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The Tube Lines approach

Posted: 24 June 2005 | Alex Foulds, Director of Business Planning, Tube Lines | No comments yet

The PPP contract for the London Underground provides an innovative way of tackling a major infrastructure project by combining strong public sector management with the best private sector expertise available. Tube Lines, responsible for the maintenance, renewal and upgrade of the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, faces a huge task in reversing the effects of decades of under-investment in the Tube and delivering progress for customers.

The key challenge lies in how we manage the thousands of assets that can be found in our stations, on our lines and in our depots. Therefore, at the heart of our delivery of progress is a whole life asset management approach. This has led to recent investment in two key areas; communications technology and equipment and enterprise systems. The investment made by Tube Lines is designed to enable full integration of assets, resulting in increased economy and efficiency and a subsequent improvement of the passenger experience on the Underground.

The PPP contract for the London Underground provides an innovative way of tackling a major infrastructure project by combining strong public sector management with the best private sector expertise available. Tube Lines, responsible for the maintenance, renewal and upgrade of the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, faces a huge task in reversing the effects of decades of under-investment in the Tube and delivering progress for customers. The key challenge lies in how we manage the thousands of assets that can be found in our stations, on our lines and in our depots. Therefore, at the heart of our delivery of progress is a whole life asset management approach. This has led to recent investment in two key areas; communications technology and equipment and enterprise systems. The investment made by Tube Lines is designed to enable full integration of assets, resulting in increased economy and efficiency and a subsequent improvement of the passenger experience on the Underground.

The PPP contract for the London Underground provides an innovative way of tackling a major infrastructure project by combining strong public sector management with the best private sector expertise available. Tube Lines, responsible for the maintenance, renewal and upgrade of the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, faces a huge task in reversing the effects of decades of under-investment in the Tube and delivering progress for customers.

The key challenge lies in how we manage the thousands of assets that can be found in our stations, on our lines and in our depots. Therefore, at the heart of our delivery of progress is a whole life asset management approach. This has led to recent investment in two key areas; communications technology and equipment and enterprise systems. The investment made by Tube Lines is designed to enable full integration of assets, resulting in increased economy and efficiency and a subsequent improvement of the passenger experience on the Underground.

The whole life approach

The development of the ‘whole life’ approach to asset management involves making maintenance and replacement decisions based on the life of the asset. This enables our engineers to intervene proactively before an asset fails, instead of acting reactively. At the same time we ensure efficiency by working each asset for the maximum length of time. Since it is only through providing a dependable service that Tube Lines achieves success, this approach is essential to the running of our business. Through it we aim to minimise the penalties we incur through failing assets and lack of availability, while optimising capital and operational expenditure. Through close analysis of each asset we can better understand performance and move towards our vision of delivering an outstanding Tube for London.

Communications and technology

The technology and equipment behind our communications systems combine to form a core set of assets that support the provision of a safe, reliable, user-friendly passenger service. It includes public address systems, CCTV and recording facilities, customer information displays, passenger help points and clocks. Adopting the whole life approach, Tube Lines has awarded Marconi a £150 million Whole Life Communications and SCADA contract to upgrade and maintain these systems.

Tube Lines’ strategy was to procure a whole life contract that provides the best overall balance between capital and maintenance expenditure whilst ensuring that the contractor is incentivised to deliver improved service performance for the duration of the contract. It will deliver contractual obligations required by the PPP for the renewal and upgrade of station communications systems and subsequent maintenance including any renewals required.

By tying the supplier into the valued ‘whole life’ approach, Tube Lines has secured commitment to delivery of a long term investment in the Tube. The contract will enable passengers to see real improvements to their journeys, including better information through installation of new customer information boards and an improved public address (PA) system. It will also boost safety through enhanced CCTV and recording facilities. The different elements will be integrated to help Tube Lines and London Underground manage more efficiently. Furthermore, all stations will have help points installed, enhancing both customer information and security – these help points offer passengers a route to obtain assistance from station staff. In an emergency situation, should staff within the station control centre not respond to the emergency call button within ten seconds, enquiries are redirected to the British Transport Police.

SCADA – How does it work?

