LogicaCMG uses Australian know-how to test Hong Kong railway stations

LogicaCMG today announced the completion of a five-year, transport control project for the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) of Hong Kong. The complete project, worth HK$150 million (A$33 million), was delivered on time and on budget.

The MTRC project upgraded the 25-year old control systems in all 37 railway stations across the MTRC rail network. The new station management system (SMS) combines the existing complex set of control interfaces into one modern, comprehensive user-friendly system.

The SMS contract was awarded in early 1998 to a consortium of three companies including CSEE Transport of France, KML Engineering of Hong Kong, and LogicaCMG in Australia. The initial design and testing phase on the SMS began in March 1998.

Greg Forbes, General Manager WA, LogicaCMG says, “LogicaCMG was responsible for the design, manufacture and testing of the Local Controller cubicles for all stations on the MTRC subway/railway. After the initial design activities, the Local Controller cubicles were designed and constructed using our own automatic design tools. Our Australian development team also created a smart software tool that automatically tested the cubicles before they were air-freighted to HK for installation and site testing.”

“This was the first time a major control system had been designed using NT-based computers that connected via an existing MTRC corporate LAN network. Everyone at MTRC was pleased when the first station went live without any hiccups,” Forbes said.

Warwick Talbot, Project Manager, MTRC says, “The SMS project was part of the larger Station Improvement Program (SIP) to rejuvenate the total MTRC subway/railway network. SMS was the key component in the program, as this system handled all the interfaces to all the other projects. It was critical for the SMS project to be delivered on schedule and within budget.”

The first SMS control system was installed at Kwun Tong Station in December 2000. Installation, field wiring and site testing work was done in non-traffic hours (from midnight to 6 am) deep within the HK subway system. As there was no option for system downtime, the project was rolled out one station at a time, every four weeks.

Almost three years later, the final installation was completed at Tsim Sha Tsui station in the heart of the busy Kowloon tourist precinct.