Steam locomotives are deeply embedded in British national identity. Rail was invented in Britain, powered the Industrial Revolution, and became an integral part of our heritage along the way. Two centuries on, that history still generates enormous pride and engagement – hundreds of thousands excitedly travel every year on charter and heritage trains, in a world-leading total of around 1,500 separate operations across the country. When the Flying Scotsman comes to Kings Cross, the crowds flock by the thousand. To help enable this to be the case for many years to come, a collaborative team from the East Coast Digital Programme, made up of the A1 Steam Trust, AtkinsRéalis, Hitachi Rail and Network Rail, has successfully led a pioneering trial to demonstrate the potential for transitioning steam locomotives to digital signalling technology.
The East Coast Digital Programme seeks to bring about the next generation of the railway through the introduction of digital signalling technologies such as the European Train Control System (ETCS) along the East Coast Mainline (ECML). On completion of this transformational programme, this approach will gradually be rolled out across the UK as the default approach to major signalling renewals and bring significant improvements to safety, efficiency and reliability of the railway.
Once this takes place, locomotives without in-cab signalling technology to interface with the trackside control systems will no longer be able to use Britain’s main lines, necessitating significant engineering interventions for the passenger, freight and charter and heritage sectors. With heritage rail playing an important role in the UK tourist economy and contributing over £600m annually, the ECDP team was commissioned to address the challenges of fitting ETCS onto the Tornado steam locomotive.
The engineering challenge of integrating steam engines and 21st century technology was enormous, and it wasn’t certain that the integration would even be possible before the completion of the trials on the Cambrian line between Shrewsbury and Newtown in April 2025. Now, this world-first pathfinder project has developed insights which will benefit the whole charter and heritage sector.
Holistic solutions in action
Our collaborative approach – multiple organisations operating dynamically under a shared vision and contract – offers a different blueprint for how to tackle these complex projects, filled with as many pitfalls, problems and deviations from standards as there are types of locomotive. By connecting operational, design and technological expertise to flexibly iterate solutions to difficult engineering problems – using agile development methodologies and design thinking – we avoided the traditional bottlenecks caused by formal and rigid contracts. Further, by transparently modelling a different kind of commercial partnership, we’ve demonstrated an invaluable, open-source proof of concept to the wider industry, upskilling and upgrading our future capacity for change.
Necessity, the mother of innovation
ETCS technology functions through constant communication between the train and trackside, providing signalling information directly to a screen, known as the Driver Machine Interface (DMI), in the locomotive’s cab. ETCS continuously calculates the safe maximum speed for each train, with on-board systems that take control if the permissible speed is exceeded or emergency braking is required. This is one of the key reasons ETCS boosts reliability, efficiency and capacity on the line, providing a more punctual service for customers by regulating it much more effectively. In a modern locomotive, this integration is seamless; the driver’s control panel, like a dashboard, is simply interfaced with ETCS.
Yet step into a steam locomotive cab, and you quickly realise the many divergences from that ideal environment. Three trained staff operate dynamically in a cramped environment, standing, sitting, leaning out of the window, utilising fire irons and shovels. The windscreen is small and offset, manual controls are large and often hot to touch, and the atmosphere is intensely noisy, filled with vibration, coal dust, and water. These are just the baseline working conditions you must design for to install 21st century technology, before considering the broader mechanical problems of providing electricity, interfacing sophisticated electronic systems to manual controls and the precious little space across both engine and tender for any additional installations.
To your collaboration stations
The goal was for AtkinsRéalis to arrive at a design solution to which Hitachi Rail could adapt its technology. The A1 Steam Trust modified the unit, while Hitachi Rail completed the full ETCS installation and on-track testing. Even on modern locomotives, drawings can be inaccurate, engineers can miss things, and rework is required.
With such specific engineering challenges, the upgrades could only be achieved with a large degree of agile co-development. Our lean project team leveraged each partner’s unique knowledge, prototyped through key challenges and utilised shared tools to identify programme risks early.
These are the advantages of a collaborative, dynamic contract model. Unshackled by rigid, formalised and finalised design reviews at each stage, the project was able to smoothly navigate the constant demand for problem-solving.