Behind these improvements lies the introduction of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition diagnostic tool, or SCADA. Working across all three lines, SCADA will enable Tube Lines to monitor the status of all communications assets. Working with Marconi, Tube Lines will develop a central SCADA function which will connect together all of the local SCADAs at a single point, allowing the local and central monitoring of all stations. Data can then be passed to an external maintainer’s system – held by Marconi.

As well as integrating station communication systems, SCADA will also mesh with Tube Lines’ groundbreaking new suite of integrated enterprise systems. Users of this suite of systems and of the data provided by SCADA include staff in Tube Lines’ state-of-the-art Control Centre. Fault handling, reporting, maintenance and asset management requirements across the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines are reported to this crucial hub and the most efficient resolution quickly identified and implemented. By giving staff access to SCADA, they will be able to promptly identify any faults that arise in communications systems and arrange for them to be fixed.

SCADA functions

The following functions will be made available through the introduction of SCADA:

  • Data repository systems which provide real time status of assets through one system
  • Ability for remote diagnostics
  • Alert facility to cover all monitored assets, for example, temperature monitoring – so that if the temperature goes above or below pre-defined parameters, the control centre is notified
  • Facility to measure the severity of faults arising and prioritise them
  • Drill down facility to identify the root cause of faults
  • Ability to attach automated procedures to alerts or faults arising

This functionality is achieved through the effective integration of various elements of the greater communication system adopted by Tube Lines. Users will be able to view, input and interact with the SCADA system through a PC-compatible interface comprising display screen equipment, standard keyboard and pointing devices.

A combined digital and analogue CCTV solution has been proposed using digital recording facilities but analogue cameras, because digital camera technology is not proven in the tough conditions found on the Underground. A Digital Video Recorder will be provided for every 16 cameras with a 15” monitor for playback. This is capable of storing recordings for at least 14 days. The PA systems will be analogue to make them consistent with other stations, which makes it easier for London Underground staff to move between locations. A PA Uninterruptible Power Supply will be able to provide a four hour backup for surface stations and 24 hour backup for ‘Section 12’ (deeper) stations, as required by the requirements of London Underground’s Engineering Standards, developed to reflect the safety requirements of Underground stations.

A distributed Passenger Help Point (PHP) system using the CONNECT network has also been proposed. Connect will provide the first fully integrated system used for communications in the history of London Underground, allowing all 12,000 operational staff to talk to one another on the same system and to communicate with the three million passengers that use the system each day.

Another proposal is a single colour system for the advanced dot-matrix displays which provide passengers with details of the next trains expected. They are being located in ticket halls as well as on platforms. Finally, all clocks will be synchronised via a standard Network Time Protocol. A master clock located at key strategic locations will operate with a Master Standard Frequency receiver or GPS to ensure the correct time is reported across the LU system.

SCADA benefits

The following benefits should be thought about when introducing the Whole Life Communications and SCADA Contract to enable Tube Lines to deliver real progress on its lines:

Benefits of the deployment of the SCADA system:

  • A reduction in maintenance costs through improved asset management through proactive, just-in-time maintenance
  • Minimal exposure to abatement penalties imposed by the PPP contract and incurred when assets fail
  • Better understanding of asset status and performance
  • Improved service reliability and punctuality
  • Enhanced safety
  • A reduction in reported faults
  • Speedier recovery of assets which fail through the ability to adjust systems remotely

With these benefits in mind, it is hoped the use of SCADA will be expanded to monitor lifts and escalators, pumps and drainage and in the longer term, additional assets, such as civils (e.g. tunnels, bridges, embankments, etc.), electrical and mechanical assets, rolling stock, signalling and train control, stations (building management) and track.

Using technology to inform asset management

The second area of recent investment by Tube Lines is that of enterprise systems to enable more effective asset management. With such a large number of complex assets found in stations, along lines and in depots, getting a full picture of those assets – including their condition, maintenance needs, life cycle and so on – is a significant challenge, but one which is being effectively tackled through the new suite of integrated enterprise systems. A £30 million investment has enabled Tube Lines to replace numerous legacy IT systems inherited from London Underground and further our whole life asset management strategy. Project, asset, contract and document management, fault reporting, planning, investment modelling, HR, finance and procurement are all integrated in the new systems.

