A multi-million-pound upgrade of the Tyne and Wear Metro control room has been successfully completed, providing it with some of the most advanced technology in the railway industry.
The £8.8m project has involved the complete renewal of a system which manages key parts of Metro’s infrastructure, including the high voltage power supply.
The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) is used to monitor the power, fire and intruder alarms, lighting, lifts, escalators, and tunnel drainage pumps.
New digital technology will allow for faster and more effective fault finding for facilities across the system, helping to reduce disruptions for Metro customers.
It has also paved the way for a new layout of the Metro’s control room, with more space for the teams working there, and a new four metre digital display screen for the power desk.
The project has been carried out on behalf of Metro operator Nexus by Sella Controls, supported by Nexus teams to ensure work was completed efficiently and minimising disruption to the public.
It is the most significant upgrade to the Metro control room since the installation of a £12m computerised signalling control system in 2018.
Paul Welford, Major Projects Director at Nexus, said: “This major upgrade of our control room technology is a vital investment in Metro’s long-term future. I’m delighted to say the project is now complete.
“The new SCADA system transforms how we monitor key assets, including the power supply, and allows us to respond more effectively when issues arise, which means less disruption for customers.
“What we have installed is the very latest digital technology, which is the most advanced currently in use in the UK railway industry. It enables us to remotely manage the high and low voltage power supplies and other key things like lighting, lifts, escalators and fire alarms.
“The project has allowed us to refresh the layout of the Metro control room, introducing a new four-metre-wide bank of digital screens, while creating more space for teams who work there.
“Sella Controls provided us with amazing support during the transition to the new technology.”
Chris Elliott, Sales Director, Global Account Management Rail, Sella Controls, said: We recognised very early in the pursuit process what the Nexus team wanted from a delivery partner. We believed our strongest differentiator was our overall engineering competence, experience and proven track record in delivering this type of project, alongside the technical capability of the TrackLink Traction Power Management System.
“I firmly believe we delivered on the commitment we made during the tender assessment process, providing a flexible approach, working in partnership with the client, and executing the project on time and to budget.
“Sella Controls has over a hundred years of combined competence in Traction Power SCADA within the business. This level of knowledge and expertise ensures the successful delivery of this type of control system renewal.”
The new SCADA system utilises the very latest SCADA and remote terminal unit (RTU) products that have already been extensively used across the mainline UK rail network.
The RTUs feed live data into the TrackLink SCADA platform, which gives Infrastructure Controllers a continuous real-time view of the network and actively calculates the live power load. Operational staff can see the state of the network as it changes, and make decisions on the basis of what is actually happening rather than working from incomplete or delayed information.
Metro engineers now have the tools to spot developing issues early and act before they become service-affecting problems.
