motivated, and influenced, by the recent success of the Japanese Shinkansen line between Tokyo and Osaka . The use of tilting permitted the alignment of the lateral forces with the floor, in turning higher top speeds to be attained before passenger comfort was adversely impacted. An active tilting system, using hydraulic actuation,
300-451: A hot summer, caused many problems with rail buckling; although there were no injuries, there were a number of derailments. Evaluations were conducted into the methods, costs, and benefits of tamping the ballast over the sleeper ends. There were extended studies into metal fatigue , and pioneering work in ultrasound crack detection at a time when it was being investigated elsewhere for medical diagnostics. Major signalling breakthroughs made by
350-550: A lack of political support, work on the APT was ceased in the mid-1980s in favour of the more conventional InterCity 125 and InterCity 225 trainsets. The Research Division was reorganised in the runup to the privatisation of British Rail during the 1990s; the bulk having become "BR Research Limited". This unit was acquired by the private company AEA Technology in 1996, which has since become Resonate Group . Several elements of its work have continued under various organisations, such as
400-592: A modern hardware platform and software architecture. Following a successful six-month trial at Swindon B in 2012, IECC Scalable is now the standard for new installations, starting with Cambridge where it controls the Ely-Norwich line which has been resignalled on the "modular signalling" concept for secondary routes. 1 CCTV crossing keeper The following installations are not true IECCs of the BR/SEMA/DeltaRail design. They are VDU based signalling control systems with
450-587: A modified High-Speed Freight Vehicle chassis. Testing commenced in 1978. A more capable two-car prototype railbus, the Class 140 , was built between 1979 and 1981. Following its early use as a testbed, during which the Class 140 toured several different regions across the UK, it later served as a demonstrator for the subsequent production units based on the type, the Class 141 , introduced in 1984, and Class 142 , introduced in 1985. These subsequent production classes diverge from
500-415: A number of operator’s workstations with VDU/LCD displays which depict the control area and is semi-automatic using Automatic Route Setting (ARS) – a computer-based route setting system driven from a pre-programmed timetable database . ARS can also handle severely disrupted service patterns and assist the signaller in the event of train or infrastructure failures. IECCs were developed as an alternative to
550-399: A rail-mounted trolley was developed and tested as part of this research. It was concluded that, largely due to the cost of the aluminium reaction rail necessary, linear motors were not economically practical at that time. The division has also collaborated with English Electric to produce a heavily modified demonstrator, converted from a redundant early diesel electric locomotive, to evaluate
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#1732852495799600-461: A result of UK railway privatisation in the mid-1990s, British Rail Research was bought by AEA Technology Rail, who took over the supply of new IECCs, support for the existing installed base, and enhancements to the hardware and software. In 2006, the AEA rail business became DeltaRail (now called Resonate Group ), who have developed IECC Scalable which replicates all the functionality of the original IECC on
650-697: A similar "look and feel" but in most cases they do not incorporate Automatic Route Setting. Some locations shown below are interim installations which will eventually move into larger signalling control centres, such as Leamington and Madeley, which in time will move to the West Midlands Signalling Centre. (The WestCAD controlled the original Solid State Interlocking.) Control transferred to Rugby SCC on 3 June 2012 also Three Spires Junction (exclusive) to Nuneaton, Arley Tunnel to Hinckley (exclusive) and Brandon to Rugby. British Rail Research Division The British Rail Research Division
700-591: The General Area Time-based Train Simulator (GATTS). By the end of the 1960s, the division has made progress in the area of rail adhesion; influenced by French experiments with spark discharges, development of what became the plasma torch proceeded based on promising test results gathered in 1967. Subsequent testing provided even better results; however, progress was badly impacted by the departure of Dr Alston in 1971. The division also provided support in troubleshooting issues encountered with
750-599: The High Speed Freight Vehicle , which started work during the late 1960s and reaching a high point during the mid-1970s. Various tests of the High Speed Freight Vehicle were carried out between 1975 and 1979. An even more radical freight vehicle, the Autowagon , was also worked on during the early 1970s; the concept of individual self-powered container-carrying wagons automatically loading, traversing
800-722: The Old Dalby Test Track ), which was acquired specifically to test this train. The Mickleover test track was closed and lifted in the early 1990s, however Old Dalby remained in use into the twenty-first century. Early benefits of the Research Division's work were already being felt by the late 1960s in the field of signalling , specifically in block systems . While practical demonstrations were being performed as early as 1964, some of these efforts, such as an early use of radar -based obstacle detection, proved to be not mature enough for deployment. One project of this nature that