For the first time ever, through a complete register of all assets (required under the PPP contract), Tube managers have a truly clear picture of the assets they hold. The use of new asset management software – Maximo – and its integration with other systems will enable Tube Lines to monitor the condition of each asset so that we can take an even more informed approach to maintenance and renewals. In addition to this, the introduction of a new geographical information system (GIS), which interprets data from these integrated systems, will provide a graphical representation of asset condition and maintenance activity that informs and benefits planning.

The asset management system

The whole life asset management system managed by Maximo involves the integration of a Configuration Management System with several other management systems such as TRAMMS (Transportation Maintenance Management System), the Whole Life Cost Model and information and communication systems such as Windchill and e-ISOPS (Electronic Integrated Systems Operations) supported and complimented by the data collated through SCADA.

TRAMMS comprises a number of modules, including fault capture, tasking, corrective maintenance, planned maintenance, a knowledge database, stores, training and competency, web interface and reporting. These modules act collectively to support the fault management process, integrating and coordinating operational and maintenance activities to provide a database containing vital asset information. The system is defined by data integrity and configuration to ensure a proactive approach which achieves the quick resolution of faults, obsolescence management and fault capture by asset, real-time reporting and security. TRAMMS lies at the heart of Marconi’s contribution to the whole life asset management system and the data it gathers, which is required by Tube Lines and London Underground, will be fed into Maximo so that it integrates with other network systems. This ensures that a single system holds all the relevant data to enable the PPP contract to be delivered economically and efficiently.

While TRAMMS is central to Marconi’s data capture, the Configuration Management System also plays a vital role, enabling total asset management capability. It saves detailed asset information: asset history (for example, previous asset location, repair history, date it went into service, cost and last update), asset identification (such as serial number, physical characteristics, manufacturer details, etc) and asset condition (including functional capabilities and performance record). This means an accurate, real-time library exists of all assets maintained within the communications system.

The Whole Life Cost Model provides detailed knowledge of the lifespan and, perhaps more importantly, the characteristics of an asset’s lifecycle. This enables Tube Lines to identify the optimum moments to carry out planned maintenance before faults occur and before the risk increases of communications systems failure, which would result in interrupted services.

With e-ISOPS, engineers have access to the most up-to-date information – if an asset has been changed since the last time the engineer visited a particular site, then by the time of the next visit, the documents will have been updated in Windchill, thanks to the automatic alert generated by TRAMMS. Continual communication with the maintenance engineers and an effective maintenance management system also helps resolve faults first time.

Integration is the key

It is the integration of all these systems that enables Tube Lines to move from fault management to asset management, providing up-to-date detailed information on assets, software and operational activities. The facility to run reports based on operational data means that contractors are able to continuously strive to improve performance. A further benefit of this integration is that the rate of faults fixed first time can be increased. Instead of wasting time and effort, operators at the Marconi Transportation Technical Centre can instruct Tube Lines’ engineers to arrive at the most appropriate time and with the correct equipment.

A whole life asset approach is facilitated by this integration and Tube Lines is making the most of it. Using intelligence gained from these systems, the ability to determine the optimum timings of asset maintenance will be made available, enabling Tube Lines to move towards a policy of preventative maintenance. This forward-looking approach offers several benefits: costs are reduced with maintenance carried out when necessary instead of being based on unfounded estimates of ‘every x month’; risk is minimised because we can identify the points on an asset’s lifecycle when the number of faults are likely to rise; and by carrying out maintenance before these points are reached we reduce the risk of assets and systems failing.

Looking to the future

Tube Lines is investing £4.4 billion during the first quarter of the PPP contract and has already made progress on day to day performance, while actively rebuilding the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines. Through these two key areas of investment, Tube Lines is determined to build on this initial progress by fundamentally changing the way we modernise and maintain our lines. Tube Lines’ whole life asset approach will increase efficiency and economy and enable passengers to witness real changes to their experience of traveling on our lines on the Underground.

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