News
IRSE eBulletin – November 2020
November is a big month for elections – both in the USA and here at the IRSE!
A reminder that the deadline for nominating a member to be elected to Council is 17:00 GMT on 27 November.
Following the resounding success of last year’s elections when we received the highest number of nominations in the Institutions history, we have once again engaged the specialist services of CIVICA Election Services to assist us with this process.
You will have received an email from CIVICA attaching a link to the online nomination form. If you would like to submit a nomination please do so as soon as possible. For a hard copy of the form, please click here.
Last month’s Professional Exam took place very successfully online around the world and I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone involved who worked so hard to make this happen.
Marking is underway and I’m pleased to let you know that all candidates for the
brand new Certificate in Railway Control Engineering Fundamentals / Fundamentals of railway control engineering (Module A) have already been informed of their grades with 25% of entrants achieving a credit or distinction.
Thank you for bearing with us. Keep well and safe.
Automated Railways Seminar
Content from our recent seminar is now available on-demand, including all 17 pre-recorded presentations from international industry experts.
Bonus material includes both live 90-minute seminar sessions, and recordings of live Q&As.
Member discount
IRSE members can access these sessions for only £65 discount at checkout using member code IRSE3020UXPD1SC
IRSE News November 2020
November's IRSE News is now available online.
As well as the latest news from the Institution and local Sections, it includes features on system design – and Tom Jansen and Rick Driessen's paper on lessons that can be learned by the rail industry from innovators in the automotive sector.
Presidential Programme
The crossover between rail and autonomous road vehicles
Tom Jansen and Rick Driessen of Ricardo Rail present the second lecture in Dr Daniel Woodland's presidential lecture series.
Subscriptions
It's a great time to make sure that your IRSE subscription is up to date.
Access to IRSE activities, publications and CPD resources are only open to members, so don’t miss out!
To ensure you receive member communications after this one, you can pay for your subscription online.
Just log in, then go to My Account > My Invoices and click on the shopping trolley icon against your outstanding invoice.
French Section lecture – 'Innovative solutions for the renewal of shunting yards'
12th November 2020, Online. 16:00 – 18:30 (UTC)
In 2019, SNCF Réseau has entered the active phase of a major project to renovate the main shunting yard sites that will see 80% of its Freight business grow.
This renovation also goes hand in hand with a strong will to reduce operating costs, especially through innovations in both technical and site operational aspects.
The French section of IRSE is organising a videoconference dedicated to technical innovations for the renovation of shunting yards. Invited railway stakeholders will present their views on this field, the lessons learned and their perspectives both from the expressed need (SNCF Réseau) and from the supplier's point of view (Alstom).
To register please email: cedric.blin@
Scottish Section lecture: What is reasonable opportunity?
13th November 2020, Online. 15:00 – 17:00 (UTC)
WHAT IS REASONABLE OPPORTUNITY? The topic is often open for debate; however reasonable opportunity cannot be ignored. We have a legal obligation to ensure we are not missing critical elements because of the blinkered view that ‘I’m only instructed to renew the cables, not the cases!’
This lecture attempts to review what constitutes as reasonable, and how to integrate the review into your project, without a resulting in a major scope adjustment. Online via Microsoft Teams
Book via email scottish.section@irse.
Midland & North West Section lecture: Suitable and sufficient risk assessment at level crossings
18th November 2020, Online. 17:15 – 19:00 (UTC)
Andrew Allen is a senior engineer and lead level crossing risk assessor at AEGIS.
In the UK we operate one of the safest railway networks on the planet, yet at certain points on the network, we must interface with our roads and footpaths and allow members of the public access to our infrastructure. This safe access comes in the form of a level crossing.
This presentation discusses the common risks at these interfaces and highlights the need for a ‘suitable and sufficient’ risk assessment. We will look at several case studies and show what can happen when we do not quite get things right.
Cross acceptance of Systems & equipment developed under different Standards frameworks – A Presidential Programme series lecture
19th November 2020, Online. 17:30 – 19:30 (UTC)
Rod Muttram of IRSE's International Technical Committee will present ITC's paper on the cross acceptance of Systems & equipment developed under different Standards frameworks. This will be livestreamed and recorded.
London & South East section lecture: –ETCS Interlocking Principles
26th November 2020, Online. 18:00 – 20:00 (UTC)
Aidan McGrady will give a presentation about the ETCS Interlocking Principles on the Paddington to Heathrow project. He will discuss some of the challenges faced in developing the functional interface between the RBC and the Interlocking, in order to maximise the benefits from deploying ETCS and how this could be simplified and improved for future ETCS schemes.
Please register before 17:00 (UTC) on 26th November.