All aboard
Tornado’s fitment is not just a first-in-class, it’s a first-in-kind. Establishing ETCS technology on a steam locomotive lays the groundwork for future charter and heritage fitments. A large majority of the work will already have been done – to designate which sensors and electronic equipment are needed and where, how to make best use of structures and space across steam locomotives, and how to apply modern ergonomics to an exacting environment whilst preserving the aesthetics of beloved historical engineering.
For the wider task of tackling older diesel locomotives, including the Class 55 Deltic, also selected for this pathfinder project, we’ve developed a much clearer understanding of the challenges ahead on that journey, and a methodology to approach those challenges with greater confidence.
The project will also provide open-source intelligence to our industry to better equip it for the future. This autumn, the ECDP will be hosting a multidisciplinary lessons-learned summit to ensure that full access to our learnings is widely distributed, so that other fitment programmes may learn from our experience.
Back to the future
Britain is celebrating 200 years since opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in September 1825, the world’s first steam-powered public railway. Even as we enter an era of digital rail, our future journey is still deeply connected to our past. There will still be challenges ahead to overcome as the work continues on other heritage locomotives, and we establish the commercial viability for the sector. But crucially, this pathfinder project has set out a route map to embracing our digital future without leaving our heritage behind. It has shown that through technical expertise, agile development methodologies and collaborative industry partnership models, inclusive, ambitious and pioneering work is still possible. As Tornado made its way along the Cambrian line, it carried not only a full suite of functional ETCS equipment, but a legacy of British engineering excellence for generations to come.
Challenge 1 – Interfacing both directions
Where does the Driver Machine Interface (DMI) go?
The ETCS DMI is a crucial piece of equipment for drivers which comprises a touchscreen that warns and informs the driver. Due to the operational parameters of steam locomotives, two DMIs have been installed, one forward-facing in the cab and one rear-facing on the tender. The environment in a steam locomotive presents a host of challenges for its optimal placement. Sunlight enters through the open sides of the cab, along with rainwater. When the firebox is opened, it’s aglow with white hot fire. Coal dust, vibration and noise are ever present, and the driving team are constantly in motion, levering controls, heaving fire irons, and shovelling coal.
The AtkinsRéalis Human Factors team worked with the A1 Steam Trust to conduct extensive ergonomic surveys, testing ambient noise and light across the footplate environment, and engaging with drivers to understand their full movement requirements around the cab. The team also considered the optimum placement of a second DMI for when the train is in reverse.
On Tornado, a forward-facing DMI is now located above the driver on the ceiling, angled down to be visible from every natural driver standing point, but protected from the constant movement of controls and instruments, water ingress and glare. The rear-facing DMI is mounted on the front tender wall, its angle carefully calibrated to avoid reflection from both the sun and the firebox. And to ensure that notifications cannot be missed, both DMIs are supplemented by audible alerts and a flashing beacon.
Challenge 2 – Give me a brake
How does ETCS manage braking on a steam locomotive?
On a modern train with ETCS, the system removes traction power and applies brakes in an emergency. For a steam engine, it’s not so simple. Traction cannot be instantly removed, as that risks immediate blowback or worse, water rushes to the front of the boiler, heating up the firebox to extreme levels, blowing the fusible plug and venting burning hot steam into the cab. Traction is instead controlled by a steam valve opening lever called the regulator, which must remain under the control of the driver, so they are fully aware of any changes and can safely, gradually cut traction from the cab. The DMI will therefore notify the driver when an emergency brake is required to initiate that process.
As traction power is much less powerful on a steam locomotive than a comparable diesel or electric engine (think of the slow, steady acceleration of a steam engine from a station), the emergency brake will override it. Emergency braking capability already exists on Tornado, as part of the Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS), therefore connecting it to ETCS was relatively straightforward. What was far more challenging was the service brake, which allows the ETCS system to regulate the speed of the train if it’s going too fast.
