Siemens revolutionizes rail operations with Signaling X

According to Marc Ludwig, CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, Signaling X brings together various signaling systems onto one platform, expanding capabilities through open interfaces.

As Singapore is well known for its public rail system, Siemens Mobility launched the world’s first live demonstration of metro operations with Signaling X. Unveiled at the Singapore Rail Test Center (SRTC), Signaling X brings Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) into a centralized cloud-ready infrastructure, a signaling data center.

What makes Signaling X more interesting is that its safety-critical functions can run on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware with Siemens Mobility’s Distributed Smart Safe System (DS3) platform, enabling more trains to run safely at closer intervals. This results in up to 20% higher operational efficiency and up to 30% energy savings for rail operators.

According to Marc Ludwig, CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, Signaling X brings together various signaling systems onto one platform, expanding capabilities through open interfaces.

“We're bringing this technology to the next level. We're bringing it to a centralized platform based commercial, off-the-shelf hardware so that we're no longer using huge amounts of equipment. We're actually reducing it to a commercially available service. We're running our application, the software, the signaling logic, on commercial service in the future. That saves a lot of space, and it also enables us to put a lot of different applications. It will save a lot of energy and it will enable us to run our systems very smoothly and very reliably in the future,” said Ludwig in his opening address at the event.

Specifically, Siemens will be moving all the technology onto a data center. Previously, the system would require a few different servers to run specific applications. Now, these applications can all run on the same data center.

“You would have two data centers placed in two different locations for redundancy, for resilience and for protection as well. They're completely cyber secure because we have an embedded cyber security concept with our platform, with our hardware and software function. It’s capable of running all the different systems on one single platform. That's Signaling X,” he added.

On the amount of cost savings that Signaling X enables, Ludwig mentioned that the savings will come from the fewer installations operators are required to do and also the amount of space they need to install and run it.

“That's the major savings because in the end, the hardware is pretty much similar cost, even though it's commercial hardware,” said Ludwig.

Supporting commercial hardware and being ahead of the competition

Given the commercial hardware capabilities of Signaling X, Dr. Jan Philipp Steinbach, Head of Department for Application Development, CBTC train control at Siemens, explained that Signaling X is capable of running on any server.

“We have to have a close alignment with our customers, and they are completely free to choose. For example, some customers like to use an HP server, so we have to ensure that all the hardware specifics and firmware drivers are available in our Linux operating system. If a customer tells us they are using Huawei servers, we take our operating system, build it in that way that Huawei supports, and enables them to go into operation. Also, as they look to upgrade their server generations (when the refresh cycle is due), we will redo it again,” explained Dr Steinbach.

When asked how Siemens is dealing with the competition in rail technology, Ludwig pointed out that the competition is one of the reasons why they started working on Signaling X.

“We said, what is the next evolution in rail? What's the next innovation that we can bring also in order to stay ahead of our competition? And that's why we went to Signaling X, because we said, that's something that's an innovation that we've not seen yet in the market, but we've seen it in other industries,” said Ludwig.

He also pointed out that the decentralization of equipment, the availability of data is clearly showing use cases and the benefits for customers.

“That's why we went to the step to stay ahead of our competition. And we now see that first competitors are also moving in that direction. So, I think we're on the right track, because also the competitions tell us that we're on the right track,” he concluded.

To sum it up, the cloud-ready platform integrates interlockings, signaling systems, and control systems into a centralized, virtualized data center. By deploying safety-critical railway functions, like interlocking logic, and non-safety systems such as timetable management and traffic optimization on the same type of commercial off-the-shelf hardware and through standardized APIs, it provides a seamless, efficient approach to rail operations.

The foundation of this innovation is the DS3, introduced in 2020, which utilizes COTS hardware to ensure safety-critical applications operate securely within a scalable, redundant network. This cyber-secure environment enhances operational efficiency, offers significant energy savings, and reduces headways, paving the way for a more flexible and future-proof rail ecosystem.