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Latest issue / 11 April 2012 /
Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG) was founded in 1994 and is now one of the world’s leading passenger and logistics companies. Operating in 130 countries, approximately 290,000 employees, of which about 190,000 are located in Germany, are committed to ensuring that customers are provided with effective and efficient mobility and logistical services.
In a series of recent announcements from DB, the company is showing that it is not putting the brakes on future developments in Germany, with commitments made to invest in line extensions and track investments plus a selection of other significant improvements.
Noise protection
With increasing passenger numbers and a rise in rail traffic, DB recognises the importance of implementing noise protection measures along railway lines. In 2011, DB made good progress in this area by constructing over 55km of new noise barriers and soundproofing 2,550 households. Commenting on the success of the noise protection programme, Oliver Kraft, CEO of DB Netz AG said: “The measures we took in 2011 were innovative and we invested approximately €145 million of federal funding and around €6 million of our own funds.” (more…)
Issue 3 2008, Past issues / 28 May 2008 /
In a recent presentation from Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Feldwisch of DB Netz AG given at the UIC High-Speed show in Amsterdam, ambitious plans for enlarging the German high-speed network were explained.
The first German high-speed rail lines were planned in the 1980s, when the Iron Curtain dividing the country was still in place.
Historically, the main transport corridors in Germany had been east-west routes centred on Berlin. With the division of the country, West Germany needed better north-south links. Accordingly, the first high-speed lines ran north-south, from Hannover to Würzburg and Mannheim to Stuttgart. These pioneer routes, opened in 1991, and have maximum speeds of up to 280km/h.
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Issue 2 2008, Past issues / 8 April 2008 /
Permanent way is required to absorb the static and dynamic forces resulting in vertical (z), lateral (y), and longitudinal (x) directions from railway traffic loads, to effectively distribute them, and to transfer them into the sub-grade at reduced magnitudes. Superimposed on these external forces are additional internal forces arising from temperature loads, which can influence track-position stability on straight as well as curved track, and which must be taken into consideration in design dimensioning of the permanent way.
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Issue 2 2007, Past issues / 3 April 2007 /
In an interview for the European Railway Review, Dr. Volker Kefer, Chairman of the Board of Management for DB Netz AG, explains the companies operational techniques and also discusses future development plans to ensure that DB Netz AG is a company that performs successfully.
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Issue 2 2007, Past issues / 3 April 2007 /
DB Netz AG is responsible for the entire track infrastructure of Deutsche Bahn. The track network, which encompasses more than 34,000km, is the longest in all of Europe. It is presently used by approximately 350 rail transportation companies. There are approximately 39,000 train movements each day in combined passenger and freight traffic, which yields an annual traffic volume of more than one billion train-kilometers.
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Issue 2 2007, Past issues / 3 April 2007 /
In 2005, Deutsche Bahn AG became the first transport undertaking in Europe to implement the new standard for digital train radio on the GSM-R system platform (Global System for Mobile Communications – Rail). DB AG is thus pioneering the technological transition from the older analogue communications facilities to the new generation of digital systems. DB Netz commissioned the DB subsidiary DB Telematik to plan and build the infrastructure for the new mobile radio systems and to manage technical operations.
Economics and the European initiative
As a provider of transport and logistics services, mobility is the key to almost eve-rything at Deutsche Bahn – including mobile communication. However, the various analogue technologies used for railway radio are no longer state-of-the-art and are now reaching their limits particularly with respect to network coverage and system expansion capabilities. The growth in the size of the analogue transmission facilities is also the cause of high maintenance and repair costs.
In contrast, the digital system platform GSM-R offers a number of sustainable benefits. Standardisation enables operating costs and the time required for system adjustments to be reduced. In addition, the new systems offer user-friendly attributes and improved reachability for mobile subscribers. By deploying digital transmission technology, DB has made the German train radio system not only more economical, but also the most advanced system in Europe.
The impetus for change came from the European legislators. The EU directive 96/48 stipulated the introduction of digital technology initially for the trans-European high-speed railway network. In the course of European harmonisation and the interoperability of railway transport, GSM-R was later also prescribed in EU directive 2001/16 for conventional trans-European railways systems.
