IRSE Professional Examination Syllabus:

Module C
Principles of Railway Control & Communications Systems
Version 3
Approved by Education & Professional Development Committee 13 March 2019

The IRSE Professional Examination is structured into 4 modules:

Module A - Fundamentals of Railway Control Engineering
Module B - Railway Safety & Systems Engineering
Module C - Principles of Railway Control & Communications Systems
Module D - Applications of Railway Control & Communications Systems

The passing of Module A is a qualification in its own right and, for those that wish to take the Highest Level
IRSE Professional Examination, a prerequisite for Modules B, C & D. All four modules must be passed to
obtain the IRSE Professional Examination.

Prepared by:
Trevor Foulkes
Roger Short
Ed Rollings
Hedley Calderbank
Hongsin Kim
Ross Deacon
Tom Corker
Les Brearley
Paul Booth

With further suggestions from EPD Committee members

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AIM
This module builds on the broad understanding of Module A and assesses, in more depth, the
students’ understanding of the principles of operation of railway control and communications systems
and sub-systems.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To understand and demonstrate:
1. Fundamental requirements for signalling and telecommunication systems
2. The relationship between the design of the signalling system and:
• traffic operating patterns and mix of traffic types
• rolling stock characteristics (acceleration, maximum speed and braking characteristics),
• infrastructure characteristics (track layout, speed limits, gradients etc).
3. The role of a telecommunications system during times of degraded working, to prevent or
reduce the impacts of accidents and to allow efficient management after an accident
4. What information must be generated or provided before and in conjunction with signalling a
layout in order that operators can assess whether it meets their requirements, and in order for
designers to be able to generate detailed safe designs (e.g. calculation of time, distance and
speed curves & Headway)
5. Principles of different types of signalling:
1. Principles of route signalling
2. Principles of speed signalling
3. Principles of absolute block and permissive working
4. Principles of control of single line railways
5. Principles of moving block
6. Principles of Signalling Systems:
1. Principles of signalling interlocking systems
2. Principles of train detection systems
3. Principles of cab signalling systems
4. Principles of transmission/radio based signalling
5. Principles of systems for protecting against trains passing signals at “danger”, exceeding
movement authority or over-speeding, including automatic train protection systems (ATP),
train stop signals and train warning systems
6. Principles of automatic train operation (ATO) and the implications of the different Grades
of Automation and the implications of continuous and intermittent systems
7. Principles of signaller control equipment, the use of automatic route setting and traffic
management systems
7. Layout risk assessment including the use of flank protection and other mitigations
8. The role of Control Centres
9. Principles of different types of railway crossings (grade/level/pedestrian crossings etc)
10. Principles of safety apportionment between the signalling system, telecommunications system,
traffic management layer, signallers, drivers and maintainers
11. Principle of reliability apportionment within the railway control and communications systems
12. Principles of safe operation during periods of failure of the signalling or telecommunications
systems
13. General principles of safety in relation to the application of signalling principles
14. How signalling and telecommunication systems are tested to ensure they conform to their
principles
15. The key parts of a telecommunication system and how safety and reliability may be
apportioned between them
16. Principles of telecommunication systems:
1. The types of services provided to signalling and other disciplines (e.g. bearer services to
connect parts of the train control system or traction power controls) and those end-to-end
systems provided for voice telecommunications from signallers to drivers, members of the
public, etc.
2. The locations where these services are required

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 3. They key components and topologies of a railway telecommunications network (e.g. SDH,
TCP/IP)
4. The functions of a primary multiplexer and the interface cards which are required
5. How voice services are supported on a TCP/IP network
6. The key components and topologies of a radio network for railway communications (e.g.
GSM-R, LTE or wifi)
7. How to mitigate the effects of induced voltages from traction supplies
8. The success criteria for a radio network supporting signalling data as circuit switched data
or using packets (e.g. ETCS or CBTC).
9. How to allocate frequencies within a radio network and other systems to avoid interference
and prevent misrouted calls.
10. Telephone systems and networks, including railway operational, business and VoIP
systems
11. How national network management is provided
12. Specific requirements for telecommunications systems in underground and sub-surface
railways
17. Principles of Network planning, including:
1. How the various forms of circuit will be supported by the network components e.g. level
crossing telephones, signalling data to or from trains, traction power controls, station
security, remote switching/earthing/isolation of traction power
2. How a network is configured to provide the required levels of availability
3. How is a network protected from cybersecurity threats
4. How the network is configured to avoid common modes of failure
18. How railway control and communications systems are commissioned and bought into service.
19. Staff protection or Warning Systems
20. Electromagnetic Compatibility
21. Principles of equipment design and selection to minimise the risk of human error by operators,
users and maintainers

To be able to:
Demonstrate knowledge of the principles covered by this module, by answering specific questions
relating to syllabus topics and being able to prepare example plans or documents to address the
areas covered. For example:
1. Explain how to apply railway control and communications principles in conjunction with specific
operating requirements and track layouts in a safe and cost-effective manner for movement of
trains under normal and degraded modes of operation.
2. Develop methods of proving that specific applications meet the required performance
specification
3. Identify safety risks associated with the signalling arrangements, and potential mitigating
measures
4. Prepare test plans (e.g. for factory or site acceptance) to demonstrate that a train control
system (or a part of it) conforms to the relevant railway control and communications principles
and operational requirements
5. Describe the techniques for securing open and closed communication systems from
unauthorised access or interference.
6. Identify potential system compatibility and integration risks, impact analysis, and mitigation
measures (for connecting new, legacy and third party provided systems)
7. Describe how radio systems are designed to provide the required radio coverage (e.g. in
tunnels, terminal stations or at junctions)
8. Explain the principles of how Emergency Call Areas are configured

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