New technology has been commissioned on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin (W2H), bringing digital signalling on the route a step closer.
The work was completed between Saturday 17 and Tuesday 20 as part of the East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP).
With a view to a ‘no signals’ railway on the southern part of the ECML, the newly dual signalled section operated with conventional and digital signalling will be used to progressively train all ECML operators to drive in European Train Control System (ETCS) through the W2H overlay.
ETCS is currently in use in the central London section of Thameslink and on the Cambrian Line in Wales, and now on the Northern City Line (Finsbury Park to Moorgate).
The ECDP will change how trains are controlled, replacing traditional lineside signalling with digital signalling displayed inside the train drivers’ cabs.
A new proving desk and Radio Block Centre will be put in place in York ROC, to enable the first overnight proving trains to operate from spring 2024. It is expected that migration to ETCS operations on passenger and freight services through the overlay section will begin in 2025.
Currently, a quarter of all trains operating between these stations are using the ETCS system, with this number increasing as more drivers are trained on the system.
Colour-light signals are being kept at the side of the track for now, until all drivers are passed out on the new system.
The first stage of ECDP is the Northern City Line (NCL) pathfinder project. Digitally signalled Great Northern passenger trains have been operating since November 2023 on the Northern City Line between Finsbury Park and Moorgate where Great Northern drivers are progressively being trained to drive under ETCS.
It is expected that the Northern City Line will be a ‘no signals’ railway from early 2025, allowing the current system to be switched off.
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