Sussex EBI track circuit receiver upgrades

The challenge

Unusually high temperatures during the summer of 2022 highlighted vulnerabilities within a number of EBI 200 track circuits throughout the South East route, with the Mod state 2 digital RX (receivers) in particular having proved unable to cope with the extreme temperature fluctuations from as far back as 2011. Further reliability issues had also been identified with a number of trackside tuning units (ETUs) with Amaro being tasked with investigating and repairing as necessary.

The solution

As part of a drive to boost the resilience of these circuits – not to mention improving the reliability of services for rail users – 41 EBI 200 track circuit receivers were identified as requiring an upgrade to Mod state 5.

Working directly for Network Rail, Amaro was contracted to remove the Mod state 2 receivers in question, replacing them with state-of-the-art Mod state 5 units. Once complete, our operatives were then tasked with carrying out all works necessary to ensure that the track circuits were optimally set up, ensuring that the track length was accurately measured with the set-up procedure followed as per a new installation in line with SMS Appendix 8.

Following extensive investigations, it was determined that roughly 75% of all tracks were in need of additional maintenance over and above the replacement of the receiver. Indeed, a significant proportion of the newer Mod state 3 and 4 receivers were also experiencing issues, reporting inaccurate data and erroneous alerts due to having been setup incorrectly by a third-party contractor, with many others being accompanied by incomplete, out of date, or even incorrect record cards.

Liaising extensively with Network Rail’s Technical Support Group (TSG), our operatives carried out a programme of track optimisation in accordance with SMS Appendix 8:

• Setting the Mod state 3 and 4 receivers up correctly
• Updating and/or replacing the record cards as required
• Replacing any Wago plug adaptors with Wago Plus equivalents in line with current Network Rail standards
• Improving the state of cable terminations within the ETU/tuning units, bringing them up to current standards

Whilst works initially took place during possessions, during the later stages of the project the focus shifted towards line blocks, with close collaboration between both Amaro’s and Network Rail’s planners driving efficiencies and leading to a significant boost in productivity during mid-week shifts.

Starting in February 2023 and initially expected to be completed just 4 months later, the award of additional works packages took the total number of track circuit upgrades from 41 to 119, extending the estimated completion date to the middle of 2024. Due to the transition between CP6 and CP7, however, works have currently been put on hold, with a significant number having been completed prior to descoping. Thanks to our team’s performance on this project, Network Rail has already provided Amaro with a number of opportunities to price similar works.

Despite the expected challenges posed by access restrictions, not to mention periods of extreme weather, works progressed well throughout the programme, with zero lost time incidents having been recorded, and significant improvements in both availability and reliability delivered.