An ‘open and shut’ case for safety

Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) is the main public transport operator for the metropolitan area of Barcelona and an international reference in the urban transport sector. TMB covers the services provided by the companies Ferrocarril Metropolità de Barcelona, SA (FMB – the Barcelona Metropolitan Rail Service), and Transports de Barcelona, SA (TB). These organisations provide collective transport services for travellers through surface and underground transport networks, which complement both each other and the other companies in the sector which share this area of influence.

The services provided by TMB are essential for the two million journeys made by passengers every working day, approximately 577 million per year. This goal is achieved with a fleet of more than 1,080 buses and 150 metro trains and more than 7,000 employees. The regular bus network is comprised of 108 lines, which cover a total distance of 921.5km, while the metro itself is formed by six lines which cover a total distance of 87.6km.

TMB also manages the use of other public transport options such as the Montjuic cable car (El Telefèric de Montjuïc), the urban tram service El Tramvia Blau and the inner city tourist bus service, Barcelona Bus Turístic.

The objective of TMB is to offer a public transport network which promotes the development of the city of Barcelona and its metropolitan area, one which reduces impact on the environment and which satisfies the needs of public mobility with a high level of quality.

The most recent strategic plans of TMB have involved the objective of improving passenger safety and the quality of the service in general, with the future automation of the metro. Automation is not only the future tendency of metro networks; it is already a fact in our world today. Various automatic lines are already in operation around the world, while others are under construction, among them, Line 9 of the Barcelona metro, the longest metro in Europe. Currently in Spain, there are no heavy automatic metro lines under operation, and the first in existence will in fact be in our area, with Line 9 and lines 11 and 2 following this strategy. As such, the entire Barcelona metro service is advancing towards automation on a mid and long-term horizon. The new lines have been planned for automated service while some existing lines will be transformed. After Line 9, which will be put into service at the beginning of the final quarter of 2009 as an automated line, Line 2 will be made ready for technological conversion and will adopt a driverless system. Line 2 will share part of the infrastructure with Line 9 (the airport route). Both lines will therefore have to be fitted with compatible systems and trains so that they can operate together using the same infrastructure.

Heading in this direction, one of the first steps on the way to automation chosen by the Barcelona Metro, is the automation of Line 11, a light metro line (running on a single rail) which has five stations. The project consists of changing the signalling system throughout the line, modifying both the ground equipment (interlocking fixtures, tracks circuits, etc.) and embarked driving systems (the incorporation of a new ATC driving mode), and to prevent objects and/or people from entering the track area, closing platform screen doors have been chosen for installation. Since last October, these platform doors have been in service in one of the line five stations, at Can Cuiàs.

The work for closing off the platform at Can Cuiàs was undertaken by the Department of Territorial Policy and Public Works of the Generalitat of Catalonia and comprised the fitting of transparent platform screen doors 2.4 metres high, which stand between Track 2, where service normally takes place, and the platform, covering a length of nearly 50 metres. The screen has eight modules of platform doors, each one of which consists of two sliding doors and two emergency swing doors. These doors coincide with the doors of the passenger cars and are synchronised with the train itself. This has meant improving the precision of train stoppages, establishing a new bi-directional communication channel between the train, the interlock and the control system for the platform doors. The platform doors have a safety system – if an obstacle is detected, the doors open repeatedly to facilitate release and the train cannot be authorised to leave the station until all the doors have been closed and locked. The station platform is equipped with a manual service panel (or PAM) which allows the doors to be opened manually from the platform in case of emergencies.

One characteristic of Line 11 is that it has an open-air station, Torre Baró, and the dynamic response of the train has had to be adjusted accordingly (speed, braking, acceleration, etc) so that precision stops can be made even in the rain.

However, the project also takes into account the installation of the infrastructure and the technology necessary for providing automatic driving in the future. Wireless communication systems have therefore been installed in order to transmit images between the trains and the control centre, while inside the trains, cameras have been fitted which transmit real time images of the passenger train and its occupants to the metro control centre. Cameras have also been fitted to the outside of the train to monitor the state of the track.

The Can Cuiàs platform doors were put into service once all the operational, safety and viability tests had been carried out. The operation has followed a process of validation and certification in order to guarantee the safety of the system in accordance with the Cenelec En50126, En50128 and En50129 regulations. A methodology has been established to manage the rail project; an identification phase for operational risks has been carried out to reduce danger through the definition of design requirements for the subsystems of both the platform and passenger car doors. Once the technical requirements of the systems had been implemented, operability was checked in accordance with the established safety requirements. The entire certification process was supervised by an external safety auditor – an Independent Safety Assessor (ISA). The certification process required the validation of the operational procedures, a task which required staff training in the functioning of this system through the certification of trained employees working on the line. Finally, trial runs of the platform doors at Can Cuiàs were carried out to verify operational safety, adjust procedures and carry out practical sessions for staff training. Further tasks involved undertaking communications initiatives for users, informing passengers of new requirements and the use of the platform doors.

After the system trials were completed, the station opened as the first in Spain with these safety systems incorporated into its new automated installations.

Installation work began soon after with the fitting of an automatic platform closure system at another station of the light metro line, at Torre Baró/Vallbona, with the aim of continuing installation of the system in other stations on the line. Once this work has been completed, work will go ahead in the spring on the platform of the Casa de l’Aigua and the Ciutat Meridiana stations. A track intruder detector system is also planned for installation at the Trinitat Nova station, as doors cannot be fitted in the terminal area, due to the fact that the station has a single platform which it shares with another, non-automated metro line, the L4. The automated driving system on Line 11 is planned to enter into service at the end of 2009. As this is a light metro line, it is an ideal testing area to help optimise the operation of automatic lines.

The installation of the automated closing platforms on the L11 is therefore highly important for TMB as it will be used in testing the services planned for Line 9, which will operate with an entirely automated driving system. Operating over a distance of 48 kilometres with 52 stations, this metro line will become the longest in Europe to use an automated driving system. In addition, Line 2, like lines 11 and 9 of the TMB metro, will also be converted into an automated line. Plans are for 43% of the Barcelona metro network – 70 of the total 160 kilometres, will be automated by 2015. In this sense, Barcelona will become a reference point in Europe in automated metro lines, and is currently at the head of the Observatory of Automated Metros, a research centre for the International Union of Public Transport (UITP).

Automated driving is a choice for the future, it is safer and means that the service is more flexible and reliable, improving the effectiveness of public transport, punctuality, safety and sustainable mobility. The automated driving of heavy metro trains, such as those of lines 2 and 9 means that they will be able to travel in a shorter time span. As this system ensures increased greater track safety, the trains will be able to run closer together, facilitating the adaptation of supply to demand. The experiences of other cities with similar techniques show how the frequency of trains can be increased, while raising passenger safety levels.

TMB’s backing of automation is therefore coherent with its concern for providing the best possible service for its users. TMB will also continue working to improve safety-orientated technology, as well as for other objectives, such as increasing its service offer and user communication channels, incorporating new, more environmentally-friendly mobile equipment, improving access for disabled persons, and will continue to extend the bus and metro network, alongside many other initiatives in order to offer a better service to the public. All of these projects for the future will continue to make TMB a point of reference for transport companies in Europe, with their modern facilities, their contribution to sustainable transport and through the quality of their services, as well their commitment to society.