Macclesfield Resignalling Project
Network rail have been spending around £45m to improve the safety of their signalling platforms across the UK and this included the Macclesfield Resignalling Project.
Due to the fact this area was controlled by a mechanical interlocking in a manually operated signal box, this resignalling project between Prestbury, Macclesfield and Congleton improved reliability and assurance along with the busy West coast mainline through Cheshire to be interlocked at Manchester Rail Operating Centre.
The completed resignalling works upgraded 56 signals all to be controlled from Manchester ROC using Westlock interlocking which is much safer. Power sources and electrical cabling had an upgrade along with 2 structures carrying 25,000 Volt overhead lines.
Ian Robinson, project manager for network rail, said: “This once in a generation overhaul of Macclesfield’s signalling system has brought this key section of the West Coast main line up to the most modern standards. The £45m investment will future proof journeys and create a more reliable railway for passengers and freight services. I would like to thank local people and passengers for their patience while we carried out this essential work.”
Our Role
With railway systems becoming ever more complex railway operators and maintainers need an interlocking system that they can count on and guarantee the performance of the system. The team at Digisig Rail were responsible for:
- Grip 3-4 Design of the Signalling Control Tables,
- Grip 5 Westlock data checking
- Grip 5 Panel data
- Design Office Cover whilst being commissioned
Due to the amount of control tables, data, designing and checking required we were able to test our routes using a Macclesfield Westlock simulator. This improved production time and allowed us to simulate issues and problems that could potentially be more dangerous if the simulator wasn’t used.
Using this simulator, we have also been able to provide quality training to our apprentices which other Apprentices or Engineers wouldn’t get if they were just looking at control table sheets.
We were on Design Office Cover when the resignalling was being commissioned to ensure there was no problems and everything was going smoothly.
The project was successful finished on the 30th August 2022 with no reported issues or shoutouts.
You can download the case study by clicking here
Client Testimonial
Andrew Dimelow Senior Design Engineer Siemens Mobility
For the Macclesfield resignalling project Siemens Manchester approached DigiSig Rail to undertake the checking duties of the Westlock interlocking data, which they kindly accepted. The check was carried out with a high level of competence resulting in a low number of principle test logs. All the activities were completed within the time frames allowing the data to be signed off as planned. So many thanks DigiSig Rail for your assistance.