£8.8m control system revamp aims to cut Metro disruptions
A multi-million-pound upgrade of the Tyne and Wear Metro control room has been completed, providing the system with some of the most advanced technology in the railway industry.
Metro owner and operator Nexus says new digital technology will allow for faster and more effective fault finding, helping to reduce disruptions for Metro customers.
The £8.8m project has involved the complete renewal of a system which manages key parts of Metro’s infrastructure, including the high voltage power supply.
The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) is used to monitor the power, fire and intruder alarms, lighting, lifts, escalators, and tunnel drainage pumps.
The project has been carried out on behalf of Metro operator Nexus by Sella Controls, supported by Nexus teams to ensure work was completed efficiently and minimising disruption to passengers
Paul Welford, major projects director at Nexus, said: “This upgrade of our control room technology is a vital investment in Metro’s long-term future. I’m delighted to say the project is now complete.
“We have installed is the very latest digital technology, which is the most advanced currently in use in the UK railway industry.”
The new system utilises the very latest remote terminal unit products that feed live data to controllers a continuous real-time view of the network and actively calculates the live power load.
Operational staff can see the state of the network as it changes, and make decisions on the basis of what is actually happening and spot developing issues early and act before they become problems which hit train services.”