I+D+i

Last Thursday, June 7th, at the CDTI (Center for Industrial Technological Development), Inse Rail launched the SIGRAIL innovation project, an advanced calculation system for optimizing signaling and communications systems, as well as the operating plan of railway systems. The project will run until the end of 2019.

SIGRAIL was started in response to the lack of a technologically advanced tool to process communication and signaling systems together with the operating plan of a railway line or station, making it possible, on one hand, to reduce execution times and costs in the design phase, and on the other, offering the optimum solution in each specific situation thanks to the automation of the analysis carried out.

Some of the principal innovative challenges that the project incorporates include the development of a process calculation tool that combines mathematical and logical elements, the design of a structure with configurable parameters that makes it possible to cover the technological variety in the sector and provide versatility in terms of the type of railway network and applicable standards.

All of this is framed by the following technical objectives, among others:

• To automatically determine the operations program of a railway station and/or railway route.
• To establish new processes for the analysis of variables and calculation algorithms.
• To simulate different scenarios that allow multi-criteria analysis of alternatives
• Holistic analysis of the railway system with the consequent interest for infrastructure managers and operating companies
• To optimize the operating regime of railway trains
• To cover all types of lines (HS, conventional, metro, tramway).
• To make SIGRAIL compatible with the rest of INSE RAIL’s programs, in order to offer our clients a comprehensive service.

To do this, Inse Rail is collaborating with the Polytechnic University of Madrid, which, through the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Advanced Technical School of Industrial Engineering, will contribute its knowledge to the project team, especially in the study of the contour conditions, the development of calculation functions, and the validation of the system. The project is also receiving financial support from CDTI, which sees the innovative nature of the activities of both industrial research and experimental development as a positive factor.

This project meshes perfectly with Inse Rail’s strategic planning after obtaining the Innovative SME seal. SIGRAIL will be developed mainly by the staff who participated in PLUSRAIL, an innovation project that finishes this year 2018, and with which it shares professional synergies, making it a service that covers all areas the industrial engineering of railway networks.