WRSA successfully completed the wayside commissioning for the InterOp (WRSA and Bombardier Transportation Joint Venture) site on the NSW ETCS pilot trial (12 hours ahead of schedule!)  InterOp is one of three companies shortlisted to carry out trials of bespoke equipment. The chosen test bed is on the Blue Mountains line. It is the most appropriate section of track to road test ATP due to the hills, curves and number of train movements on that line each day. The line consists of 10km of double track railway with distributed relay interlocking auto sections and an electro mechanical interlocking at Katoomba.

Site work started in October this year. Lineside infrastructure has been installed during scheduled track possessions and one train fitted with on board equipment. The Blue Mountains line is an operational section of railway but it will be isolated during operational tests. InterOp’s European Train Control System (ETCS) equipment will operate in a monitoring mode, when it will be unable to intervene and control a train. During this monitoring period it will be mixed with normal operational traffic.

The InterOp JV is split with WRSA responsible for fitting out one of the three track sites and Bombardier responsible for one of the three trains to be fitted for the trial.  The other two trains and track sites in the trial are being equipped out by United Group (Alstom) and Siemens.  As the three trains are to be fitted sequentially, the Siemens train is the only converted train currently in service.

WRSA successfully completed the wayside commissioning for the InterOp site on the NSW ETCS pilot trial ahead of schedule.  The project scope included the design, installation, testing and commissioning of ETCS Level 1 equipment between Wentworth Falls and Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, 100km from Sydney’s central business district. Included in the scheme were  13 Parallel LEUs (Lineside Electronic Units), 6 Serial LEUs, 1 Centralised LEU Concentrator, 34 Controlled Eurobalises (supplied by Bombardier and integrated with our LEU specifically for this project by the JV) and 37 Fixed Balise (supplied by Bombardier).  
Under the gaze of the Client and key stakeholders, the Siemens train ran into Katoomba station across the fringe between the InterOp JV Level 1 section and that of Siemens for the first time since the wayside commissioning was completed earlier in the day.  The train was supervised by ETCS successfully across this fringe and all the way into the platform without any problems. This was a major interoperability achievement for WRSA and RailCorp. 
Needless to say the client's reaction has been very positive. 
All the wayside engineering for this project has been completed in Australia by WRSA Australian based design and project staff which means we now have a strong ETCS knowledge base to go forward with for a Network rollout in NSW should  RailCorp conclude that ETCS is right for them and also for other emerging opportunities in Queensland.  However it must be noted that this would not have been possible without the constant and excellent support we have received from Dimetronic's engineering and R&D departments.  Special mention should go to Maria Paz Mellado and David Baca who have work tirelessly to understand our requirements and promptly answer our constant "how does this work" questions which arrive in their inbox every morning. 
The Siemens train is now running over the remaining parts of InterOp and United track sites ahead of a 5 week period of evaluation tests. Following this, the InterOp (Bombardier) train will be commissioned for a further 6 weeks of tests, which in turn will be followed by the United train.  
So we have lots left to do and to some extent the challenges start from Monday, but today marks the completion of the most pressing stage of the project which has been completed in 6 months from contract award.
Many thanks to everybody who has contributed so much time and effort to make this possible.