• Project Dates: From September 2014 to October 2016
• Project Leader: Prof. Alexander Romanovsky (PI)
• Staff: Roberto Palacin (CI), Alexei Iliasov, Paulius Stankaitis, Luke Martin
• Sponsors: Rail Standards and Safety Board, UK
• Partners: Newcastle University, NewRail, Siemens Rail Automation

The EPSRC/RSSB SafeCap project (2011-2013) developed the SafeCap modelling toolkit that supports formal verification of station/junction safety and assessment of node capacity. Rigorous mathematical foundation based on continuous-discrete models of train movement and powerful state-of-the-art verification tools make the Platform a suitable stepping stone for addressing the challenges in the development of the future UK Railway identified in FuTRO (Future Traffic Regulation Optimisation), an ambitious programme of exploration and innovation defined to implement UK's Rail Technical Strategy 2012.

The SafeCap+ - SafeCap for integrated optimum capacity, safety and energy strategies at multiple nodes, project aims is to further develop novel modelling techniques and tools that support and explore integrated and efficient dynamic capacity and energy of networks and nodes while ensuring whole systems safety.

To fulfil this aim, the following objectives will be addressed:

• To explore the potential, develop the tools and define the framework allowing independent control rules for multiple mixed traffic operation scenarios;
• To develop tools to define real-time optimum strategies for traffic flow at nodes;
• To identify and understand the energy usage impact on performance of real-time optimum strategies for traffic flow at nodes;
• To define and develop a whole systems modelling approach for integrated optimum capacity, safety and energy strategies at multiple nodes.