Public transport users in the Middle East would be forgiven for thinking that all metro systems are fully automated. Certainly anyone who has ridden the GCC’s first mass transit system, the Dubai Metro, will be used to contactless ticketing, platforms where sliding protective doors open at just the right time to meet the doors of the carriage, real time journey information displayed on screens in the carriage and driverless trains that move smoothly between stations.

Driverless systems provide greater capacity, more efficient running [and] reduced operational costs

Mohammed Garda, Mott MacDonald

However, the first systems in the world were manually operated and over time automation has increased as cities such as London, New York and Paris have added to and upgraded their networks. This has led to a range of operating modes, from partly automated, where drivers control braking and acceleration but a train protection system monitors speed, to semi-automated, where drivers start the train but the automatic driving system controls movement between stations, to fully driverless unattended metros, known in the industry as unattended train operation (UTO). Today, Dubai has the longest UTO system in the world with about 75 kilometres of track, just ahead of Vancouver in Canada with 68km.

Signalling technology

French systems supplier Thales Group provided the technology that enabled Dubai to take a world-leading position in metro operations. Its SelTrac communications-based train control (CBTC) solution is in use on the Red and Green lines, which form part of its 900km portfolio. According to Lionel Canella, sales and business director for Thales Rail, there are another 370km of lines currently under construction, which will also use this system. The firm is among the five companies waiting to hear if its bid for the signalling system on the Doha Metro has been successful. The $2.2bn contract covers power supply, communications, rolling stock, tunnel ventilation and control systems.

Packaging elements together seems to be a common approach in the region. “We see the Middle East as a turnkey market,” says Melih Arpaci, CBTC specialist at Germany’s Siemens. “Customers are setting up their organisations, unlike in Europe and Asia, so they are very much depending on the consultants who support them. A turnkey project has the benefit that the customer only has to deal with a small organisation as one consortium is doing everything.”

This is the approach that has been taken on the region’s biggest project, the 175km Riyadh Metro, where Siemens is working in a consortium with the US’ Bechtel, the local firms Almabani and Athens-based Consolidated Construction Company to deliver Lines 1 and 2 running over 63km. Siemens will supply rolling stock, electrification systems and signalling technology in a contract worth $2.1bn to the company. The overall contract value is approximately $10bn.

Another feature that is becoming a trend for Middle East metro schemes is implementing major projects in a relatively short timeframe, some with fixed opening dates. Dubai, for example, froze the 9 September 2009 opening date for the Red Line and the 9 September 2011 date for the Green Line. “No matter what, we had to respect those dates and that was a challenge,” says Canella. More specifically, the company had to ensure that the system could cope with the phased approach. “We had to open the UTO without all stations ready so we had to stop in some stations and not others,” he says, explaining that as stations came online the system would adapt. 

Tight deadlines

The trend for tight deadlines was once again exhibited in Mecca where the 18km Al-Mashaaer al-Mugaddassah Metro between Arafat and Jamarat was constructed in just 21 months after the client set an operational deadline of November 2010 – in time for the Hajj. China Rail Construction Corporation was the contractor and Thales again supplied the system. “We had 16 months between signing the contract and going to operation. It would normally take 3-4 years, but we did it,” says Canella, explaining that the company replicated the system used in Dubai.

In terms of the systems themselves, CBTC consists of several core elements that are the same wherever the metro’s location. Trackside computers monitor assigned sections of line, calculating a ‘movement authority’ to set permissible distances between trains. In Dubai, this is 90 seconds. The trains themselves are operated using automated train control, which utilises on-board and trackside data to ensure safe and efficient service.

The main components of this are the automated train operation system, which performs driver functions such as ensuring smooth braking and acceleration, and the automatic train protection system, which sets the speed limits and interacts with the signalling system. This is all monitored in operation rooms at the stations and at a central operational control centre.

Wireless communication

Modern systems run wirelessly using radio-based technology, although this was not always the case and train control technology has improved since it was first introduced in the 1980s. “The foundations were laid using cable loops to communicate between the train and the track and axle counter or track circuits to separate the track sections,” says Arpaci.

The track was divided into fixed blocks where only one train was permitted at any time. The authorisation was transmitted via the loop to notify trains travelling behind when the section was clear, allowing the next train to move forward. However, by the late 1990s, the approach had evolved with systems using wireless communication to monitor the position of trains relative to each other.

“By 2000, a lot of research had been done into replacing the loop with radio and the first was commissioned on the Canarsie Line in New York,” says Arpaci. He says that this technological move immediately improved the performance of the lines, leading to shorter spaces between trains and more efficient systems.

“Driverless systems provide greater capacity, more efficient running, reduced operational costs and improved punctuality,” says Mohammed Garda, manager of UK consultancy Mott MacDonald’s railways business in the Middle East. “Most new metros now include a level of automation with the trend firmly being a driverless system.”

Others agree that the trend exhibited in the Middle East reflects the global picture. Arpaci says that Asian markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong have taken the lead, but he also points to South American markets and Europe as having embraced UTO.

According to the International Association of Public Transport, there are currently 674km of driverless systems worldwide over 48 lines and 40 per cent of these are in Asia. “Around the world the trend is to have a modern system and a modern system means no driver on board. In the past, particularly in Europe, there were fears about not having a driver, but today it is more accepted,” says Arpaci.

Garda says the main concern for the public with any automated system is whether the same level of safety can be achieved when compared with a driven system. Automated systems need to have greater monitoring of the operational environment through the use of CCTV, radio contact with staff and alarms, especially those to detect any trackside intrusion. “In the event a train needs to be evacuated, the infrastructure needs to be designed such that passenger movements to a place of safety can be undertaken quickly and without panic,” says Garda.

One of the biggest issues is preventing any intrusion onto the track and this has led to the widespread adoption of platform screen doors at stations, which enclose the platform environment and minimise the potential for track access.

Technical issues

As the Gulf moves forwards with new projects, such as extending the Mecca system, Riyadh’s new 175km network and Abu Dhabi’s forthcoming light rail scheme, there are some operational considerations that regional UTO systems must address.

The aggressive heat means the sophisticated computer systems on board the trains, trackside and at stations need protecting through the use of temperature-controlled environments, redundant systems and health monitoring alarms. “Sand in the air has to be filtered and cleaning needs to part of the maintenance regime for sophisticated electronic systems,” says Garda.

From these technical issues to the tight deadlines, the region is certainly presenting challenges, along with the massive opportunities that the next decade promises. But the systems are proven on a global level and now, thanks to Dubai and Mecca, driverless trains are set to become a feature of other Gulf cities that have made mass transit a priority.