850-621: The patents filed during the APT's development being harnessed in the development of the Pendolino , a modern high speed tilting train. During the mid-1950s, it became increasingly apparent to senior figures within the British Transport Commission (BTC) that, in light of mixed results from using external contractors, there was value in British Rail performing some research projects in-house instead. In August 1958, Dr F. T. Barnwell
900-512: The 1960s at a cost of £4 million. Nearby, the Research Division developed its first test track on the old Great Northern Railway line between Egginton Junction and Derby Friargate (later used only as far as Mickleover ) and was used by the Train Control Group. Later on, when the revolutionary Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was being developed, a second test track was created on the line between Melton Junction and Edwalton (known as
950-599: The BRB also ran ferry services (later as Sealink ) and hotels . These were sold in the 1980s. The final BRB structure (1994–1997) was a shadow form of the future privatised railway industry, becoming a holding company for over 100 subsidiaries, including 25 passenger train operating, six freight, three rolling stock leasing, and a number of track maintenance companies. These were slowly sold during privatisation (the passenger subsidiaries were franchised to private sector concerns). On 1 April 1994, railway infrastructure became
1000-493: The Class 140's design in numerous places; one example is the separation between the underframe and the body above by a flexible mounting, a reduction in the depth of the underframe for maintenance accessibility, and the use of road bus-standard electrical equipment, passenger fittings, and general cab layout. Likely the most prominent project undertaken by the Research Division was the Advanced Passenger Train (APT),
1050-615: The IECC have been developed and are sold by various signalling contractors, e.g. Westinghouse Rail Systems WESTCAD. The concept of IECC was developed at the Railway Technical Centre in Derby during the 1980s, and in particular the initial software for ARS and SSI. A contract for the development of an operational standard system was let in January 1987 to CAP Group , including the supply of
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#17328524957991100-510: The Research Division included Solid State Interlocking and the Integrated Electronic Control Centre . In 1986, finance for the division was moved from the board to the operating divisions. Thus emphasis shifted from pure research to problem solving. During 1989, BR Research became a self-contained unit working under contract to British Rail and other customers, and the route was open for privatisation. When British Rail
1150-457: The Research Division's activities. Perhaps its most high-profile work was into new forms of rolling stock , such as the High Speed Freight Vehicle and railbuses , which led to the introduction of the Class 140 . One of its projects that gained particularly high-profile coverage was the Advanced Passenger Train (APT), a high-speed tilting train intended for BR's Intercity services. However, due to schedule overruns, negative press coverage, and
1200-467: The Research Division. The hiring of graduates rather than training people up internally also caused tensions. It could be somewhat tactless, or perhaps naive, at times. The APT-E was provided with a single driver position central in the cab, at a time when the unions were resisting the loss of the "second man" (the fireman in steam days). After its first run out to Duffield the APT-E was blacked (boycotted) by
1250-804: The Secretary of State for Transport. In this function it has outlived its own residuary company, which was wound up on until 30 September 2013, pursuant to the Public Bodies review. Through its subsidiary Rail Property Ltd, BRB (Residuary) retained responsibility for non-operational railway land, for example railway lines closed in the Beeching Axe that have not been sold. The BRB owned a large amount of archive material, including papers, maps, films and photographs, dating back before nationalisation. In 1997 these were distributed to other bodies: films (the bulk of which had been produced by British Transport Films ) to
1300-468: The ad hoc methods that had prevailed previously. Its research led to advances in various sectors, such as in the field of signalling , where progress was made with block systems , remote operation systems, and the Automatic Warning System (AWS). Trackside improvements, such as the standardisation of overhead electrification equipment and refinements to the plasma torch , were also results of
1350-591: The country, including the LMS Scientific Research Laboratory . It was primarily based at the purpose-built Railway Technical Centre in Derby . In addition to its domestic activities, the Research Division would provide technology and personnel to other countries for varying purposes and periods under the trade name "Transmark". It became recognised as a centre of excellence in its field; the theoretical rigour of its approach to railway engineering superseded
