Sydney’s Blacktown rail gets New York style upgrade

The technology will modernise this part of the network to improve reliability, punctuality and ultimately passenger satisfaction.

Siemens vice president of mobility and logistics Paul Bennett said the company is delighted to be partnering with RailCorp on such a key project because of the long-term benefits of the technology.

“Our Control System is capable of re-routing and prioritising trains automatically in the event of a disruption on the line. This intuitive technology helps to predict the best outcome for RailCorp and its assets to effectively respond to any new situation,” Bennet said.

The Siemens Control System can be used to review and verify new timetables offline with the ability to create virtual disruptions and monitor the effects, ensuring accuracy of timetables before they enter service. These same algorithms can be used in the online system during any disruptions to intelligently route and prioritise trains giving the optimal recovery solution.

Siemens and RailCorp’s engineers have begun working to deliver the control system for the Blacktown line which is due to be completed by early 2014, with a phased introduction of the system to be supported by Siemens’ 24/7 technical support and maintenance.