Reference CCS Architecture (RCA)

Reference CCS Architecture (RCA) is an initiative aimed to establish a reference system architecture for trackside railway Control, Command and Signalling (CCS) systems. Such an architecture can be referred to by Infrastructure Managers (IMs) for building of their trackside CCS systems. The purpose of RCA is to eliminate the current fragmentation of system architecture, thereby improving reliability, availability, safety and capacity while having less impact on costs. It includes radio-based ETCS cab-signalling and EULYNX interfaces and allows for an upgradable and migratable system with interchangeable components.

Introduction

In the current scenario, infrastructure managers face the problem of an aging infrastructure coupled with the objective of realizing business needs such as lower costs, better capacity, improved safety and flexible migration strategies. However, with the possibility of large scale deployment of ERTMS measures and inclusion of game-changers such as ATO and EULYNX, a standardized reference CCS architecture can be developed for achieving these business goals. As a result, the RCA initiative was started as a collaborative approach between several railways organized under ERTMS Users Group (EUG) and EULYNX in 2018.

Goals of RCA

As per the white paper, the goals of RCA are as follows:

1. Reduced Life Cycle Costs (LCC): Lower LCC is due to reduction of trackside assets through cab signalling, and increased standardization of components by avoiding functional diversity. This also can help in improving the capacity of the network.
2. Realization of a single modular framework: RCA facilitates an exchangeable and upgradable system that can adopt low cost stepwise migration strategies adapted to various business goals.
3. Safe Investment: Avoid interfering with future developments. This is achieved by introducing upwards and downwards compatibility. Additionally, standardized interfaces avoid deviations from the supplier’s side.
4. Inclusion of game-changers (new technologies) such as ATO, ETCS Level 3, FRMCS, onboard localization, etc. For example, on-board localization promotes better safety levels and is capable of providing precise information. RCA utilizes the existing ERTMS specifications and the TSI. Additionally it also incorporates the EULYNX-defined interface specification for trackside objects. RCA also takes into account the existing procedures and standards for designing and building railway systems according to CENELEC.

Impacts of RCA

RCA is considered to be important for the future of railway systems. By utilizing shared specifications, implementation of components becomes easier and at the same time lifecycle complexity is reduced. Additionally, the upgradability of the system allows for future innovations to be seamlessly integrated. More information on RCA can be found at the RCA Onboarding Platform.

Deliverables

The end result of the RCA Working groups are a set of documents and specifications that infrastructure managers can use while building their CCS systems. This will result in architectural requirements, that are to be published in tenders, to be harmonized. Consequently it is also useful to suppliers for defining product requirements from the beginning. The latest public release is the RCA Baseline set 0 Release 1, released on February 2021.

References

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