Rail Engineer • June 2015
Resignalling in East Sussex
PHOTO: P.M. Harding
60
T
he major routes of the old London Brighton & South Coast Railway have been resignalled many times since the company went out of existence in 1923. However the secondary routes, although mainly electrified many years ago, retained their traditional signalling right up to the present day with lever frame boxes and semaphore signal arms. Now many decades old and well beyond normal life expectancy, the time has come to bring these routes into the digital age and control them from the Three Bridges Rail Operating Centre (ROC). The first such route to be converted is in East Sussex between Lewes and St Leonards. This section of line caused some interesting challenges with the many level crossings that needed upgrading along the way.
signalling, with Bo Peep being the fringe at the eastern end. The mechanical boxes removed from operational service are: Berwick, Polegate, Hampden Park and Pevensey & Westham, together with a gate box at Havensmouth (Normans Bay). Although Eastbourne box has closed, the interlocking is now re-controlled from Three Bridges ROC. The overall distance is around 25 miles.
The route
The project and technology
Lewes is a four-way railway junction: to the west are the lines to Brighton and Wivelsfield, which were resignalled in the early 1980s with Lewes becoming the fringe box to the then brand new Three Bridges Power Box. To the east are the lines to Newhaven / Seaford and to Eastbourne / Hastings. Eastbourne underwent a signalling upgrade in 1992 to replace the mechanical signalling in the immediate station area and introducing a Solid State Interlocking at that time with colour light signals. The East Sussex scheme extends from Southerham Junction, where the Newhaven line diverges, to the charmingly-named Bo Peep Junction at St Leonards where the main route from London to Hastings is joined. The Newhaven line remains with traditional signalling for the present. Lewes remains as a fringe box to both Three Bridges PSB and the new
Network Rail has its own internal mechanism for producing the business case to justify the necessary investment. The commercial scheme sponsor is Tony Hescott from the operations group and it has been his role to determine the scope of the project, to gather all the costs together and to then take the scheme forward for authorisation. This process began in 2010 and was one of the first re-signalling projects to be undertaken in this manner. The project value worked out at £40 million which, as well as being renewal driven, will yield significant staff savings and increased line capacity. The internal sponsor then contracts the work to the Network Rail projects group to take the project forward from detailed design to commissioning. Huw Edwards assumed this responsibility at a late stage of the project but nonetheless took it through to completion.
The overall project contract was let to Atkins as one of the three nominated Network Rail suppliers for major signalling schemes. Atkins has the internal expertise to do all the design and management activities but does not have a manufacturing capability, so the supply of the necessary hardware was therefore contracted to a variety of signalling companies.
Manufacturers involved »» Interlocking equipment at the ROC - conventional solid state interlocking supplied by Signalling Solutions Limited; »» ROC signaller’s control panel screens - GE Transportation Systems (GETS); »» Lineside signals - Dorman; »» Point mechanisms - existing mechanical, HW point motors, old style clamp locks and one set of spring points, all replaced by In Bearer Clamp Locks either during previous stageworks or at the main commissioning; »» Axle counters - Frauscher; »» AWS and TPWS - free issue from Network Rail; »» Level crossing booms and barrier machines free issued from Network Rail via SPX; »» Level crossing obstacle detection equipment free issued by Network Rail via TEW; »» Level crossing road traffic signals obtained from Unipart Rail. The colour light signals are of the LED type but are mounted on lightweight posts that can be lowered to facilitate ease of maintenance. Axle counters have replaced track circuits