Challenges in the GSM-R project
Deutsche Bahn has pioneered the implementation of EU directive 2001/16. The migration to a new technology, as yet untested in conventional train radio, is being carried out while normal services are running. Guaranteeing smooth, uninterrupted railway traffic is therefore imperative. Comprehensive test network scenarios support the introduction of the new system while normal network services are running. The complex technical planning work was based on the GSM mobile communication standards already in use throughout the world. The task for DB Telematik was to utilise these proven standards for the first digital train radio system.
The scope of the project was a particularly challenging aspect. To ensure optimal network coverage, a total of approximately 2,900 base transceiver stations needed to be built. Approximately 10,000 trains have now been fitted out with digital equipment – the subproject finished 2004. All of DB Netz’s network management centres and railway operating control points require GSM-R fixed-network components. Training courses must also accompany the introduction of the new technology. In the first basic package, a total of 24,500km of track will be converted step by step to digital train radio.
The German railway radio network has been classified as a railway traffic system and is therefore subject to statutory provisions and acceptance procedures. For instance, the parallel use of analogue and digital technologies on a single line is not permitted. Vehicles must therefore be equipped with a dual train radio system that enables rapid switching between technologies at, as it were, the touch of a button. A further requirement is connecting the German GSM-R system to the trans-European railway network. 58 border crossings to nine countries need to be prepared. These aspects necessitate close cooperation and consultation with neighbouring railways, the relevant supervisory bodies, the Federal Railway Office (EBA) and the regulatory authority for telecommunication and postal services (BNetzA).
Current status of digital train radio in Germany
The requisite infrastructure for the GSM-R project was effectively completed in 2005. Approximately 2,900 base transceiver stations have now been installed, each equipped with its own switching and control interfaces. Train conversion work was also completed on schedule. With the implementation of the GSM-R fixed network components into the DB Netz network management centres and operating control points, all railway sites are now connected to the new mobile radio network. Using new digitally enabled terminals, stationary subscribers, such as signallers located along the lines, can now participate in operative communications via the GSM-R system.
The new digital technology permits group calls and all-calls to be made, which allows simultaneous communication with multiple subscribers in, for example, pre-defined radio cells. Calls can be prioritised or suppressed as required. Emergency calls, for example, are assigned absolute priority. The technology is also capable of blocking specific connections so that a driver, for instance, can only be contacted by authorised persons. The introduction of the GSM-R system has also made of train radio simpler to use. Besides the person-level addressing previously available, voice calls within the GSM-R system will in future be able to use functional or location-dependent addressing, which is made possible by parameterising organisational and rail network data and by configuring the relevant radio cell structure. It is now, for instance, very simple for a signaller to contact the driver of a passing train.
The safe operation of the GSM-R network is guaranteed by a three-tier operating and service concept. The central control infrastructure and a regional network administration guarantee network operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. With its nationwide service organisation, DB Telematik offers rapid response fault elimination and maintenance services throughout Germany.
As from the beginning of March 2005, there are now more than 20,000 route kilometres in operation with GSM-R train radio at Deutsche Bahn AG including the highly frequented mixed mode Karlsruhe – Basel route, which includes a roaming agreement with Switzerland. That means that more than 80% of the GSM-R basic package is in operation. To enable this, some 2,900 base transceiver stations (BTS), 63 base station controllers (BSC), seven mobile switching centres or operation & maintenance centres (MSC/OMC) and a network management centre (NMC) had to be set up, approved and integrated. In addition, more than 3,000 landline subscribers were linked up and some 10,000 vehicles were retrofitted. 99% of the basic package covering some 24,500 route kilometres will be completed in the middle of the year.
As there is no European reference project for digital mobile radio applications in railway operations, the project team is making use of the practical experience that is being gained as the project progresses. Continuous monitoring and optimisation processes are ongoing. This has led to the realisation that because of the sheer complexity of all the factors influencing the system, the risks associated with switching over large sections of track on a single specific date are unacceptable. In response, the migration process has been modified so that it will now occur in smaller operationally related line packets. Deutsche Bahn publishes information on the current commissioning status of digital train radio services on specific sections of the German rail network on its website at: http://www.db.de/site/bahn/ en/business/ infrastructure__energy/ track__infrastructure/ gsmr/gsmr__news.html.
Outlook and future use
By bundling all radio applications in one digital standard, DB has created an innovative platform with significant potential for growth. In future, inter-application communication linking all areas of railway operations will be possible. The new digital technology is also be used for remote diagnostic purposes and for data transmission in train control and train protection applications.
