In an eye-opening interview with Miguel Angel Caraballo, Technical Director at Triple E, we discover the main electronic safety challenges facing the railway sector today. As the digitisation process is completed, integration into complex systems becomes essential without compromising safety and reliability. Caraballo provides an insight into an ever-evolving world, where the ability to adapt and generate unprecedented information plays a crucial role. He also shares exciting insights into emerging trends in electronic railway safety, such as real-time digitisation and optimisation of preventive maintenance. What key technologies are used to strengthen safety in railway systems? What will the bright future of electronic railway safety be? Dive into this interview and discover how the railway industry is adapting and preparing for the demands of the future!
Railway commitment to safety and reliability
What are the main electronic safety challenges in the railway sector today?
In the new on-board systems we are developing, we will complete the digitalisation process in which all sectors are involved. The main challenge today is to integrate into complex interlinked systems without compromising safety and reliability. The entire evolution from analogue environments to digital solutions entails a capacity for adaptation and the generation of unprecedented information. The great challenge is to ensure that safety is not compromised in any of its conceptions: Ensure the reliability of the system by guaranteeing protection against intrusion or external distortion and also ensure the continuity of the railway equipment during its lifetime.
Emerging trends and technologies in railway safety
What emerging trends do you see in the field of electronic railway safety and how do you think they will impact the future?
Digitisation will result in unprecedented levels of real-time information. Electronic safety solutions are interconnected and interlinked with real-time monitoring as well as remote access from the control station. The processing of all the information will enable the optimisation of preventive maintenance, which will result in the avoidance of future accidents by anticipating corrective measures, as well as enabling a more efficient adjustment of the periods between preventive maintenance. First and foremost it will result in passenger safety, but also in the optimisation of maintenance tasks which will enhance overall safety and the extra costs generated by all corrective actions.
What are the key technologies currently being used to reinforce safety in railway systems?
To reiterate the previous point, all technologies that guarantee reliability and prevent unwanted situations from occurring. When we talk about digitisation, we are directly talking about software, which implies development processes where software quality plays a key role. This is what leads to SIL2 certifications as well as, in terms of hardware, reducing the dangerous failure rate to near-zero thanks to redundancy and self-diagnostic systems. In the equipment we develop with on-board electronics we must aim for robustness, where reliability and quality of the software plays a key role, as well as guaranteeing the highest levels of cybersecurity. This is achieved thanks to the latest technology in embedded systems that allow the highest safety standards to be applied with the flexibility provided by a standard operating system such as Linux.
The future of electronic railway safety
What is the future of electronic railway safety and what developments do you expect to see in the coming years?
Railway assets have a very long service life; therefore solutions must be resilient and provide the highest reliability and availability. We must design for flexibility and long service life, with architectures developed for maximum customisation to meet current and future demands, such as artificial intelligence, deep learning and/or edge computing in a cyber-safe manner. Adaptability will be key. Nothing like the technologies that remained unchanged over the years of the rolling stock’s service life. We must know how to combine the robustness that has traditionally been offered with a capacity for unprecedented adaptability and scalability required by information technologies.
