scope:

This document has been provided to support the development, specification and delivery of conventional signalling renewals, alterations and enhancements with the appropriate degree of Digital Railway Readiness.

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide a specification for a Digital Railway Ready or 'ETCS Ready' signalling renewal. This will enable any signalling works undertaken in advance of a future Digital Railway deployment to be upgraded with minimum disruption and cost to the existing signalling, allowing a staged approach to future ETCS/TMS deployment to be adopted. Therefore the ETCS trackside might not be fully operational or installed at the time a re-signalled area is commissioned into service.

The 'Digital Railway Ready' phase includes:

a) Train Readiness - the Train fitment programme of the on board ETCS and CDAS equipment;

b) Signalling System Readiness - signalling changes planned as part of ongoing renewals or enhancement work to support the future roll-out of DR technologies, including ETCS and TMS, i.e. the signalling is being deployed as 'Digitally Ready';

c) Telecoms Readiness - telecoms changes planned as part of ongoing renewals or enhancement work to support the future roll-out of DR technologies, including FTN-X and GSM-R (or future replacement).

It is not intended to replace or specify simplification of present GB interlockings and Modular Signalling Principles.

NOTE: Traffic Management system provision might not always form part of a subsequent 'Digitally Ready' deployment and thus a conventional VSCS could be retained.