In addition, using a European standard opens up prospects of new levels of cooperation with foreign railways, thereby contributing to a reduction in cross-border journey times. Future developments will be shaped by the demands and economic feasibility of potential applications. With the new GSM-R system, the technical base for such developments is already in place.
Attention in the GSM-R project is currently centred on extending an additional route package (approximately 5,000km) and on the introduction of GSM-R shunting radio throughout the whole of Germany.
Shunting radio based on GSM-R is being tested in various marshalling yards at present. The roll-out is to start in phases, probably as from the 3rd quarter of 2007. For large shunting areas, extensive system adaptation and expansion is required. Traffic controllers must, for example, be able to contact particular receivers (staff in shunting groups) by means of group calls. The GSM-R network is first of all being upgraded for that purpose.
For less complex shunting movements, point-to-point communication is sufficient in many cases. 1,200 ‘less complex shunting areas’ are currently being surveyed with regards to their suitability for radio operations.
Issue 2 2007, Past issues / 3 April 2007 /
Ensuring efficient breakdown repair management for DB Netz AG means the guarantee of availability of the track system around the clock, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The following premises are consistently applied for this:
- Ensuring the maximum availability of the track system
- Introduction of assistance measures and support for the specification of operating measures provided that no immediate repair is possible
- Through presence throughout Germany, breakdown repair on track system appliances and immediate measures to continue operation are possible in less than 48 hours
In line with the reorganization of the breakdown repair management in the long-distance and conurbation network, the breakdown repair management was completely reorganized at the end of 2006.
The breakdown repair management in the network takes place through seven working areas, work preparation breakdown repair (AVE), which were set up in the operating centres of the branches or in their direct proximity. At the same time, the workplace breakdown repair coordinator was instructed in the network control centre in Frankfurt for extra-regional control. The aims of this decision prepared through the project ‘DB Netz AG control room’ were:
- The improvement of the breakdown repair process through continuous coordination with the network coordinators in the network control centre or with the network managers in the operating centres
- Adjustment by the hour of the number of breakdown repair managers to the actual fault signal amount
- Active fault accompaniment and assistance in operation-relevant faults
- General control of the resources for defined events with supra-regional significance
- Performance of high-quality reporting on actual fault cases, speed restriction points and track closure overranges
- Causal analysis of selected fault cases and processing of recommendations to avoid similar cases
- Setting up of a construction site crash management
First experiences confirm that the intended improvements following reorganization have been effective in the breakdown repair process.
Prioritizing faults
The faults were allocated to seven priorities. Priorities 1 and 2 represent the most stringent requirements of the breakdown repair personnel. Faults in priorities 3 and 4 are partly stackable in their remedying in accordance with the management posts. Priorities 5 and 6 enable breakdown repairs in many cases in systematic work shifts. Faults in priority 7 are one-off faults which generally do not require any special breakdown repair but with regard to repetition demand special observation.
Organization of breakdown repairs
Approximately 700 breakdown repair areas have been set up in accordance with the specialist domain at DB Netz AG for interference elimination. These are divided according to domains as follows:
- Track system: 166
- Control and safety technology (LST): 390
- 16. 7 Hz (contact line): 36 TVT wagons (contact line repair vehicles) breakdown repair areas including motor vehicle readiness for securing the TVT intervention time of 90 – 120 minutes plus 32 supplementary motor vehicles on-call in the network for securing the advance intervention time with a motor vehicle of 60 minutes
- 50 Hz: 68
- Telecommunication (TK): is completely covered through DB telematics
In order to always guarantee the required intervention time of 30 minutes (LST in priority network) to 60 minutes (other specialist domains on other routes), three models are applied in practice for breakdown repairs. These are as follows:
In large, operationally important centres (e.g. Berlin urban railway) a 24-hour occupation of the LST specialist domain is guaranteed. Beyond the elimination of faults, these employees are familiar with inspection and maintenance work, which however can be interrupted at any time without negative effects on the operation. The locations are chosen in such a way that the required intervention time of approximately 30-45 minutes is always reached and in most cases even undercut.
A second model of a two-shift operation from 6a.m. to 8p.m. with ensuing on-call readiness has proven its worth especially for the specialist domains of running track and LST. The start and end of shift can be aligned with the actual local conditions and requirements via the evaluation of the fault occurrence from the SAP R/3 network.