To make that happen, we had to revert to, quite literally, old-fashioned engineering. The primary challenge was working within the tight space constraints as any new additions needed to be located within the floor, which was already filled with valves and braking equipment. Yet by looking backwards, rather than forwards, bringing in braking specialists and using a range of electromagnetic valves and used equipment from the 1960s and ‘70s, the result is an interconnected system of manual controls that brakes when ETCS tells it to.
Challenge 3 – Power problems
Where does the electricity supply come from?
Almost all steam locomotives have a basic power generation system to power the legally mandated on-board equipment, such as GSM-R, On Train Data Recorder and TPWS. However, ETCS technology’s power demands are considerable, and consume more than double the power of all the existing systems on Tornado. The locomotive is already an outlier with a more extensive electrical system than most engines – comprising a steam turbogenerator, an axle-driven tender alternator and a basic battery system. An extension of supply was therefore required.
Steam locomotives are a harsh environment, though. They have no secondary suspension, so shock and vibration must be accounted for alongside water and coal dust. On a modern traction engine, you can draw air in with fans to keep systems cool. However, wet coal dust is a dangerous conductor. So, electronics were mostly installed on the tender adjacent to the water tanks and are fully sealed. To guard against every eventuality of a system failure, a number of redundancies were implemented. If one system fails, power can be sourced from both Tornado’s own essential service supply and, in turn, its auxiliary service supply. As a last resort, Tornado’s support coach, which accompanies it on over 90% of journeys, contains a diesel generator that can be switched on in an emergency.
As with every element of this project, space was our biggest challenge. The only place to put the battery box with upgraded 100Ah batteries was underneath the tender, competing with the existing axle-driven tender alternator control box. This was solved by replacing the axle-driven tender alternator with a more modern piece of kit which needed no control box. Tornado’s wiring was completely revamped to accommodate the higher power draw in the system, a second steam turbogenerator was installed to specifically power the ETCS equipment, and, most importantly, an optimal electrical architecture for future fitments was established.
Amy Clouston, Principal Human Factors Consultant, AtkinsRéalis, said:
“This was a fantastic project to work on, with our specialist team leading the fitment design into the driver’s cab and beyond. We had to overcome numerous challenges around installing what is essentially a tablet device with complex systems in an environment which is noisy, dusty, exposed to the elements, and constantly vibrating.
“We worked closely with the drivers to integrate the new equipment to ensure it was seamless with their way of operating. Looking to the future, all the learnings, issues and challenges uncovered by this testing phase will now be analysed, with improvements fed into the business case for fitment to other steam trains.”
Andy Bell, VP, Hitachi Rail, UK, said:
“Fitting ETCS onto a steam locomotive wasn’t just about solving an engineering puzzle; it was about safeguarding the legacy of Britain’s railways while preparing for its digital future. This project has demonstrated that innovation and heritage can coexist. By working collaboratively with our partners across the East Coast Digital Programme, we’ve created a blueprint for future fitment that can help ensure charter and heritage trains continue to operate on the network for generations to come.”
Steve Davies MBE, Chairman, A1 Steam Trust, said:
“It was an honour and a privilege for the Trust to be invited to participate in the ECDP programme with Tornado destined to be fitted with ETCS – a world first for a steam locomotive. This really was a leap into the unknown for all of us, especially as the fitting had to be conducted in parallel with the locomotive receiving a complex and challenging mechanical and electrical overhaul. A supremely collaborative approach with myriad partners turned what could have been a difficult project into the success it subsequently turned out to be, the crowning glory being the successful trials conducted on the Cambrian main line. I was present for one of the latter test runs and the hairs still stand up on the back of my neck at the dawning realisation of what the project means for future-proofing steam on the main line. An incredible achievement, and our thanks go to all those who have made it such a success.”
Ed Akers, Network Rail’s industry partnership director, ECDP, said:
“The pathfinder project reflects the ‘whole railway’ nature of our collaborative ECDP partnership. The testing of Tornado on the Cambrian line was an important stage in a process to determine the long-term technical feasibility of fitment for heritage fleets.”
Lead image credit: AtkinsRealis – (left to right) Ben Mason of the East Coast Digital Programme, Amy Clouston of AtkinsRéalis, Raymond Sturton of Hitachi Rail, and Rob Morland of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust.