SPECIFICATION AND DESIGN OF A MODULAR AND EXTENSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR TESTING MOVING BLOCK SYSTEMS

Testing train control systems is a crucial task to ensure their reliable and safe performance. Although testing systems and strategies for ETCS Level 2 are in place, as moving block/ETCS Level 3 systems are specified, the necessity to appropriately minimise the reliance on on-site tests, in light of increased testing scenarios, highlights the need to extend current testing capabilities to enable the operational paradigm shift of moving block. This paper, which reports on the results of the MOVINGRAIL project funded by the Shift2Rail programme, presents a testing solution for moving block systems to serve as a baseline for increasing the reliability of current laboratory and test practices. To obtain a good understanding of stakeholders’ needs and requirements, a workshop was held with key stakeholders from industry and academia who are involved in railway signalling systems to discuss the current capabilities and the challenges that the transition from ETCS Level 2 to moving block may raise in the testing domain. Based on the outputs from the workshop, three important requirements for successful moving block testing formed the foundational assumptions used to define a modular and extensible architecture for testing moving block signalling systems. The components and interfaces of an integrated test system that is backwards compatible, i.e., it applies to all levels of ETCS, including future virtual coupling, regardless of system supplier, are then defined.