For regions that are not as troubled and with less fault occurrences, breakdown repair is realized through on-call readiness. It should be noted here, however, that this is the most expensive form of breakdown repair with major effects on the planning of work. For this reason, this readiness version is in decline.
Breakdown repair of contact lines represents a special case. The network-wide breakdown repair concept has been optimized within the ‘Further development of contact line maintenance’ project and is being successively further developed.
A fault with the contact line occurs relatively seldom and is especially characterized by the fact that the restrictions in general for normal operating procedure are enormous and the resumption of operability can only be attained via a track vehicle and accompanying crew of some 4-5 contact line specialists. The entire breakdown repair of the contact line appliances of DB Netz AG is carried out with 36 fixed TVT locations throughout the country in defined action radii. In addition, supplementary motor vehicle readiness teams are in place in the network to ensure the initial ‘track earthings’ measure for the defective contact line appliance. If necessary, the track earthing can be carried out in emergencies by emergency managers who have been instructed in track earthing and who in addition request the breakdown repair TVT defined as a breakdown wagon. Especially for major faults, extra-regional use of breakdown repair TVT is foreseen. This requires central coordination through the breakdown repair coordinators of the network control centre.
Breakdown repair material
Breakdown repair material is available according to the failure likelihood in the maintenance areas. Components and assemblies whose likelihood of failure is especially high are thus available, for example, in every signal cabin. Other components such as point mechanisms, large point parts, replacement tracks and so on are available as breakdown reserve in special stores or at central points in the maintenance location in defined type and number.
The contact line components that are principally required for primary breakdown repair are stored on the contact line repair vehicles (TVT) and carried at all times. Contact wire, other ropes and contact line auxiliary masts are stored on 25 contact line wagons and transported to the disturbance point when required.
Furthermore the supply of replacement materials is assured around the clock through DB’s own plants (Witten points works, Wuppertal signal works). This includes of course also the organization of logistics which is carried out via hauliers as well as transport with railway wagons. This ensures that important store materials can generally be made available throughout the country within 24 hours. Exact periods are also defined for the production of special parts (e.g. points parts for special constructions) which guarantee short-term delivery.
Breakdown repair materials which are not manufactured by Deutsche Bahn AG (e.g. cables) are made available through framework agreements. Here the counselling and ordering is arranged around the clock with transit periods of 24 hours for standard materials as well.
Special knowledge
Over 99% of faults are independently rectified by the specialist teams involved. For complex faults, especially in the specialist domain LST, special knowledge is however useful. As well as the use of the system provider’s (Siemens, Alcatel) hotlines, there are specialists available on demand for the persons responsible for the breakdown repair from DB Netz AG (specially commissioned operators, practice trainers, those responsible for particular models, repair specialists of DB Netz AG or DB Bahnbau GmbH or from the area of the central headquarters of DB Netz AG).
There are constant qualification measures for the persons responsible for the breakdown repair through
- Specialist training via practice trainers
- Breakdown repair training
- Targeted imparting of knowledge through special seminars
- Needs-orientated know-how transfer (accompanied learning) that ensure the required know-how for quick and breakdown repair management and are thus a decisive building block for a high availability of the track system
Reinforcement for faults
The development of breakdown repair management is continually monitored and checked for its effectiveness by the organizational unit ‘Maintenance of the long-distance and conurbation network’.
For especially relevant faults, a causal analysis is drawn up by the breakdown repair coordinators in the primary network control unit in collaboration with the branch establishments and the resulting recommendations for action and are then worked out and communicated. The recommendations for action can contain, for example, improvements in the process chain, the monitoring and further development of components through DB system technology (TZF), training measures for the breakdown repair monitors and suggestions for the planning of larger maintenance measures or investments.
In the working area reporting/quality management, the development of the fault occurrence is analyzed nationally and in relation to branches in the monthly quality reports. Central points here are the number of faults according to assemblies, fault repair times, intervention times and trend developments. Negative trends are questioned and countermeasures are arranged.
The development of breakdown repair management since 2000 has led to a considerable reduction of faults, repair times and intervention times with a simultaneous reduction of costs. It has also been possible to considerably reduce the delay times per fault occurrence. This is our active contribution to more quality and greater availability of the track system to the benefit of our customers.
