Sydney's light rail TETRA comms

Safety and security are front and centre in the Sepura TETRA communications strategy for Sydney’s new tram network.

The ALTRAC consortium, which comprises Alstom Transport Australia, Transdev Sydney, ACCIONA and Capella Capital, is hard at work on construction of Sydney’s new CBD and South East Light Rail lines, in a $2.1 billion public-private partnership with the NSW Government.

The contract was awarded on 17 December 2014 and commercial services are expected to begin in early 2019.

As part of the contract, the consortium will also take over the operations and full maintenance of the existing Inner West Light Rail (IWLR) system, which includes 12 trams and connects Sydney’s inner west with Pyrmont, Darling Harbour and the southern CBD.

For the new 12-kilometre-long line, Alstom is responsible for the integrated tramway system which includes the design, delivery and commissioning of 30 coupled Citadis X05 trams, power supply equipment, including APS (ground power supply) over two kilometres, communications and signalling systems, the energy recovery system HESOP, depot equipment and maintenance.

“Alstom is very committed to Sydney’s transport network and is pleased to bring with Citadis X05 a new passenger experience, high-capacity, sustainable, full fluidity and optimum system services. Sydney will benefit from Alstom’s worldwide experience and latest evolution of its tram range,” said Dominique Pouliquen, senior VP of Alstom Transport Asia Pacific.

“This project will transform Sydney and provide a step change in the city’s public transport capability and reliability while protecting the aesthetic appeal of the central business district.”

The Citadis X05 integrates new technologies such as permanent magnet motors to reduce energy consumption and easier subsystem integration and maintenance to decrease lifecycle costs. Citadis X05 will have constant CCTV monitoring, emergency intercoms and the latest way-finding aids for real-time passenger information.

ACCIONA will be responsible for the design, construction and integration of the civil works including track, 19 stops, a bridge over the Eastern Distributor toll road, a tunnel under Moore Park, control centre facilities, housing for the light rail vehicles, a maintenance depot, and substations and other service buildings along the route.

The CBD and South East Light Rail will run every four minutes in peak hours in the CBD and every eight minutes to and from Randwick and Kingsford. Each service will carry up to 450 passengers, equivalent to nine standard buses. As a result, the network will carry up to 15% more passengers during peak hour and provide 33% more seats across the day. The project also includes wire-free infrastructure to protect the aesthetic appeal of the CBD.

Rail communications

In July 2016, Alstom announced that it had selected Spanish firm Teltronic to supply the communications system design for the new Light Rail line. Teltronic is now part of the Sepura group, having been acquired in 2015.

The Sepura TETRA system will provide communications between all staff on the line — including drivers, maintenance and security staff, inspectors and the control centre — and will be integrated with an intelligent transport system application, responsible for fleet management, traffic regulation, passenger information management and train-to-ground information exchange.

Terence Ledger, head of the Asia Pacific region for Sepura Group, told Critical Comms that the communications network design will be done by Sepura. Some of the equipment will be standard, off-the-shelf Sepura gear, such as SRG3900 mobiles, and STP 9000 handhelds, but other elements, such as the RTP-300 onboard equipment, will be specifically adapted to the requirements of the 30 tram units.

The other major rail project in Sydney at the moment, the North West Rail Link, also will use Sepura infrastructure and terminals.

“On that project, it’s going to be the new SC20 as the handheld radio, the RTP-300 onboard equipment and our SRG3900 mobile radios,” said Ledger, “along with our Nebula TETRA system infrastructure.”

According to Ledger, Teltronic is known for its public safety-grade TETRA infrastructure, and is renowned for its onboard transport solutions, while Sepura terminals have long enjoyed a reputation for functionality and reliability.

“Since Teltronic and Sepura have come together, it has given us extra strength in the marketplace in Australia,” said Ledger. “We’d already had success with our solutions, but Teltronic’s expertise in the transport sector is really important for us, and it’s helping us win business all around the region.”

Why is TETRA so successful in the transportation communications sector? “It’s proven and reliable. With transport projects, people don’t want to use experimental technology because there’s too much at risk, and they’re too high profile to not work,” said Ledger.

“Basically all the engineering companies, and transport integrators, want it because it is already compliant with rail guidelines,” he added. “There are certain testing and standards you have to comply with to make sure you get through vibration, shock, temperature and so on. We’ve done all that testing. We’re one of the few manufacturers that can supply this kind of onboard equipment.”

Sepura’s portfolio of onboard mission-critical communication products also complies with the new European standard EN 45545, published by CENELEC, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation. The standard, which was adopted by all EU countries in April 2016, regulates fire safety in railway rolling stock.

The Sepura portfolio is compliant with both part 1 (EN 45545-1) — the ‘principal terms and definitions and general regulations governing the classification of rail vehicles in operational and design categories, as well as fire safety objectives’ — and part 2 (EN 45545-2), which describes the requirements for the fire behaviour of materials and components.

According to Ledger, another reason for TETRA’s success is its price point. “If you’re spending millions of dollars on a metro line, [the cost of] TETRA is just a drop in the ocean,” said Ledger, particularly compared with P25. “The cost of the networks, handhelds and equipment is a lot lower, and you get more functionality as well. P25 is quite limited with what you can do.”

And yet, both TETRA and P25 can work hand in hand, with Ledger citing the example of a major US city bus system, the communications contract for which was won by PowerTrunk, another Sepura subsidiary. “That’s probably the biggest contract we’ve ever signed so it’s quite a big project that’s going to be rolled out over the next few years,” said Ledger.

Technological innovation

In the Basque Country, Spain, Bilbao Metro is taking part in a pilot communications project using LTE technology. The network is deployed in conjunction with ITELAZPI, operators of the Basque Country’s regional communications network.

The project integrates LTE with the existing TETRA network, which is based on Sepura’s eNebula solution. The LTE system provides uninterrupted, highly available, real-time video monitoring and, in combination with the existing TETRA network, can significantly boost security in the Metro, and help facilitate a coordinated response in an emergency situation.

The integrated TETRA-LTE system provides real-time video transmission between trains, stations and the Command and Control Centre in Bilbao, as well as from portable devices used by the security staff onboard or in the station. Real-time video from cameras at stations can also be displayed.

ITELAZPI’s security infrastructure is also used by public safety agencies and transportation entities such as Euskotren and ETS.

“This is an excellent platform on which we can easily build our professional broadband services. It is also a cost-effective solution, since we are able to layer LTE technology onto the existing network, alongside existing PMR voice and narrowband data services,” said Ricardo Lizundia, TETRA systems manager at ITELAZPI.

“This opens up a range of interesting possibilities for the network and promises significant improvements in the public service communications within the Basque Country.”

According to Ledger, a unique feature of Sepura’s systems is that they use a single network management system, so all provisioning is done through one network management system. “With most of the competition you need to have network management for the LTE component and one for the TETRA component,” he said. “We’ve cut it down and made one network management system, which makes it really, really easy — basically it becomes one network.”

Sepura is also working on rail signalling. “We’re working on a couple of projects in Asia that use signalling over TETRA, which require TETRA services to be used in a highly efficient manner, closely integrated with the signalling application,” said Ledger.

“This is just one way in which TETRA is evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of the market.”

Images courtesy Alstom and Sepura.