1400-417: The country, including the LMS Scientific Research Laboratory . Its remit was not simply the improvement of existing equipment, or the solution of existing problems, but fundamental research from first principles, into railway operation. The results of its work would go on to inform development by engineers, manufacturers and railways all over the world. For instance, once the initial APT-E experimental project
1450-435: The early 1980s, the project had been running for over a decade and the trains were still not in service. The APT was quietly abandoned during the mid-1980s in favour of the more conventional InterCity 125 and InterCity 225 trainsets. Other work involved looking at the tamping of ballast, properties of subsoils, and rail prestressing. A large part of the network had been converted to continuous welded rail which, during
1500-773: The minimum membership of the Board itself was reduced to the chairman and one other member. With the dissolution of the SRA under the Railways Act 2005 , BRB (Residuary) became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Secretary of State for Transport . While the Transport Act allowed for BRB to be abolished, the Board's remaining function is to hold the French law benefits and obligations of the Channel Tunnel Rail Usage Contract on trust for
1550-804: The new section's remit; in June 1960, the Rugby Locomotive Testing Senter was also transferred to the Chief Electrical Engineer's responsibility and became a key site for the section. During 1963, the newly created British Rail Board (BRB) agreed to transfer the Electrical Research Section to the British Rail Research Department , with the purpose of forming a completed new division. The Research Division brought together personnel and expertise from all over
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1600-521: The rail network, and unloading as required. This project never proceeded beyond demonstrations and studies into the control systems required. During the mid-1970s, British Rail became interested in introducing a new generation of railbuses ; thus, the Research Division collaborated with British Leyland to jointly develop and evaluate several prototype four-wheel vehicles, commonly referred to as LEV s (Leyland Experimental Vehicle). These prototypes were essentially Leyland National bus bodies mounted on
1650-490: The railway responsibilities of the British Transport Commission , which was dissolved at the same time. Initially, and for the majority of its history, the BRB operated under the structure inherited from the BTC Railway Executive. Operations were initially divided into six regions – Eastern , London Midland , North Eastern , Western , Southern and Scottish (later rebranded ScotRail ). The North Eastern region
1700-480: The recently deployed overhead electrification apparatus; the development of simpler and standardised equipment and further research into digitally simulating the dynamic behavior of overhead equipment proceeded. The success of these efforts were such that, having been initially authorised for a five-year period, the BRB approved a further 11-year extension in 1973, thus continuing the Research Division's work in these areas through to March 1985. One key research project
1750-512: The responsibility of public limited company Railtrack , initially Government owned. The BRB continued to operate all trains until 1996, when the process of transferring them to the private sector began. Privatisation was completed in 1997, but the BRB continued to discharge residual functions relating to non-operational railway land and BR pensions, and to have responsibility for the British Transport Police . In 1999 Alistair Morton
1800-841: The rotary induction motor. Other advances made by researchers in the field of overhead electrification, such as hydraulic dampers and flexible contact wire supports, greatly aided the Modernisation of the West Coast Main Line . During the late 1960s, attention was paid to expanding the Research Division's mathematical capabilities. This heavily contributed to the development of Junction Optimisation Technique (JOT), an approach for optimisating traffic flows through complex junctions (such as that outside of Glasgow Central railway station ). The arrival of more powerful computers around this time allowed for time-based, rather than event-based, traffic simulations to be programmed as well, leading to
1850-438: The traditional switch or button panel control, which in turn replaced mechanical lever frames . From the start, they controlled Solid State Interlockings (SSIs), a software version of the traditional relay interlocking , but existing relay interlockings may also be controlled from an IECC. The system can control as many miles of track as required, but typically around 50–100 miles. Recently, PC-based control systems, similar to
1900-589: The unions for a year. Nevertheless, its empirical research into vehicle dynamics has produced today's high speed trains, both freight and passenger, including the InterCity 125 and InterCity 225 . The concept of a tilting system for the APT became part of the Pendolino , while the products of its signalling and operations control research are used over a significant amount of the British railway system. British Rail Board The British Railways Board ( BRB )