About the author
Klaus Stahl is the Manager for Process Maintenance at DB Netz. He is a very experienced expert in railway maintenance and he joined the company in 1970 and did several jobs in regional districts of DB Netz AG, such as construction worker or district manager for railway maintenance. In the year 2000, he joined the DB Netz Head Quarters in Frankfurt and since 2001 he is the responsible manager for process design and operation of railway maintenance.
Issue 2 2006, Past issues / 3 April 2006 /
Competition on Germany’s railways is working. In the time that Deutsche Bahn AG has been in existence there have never been as many train operating companies using the network as there are now. Never before have so many train-path kilometres been worked. Germany is a front-runner as regards the opening up of markets in European rail transport: 320 train operating companies have been licensed and are now running trains over infrastructure managed by DB Netz AG. We have a duty, therefore, to deliver compelling quality and prices for our customers.
DB Netz AG guarantees the safe, reliable and punctual completion of around 35,000 train movements a day in passenger and freight operations. The basis for these operations is provided by a network of lines that is almost 35,000 kilometres long, that contains almost 80,000 switches and crossings, over 800 tunnels, more than 29,000 railway bridges and around 5,400 signalling installations. A total of more than 9,000 employees regularly inspect and service all facilities. Any faults identified are remedied forthwith as part of either corrective repairs or scheduled maintenance.
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Issue 2 2006, Past issues / 3 April 2006 /
The increasing change in traffic towards rail, the opening of the market in European railway traffic and the increasing responsibility for providers of railways make heavy demands on the quality and the availability of the rail infrastructure.
Effective and efficient maintenance concepts are sought after more than ever. New ways, innovative processes and technical solutions are the focal point of the current development and define its aim and purpose, because the operators of the railway infrastructure expect the providers of the railway infrastructure to offer attractive, sophisticated concepts and maintenance procedures.
Since 2005, DB Netz AG has implemented a special sustainability programme for maintenance services in Germany comprising primarily the measures for the mechanised maintenance and reprofiling of tracks and switches. Factors for success and conditions for the optimal utilisation of the resources are, on one hand, the precise planning of measures (e.g. lines defined with kilometer accuracy, large uninterrupted sections) and the optimal use of the periods of track possession on the other. For railway infrastructure providers like the Bahnbau Group, this means developing and using innovative technologies adapted to the current requirements. The Bahnbau Group, consisting of the DB Bahnbau GmbH, the Deutsche Bahn Gleisbau GmbH, the Deutsche Gleis- und Tiefbau GmbH, the Mobile Oberbauschweißtechnik GmbH and the Ingenieur-, Brücken- und Tiefbau GmbH takes up this challenge.
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Issue 2 2006, Past issues / 3 April 2006 /
In 1995, Deutsche Bahn decided to amalgamate and extensively automate its train scheduling and interlocking control operations by creating seven dedicated competence centres.
The objective of the restructuring was to meet the need for comprehensive modernisation of the interlocking systems especially those used in the east of Germany, whilst at the same time realising major increases in quality and substantial levels of staff rationalisation. This marked the birth of Deutsche Bahn’s operations control centres (OCCs).
In 1994, Deutsche Bahn AG was created through the merger of the former West German Bundesbahn and the East German Reichsbahn. From the point of view of train dispatching, it was only natural that the fifteen regions created by the merger should be transformed into the seven DB operations control centres. To capitalise on the very positive experience gained in the first half of the 1990s with computer-aided train monitoring, the operations control centres were designed to have responsibility for larger areas with a reduction in the total number of organisational interfaces requiring process coordination and synchronisation.
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Issue 1 2005, Past issues / 2 March 2005 /
The Nürnberg-München line via Ingolstadt was entered in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan in 1985. The regional planning procedure got underway in July 1989 and in May 1992 the statutory public enquiry for the new-build project was initiated by what was then still Deutsche Bundesbahn. As from 1994, DB Netz AG took this work on.
A financing agreement for the Nürnberg-Ingolstadt-München project was signed between the Federal Transport and Finance Ministries and DB AG on 19th December 1996. Funding for the concurrently built stretch of urban rapid transit line from Dachau to Obermenzing, between Ingolstadt and München, was agreed between the Federal Land of Bavaria and DB AG on 28th December 1998. (more…)
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