UK rail infrastructure

Summary

This course provides an overview of railway infrastructure; what the principal constituent parts are and how they interface to provide a consistent, coherent and safe integrated railway system.

Railway systems are a complex combination of interfacing engineering disciplines. In the UK, the railway system is continuing to evolve through the implementation of major new projects as well as smaller local schemes.  Changes that are being made or that are proposed for the future enable the existing systems to operate more efficiently and with more capacity, or deploy the most recent technologies, all with reliability and safety as a key objective.

This course is a complete overview of the physical infrastructure assets that constitute a typical railway system, with particular focus on the rail infrastructure in the UK. These assets are in the track/permanent way, signalling and power supply/distribution disciplines, giving an overview of system development, component parts, core design principles and potential changes into the future.

Who should attend?

This course is aimed at individuals who are either new to the industry and who would benefit from an understanding of the infrastructure elements of the railway system, or whose role requires a wider knowledge of the infrastructure, for example to appreciate interfaces with rolling stock or operations. Attendees may therefore be graduates, engineers, operators and managers.  

How will I benefit?

After the course you will be able to: 

• Understand the main power supply types operating on the UK network
• Appreciate the infrastructure required for power distribution from source to rolling stock and its return
• Have an appreciation of the historical development of signalling and associated infrastructure safety systems
• Understand the main types, and operating principles, of current signalling systems
• Appreciate the complexity of design considerations in signalling developments
• Understand the requirement for and function of fixed equipment for signalling schemes
• Understand the methods of signalling control for different signalling technologies that are in operation on the network
• Appreciate the roles of both signaller and train driver in their interactions with the functions of the signalling systems
• Appreciate the operating procedures required in degraded or emergency situations
• Have an historical appreciation of the permanent way in terms of location, layout and formation
• Understand the principles underpinning the design of track geometry and profile
• Understand the Civil Engineering aspects of the rail network