1950-518: The work of the Division was maintained in the Derby Industrial Museum . The Research Division had an uneasy relationship with other parts of BR, and like most of the products of Harold Wilson 's " white heat of technology " speech, were killed off in the early 1980s. The basis of the unease was the traditional approach of most of BR compared with theoretical and aerospace approaches adopted by
2000-662: Was a nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that operated from 1963 to 2001. Until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in Great Britain , trading under the brand name British Railways and, from 1965, British Rail . It did not operate railways in Northern Ireland , where railways were the responsibility of the Government of Northern Ireland . It is a statutory corporation , which when operating consisted of
2050-436: Was a division of the state-owned railway company British Rail (BR). It was charged with conducting research into improving various aspects of Britain's railways, particularly in the areas of reliability and efficiency, including achieving cost reductions and increasing service levels. Its creation was endorsed by the newly created British Rail Board (BRB) in 1963 and incorporated personnel and existing resources from all over
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2100-565: Was appointed by the BTC to prepare and present specific electrical research proposals; the creation of an initially small Electrical Research Section employing 31 staff was also authorised by the BTC in July 1960. Many of these early proposals were related to traction and power equipment, such as motor control, signalling, digital computers, and 25 kV AC railway electrification . Several existing research efforts, such as into rail adhesion, were also folded into
2150-715: Was appointed the last chairman of the BRB, which began to advise on passenger railway matters. During this time it operated with the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising under the trading name of the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority . Under the Transport Act 2000 , the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising was abolished and the majority of BRB's functions were transferred to the Strategic Rail Authority 's wholly owned subsidiary BRB (Residuary) Limited . In 2001
2200-452: Was complete, it passed to the mechanical engineering department to build the APT-P prototype. In time, engineers would be seconded to other countries for varying periods under the trade name "Transmark". One early matter for this new division was the choice for a long term location, Rugby being passed over in favour of Derby , where the purpose-built Railway Technical Centre was built during
2250-421: Was examining the tendency of new wheels to hunt , which was counteracted by deliberately profiling, or pre-wearing, wheels. During the 1960s, an extensive study was performed by the aeronautical engineer Alan Wickens, which identified dynamic instability as the cause. Concluding that a properly damped suspension system, both horizontally as well as vertically, additional research led to additional projects, such as
2300-464: Was highly impactful on future railway operations was the creation of automated simulations of traffic flow through a network. In response to concerns by managers of the British Rail's Southern Region , the Research Team developed improvements for the Automatic Warning System (AWS), sometimes referred to as Signal Repeating AWS, which would be deployed extensively in that region. Another early advance
2350-591: Was merged into the Eastern Region in 1967. In the 1980s, the BRB moved to a sectoral model based on business activity – InterCity for long-distance passenger trains, Network SouthEast for commuter trains in London , and Regional Railways for short-distance and commuter trains outside the Network SouthEast area. Railfreight was organised separately. As well as the railway network, for much of its history
2400-426: Was sold into private ownership during the 1990s, the Research Division (which had become "BR Research Limited") was bought by AEA Technology in 1996. The resulting business, "AEA Technology Rail", was subsequently sold in 2006 to a venture capital company and became DeltaRail Group . Transmark, the consultancy arm, was sold to Halcrow to become Halcrow Transmark. A somewhat dated display of material relating to
2450-419: Was the remote control of freight locomotives at low speed, such as when coal trains were delivering their materials to power stations. By the mid-1960s, the Research Division had multiple traction-related projects underway, however, they were negatively impacted by the sudden death of senior engineer James Brown. Work into the use of induction drives , for both rotary and linear motors , was one such project;
2500-519: Was to enable the APT to round corners 40% faster than conventional counterparts. The prototype APT-E , powered by gas turbines , conducted its first run on 25 July 1972. Due to trade union opposition, it did not run again on the main line until August 1973. During testing on the Great Western Main Line , the prototype achieved a new British railway speed record on 10 August 1975, having reached 152.3 mph (245.1 km/h). However, by
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