On Friday, January 31, the Institution of Rail Signal Engineers (IRSE), the Tech Soc and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) are organising a full day seminar and evening networking event titled “Signalling the Future: Engineering and operational insights into ETCS and CBTC”.
This is aimed at operators, suppliers, infrastructure owners and anyone with an interest in railway signal engineering, and will cover:
- What are railway clients’ key needs and requirements?
- How can CBTC and ETCS deliver these?
- How have these two technologies converged and what unique advantages does each hold?
- How do the current standards help or hinder?
- Interoperability/interchangeability – is it possible?
The planned speaker list (expected running order) is:
• Keynote – Andy Lord Commissioner, Transport for London (TfL), UK
• James Dzimba Chief Control, Command & Signalling Engineer, Network Rail, UK
• Gary Joynes Principal Engineering Leader responsible for Signalling Strategy, Transport for London (TfL), UK
• Jonathan Speak Head of Engineering Delivery, Hitachi Rail, UK
• Gerard Scheffrahn European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) Programme Director, Prorail, Netherlands
• Steve Allday Independent Advisor to the National Transport Commission (NTC) of Australia
• Ankit Dabrai Head of Business Development, Stadler Rail, Switzerland
• Keynote – Clive Burrows Group Engineering Director, First Group Plc, UK
• Navneet Kaushik Director Systems & Operations, National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCTRC), Delhi, India
• Hugh Rochford Modernisation Strategy Manager for Paris area, French infrastructure Manager SNCF Réseau, France
• Daniel Woodland Professional Head of Signalling (North America), TÜV Rheinland
• Dave Sherrin Senior Railway Reliability Manager, Elizabeth Line
• Govia Thames Link and Siemens – Speakers to be announced
• Bavo Lens Infrabel, Belgium
Jane Power, president of the IRSE, said: “CBTC and ETCS are not ‘new’ anymore – there is a wealth of knowledge and experience out there. I’m really looking forward to talking to experts from all over the world.”
The event is being sponsored by Hitachi, Railway Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and CPC Project Services.
Visit https://www.irse.org/Get-Involved/Events/Event-Details/eventDateId/1570 for more details.

Lead image credit: istockphoto.com / Jian Fan