Signaller Briefing
This briefing note has been created for the benefit of signallers viewing the Birmingham New Street platform docker.
The information contained will help signallers understand what information the docker is displaying, and how it can support decision-making.
Signallers are not expected to interact with the docker in terms of undertaking any re-plan changes, however they are welcome to navigate around the system. There will be links within this briefing note to other pages within the online acumen User Guide to support situational awareness.
Background[edit]
The acumen platform docker has been deployed to both signalling and station teams at Birmingham New St to assist with platform management.
The docker is a visual display of actual platform occupation and forecast platform occupation.
acumen identifies conflicts (e.g. platform clashes) and notifies of changes to the plan (e.g. platform alterations).
The intention is that acumen will provide a common operational picture, and enable conflicts to be identified and resolved in good time, therefore reducing late-notice platform changes, reducing the time trains spend outside the station awaiting a platform, and improving decision-making times.
What feeds the platform docker?[edit]
acumen is an Operational Decision Support Tool (ODST). It subscribes to various data feeds to receive messages, but does not publish any messages out.
acumen receives the Long Term Plan via the CIF, and then receives daily incremental CIF updates with Short Term Plan changes.
On the day of operation, acumen will receive VSTPs, messages from TRUST (e.g. cancellations), platform changes and train length/consist information from DARWIN, and updates from TIGER (LICC feed).
acumen also subscribes to train movement reports. This informs the forecast and measures how a train is running to time.
More information about data feeds can be found on the Data Feeds page here.
acumen does not publish any messages. This means changes made in acumen will be seen by other acumen users but will not feed through to other systems such as CIS.
Interpreting the docker interface[edit]
acumen can be viewed in either the horizontal view or vertical view. The functionality is the same across both views. More information here: User Cases##Horizontal and Vertical Views.
The rest of this briefing note is written for the vertical view configuration.
A TBC 'platform' is included in addition to the numbered platforms. This is where trains without platform information will be rendered, for example VSTPs.
The blue line indicates current time. Therefore everything above the timeline (horizontal view: to the left of) is actual/historic data and everything below the timeline (horizontal view: to the right of) is forecast data. There is approximately 5mins of historic data displayed and 4hrs of forecast data.
Trains are represented by boxes with the length of the box (horizontal view: width) representing the platform occupation time.
Sub-platforms have been catered for at Birmingham so the width of the box (horizontal view: height) represents whether the train is forecast for the full-length platform or a sub platform.
The colours of the trains represent lateness and are aligned to CCF as much as possible. A white train represents an overdue report. Typically these revert to a block colour within 30s when the next movement report is received.
There are then a couple of additional colours:
- If an off-booked route train has been manually added onto the docker, it will display in a coral colour. More information here: User Cases##Off-booked Route.
- If a FURNO occupation has been applied (marking a platform as occupied until further notice e.g. failed unit), it will display in a dark blue colour.
Alongside the headcode is the train consist/length. If this is coloured blue it is displaying the data from the A&D book. If it is green then it is a live feed from DARWIN/TIGER.
The grey arrows either side of the train indicate direction of travel (arrows pointing upwards means travelling in the UP direction) and they also represent platform reoccupation time.
If a train is terminating or originating at Birmingham New Street, you will see only one grey arrow but additionally an association line connected to its next working. This is a black line joining blue triangles.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The association data within the timetable cannot always be relied upon. The acumen SSM superusers advise signallers not to rely on the associations displayed.
You can hover over any train to see some more schedule details such as current status and calling points. Where available, this is supplemented with information from TIGER or the A&D book, e.g. CIS platform, train formation and other notes. Detailed schedule information can be seen by clicking on the train. This opens the Train Details View. Follow the hyperlink for more information.
Icons and Markers[edit]
acumen is designed to draw a user's attention to alterations in the plan, potential conflicts, and important information applied to the docker by other users. Icons and markers on the docker notify users of these changes.
Note: There is a colour legend accessible on the docker to act as a reminder as to what all the colours and icons mean. Click on the paint pot icon in the top bar to open this.
Platform Markers
The white information icon (i) above the platform number contains information about that platform.
An exclamation mark (!) next to a platform number means a user has applied a platform note. You can click on the (!) marker to read the note.
If the escalators and/or lifts are out of order on a particular platform then relevant icons appear as shown below.
The spanner and screwdriver icon appears if an infrastructure restriction is in place. This is also evident by the grey shading and red outline on the docker between the times the infrastructure restriction has been applied. You can hover within this area to see the details of the infrastructure restriction: dates/times, type, notes etc
Conflicts
acumen identifies conflicts within the forecast. When a conflict is identified a little yellow (C) appears next to that train(s). You can hover over the (C) to see some details about the conflict.
Types of conflict:
- An OC occupation conflict is also known as a platform clash. In addition to the yellow (C) there will also be a box with a red border drawn around the trains in conflict.
- An IR infrastructure restriction conflict is raised for trains that are forecast within a platform during the times an infrastructure restriction is in place.
- There are several association conflicts MA,BA,SA that could be identified.
- There are also several train running restriction conflicts TRN,TRP,TRS.
More information about conflicts can be found on this page: Conflict Detection.
A list of all conflicts can be seen in the Conflict List tab.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Conflict detection runs across the whole forecast - 4hrs. It is often not necessary to resolve conflicts this far out because the live situation can change; trains could lose or make up time along their journey. The acumen SSM superusers aim to deal with conflicts approximately 10mins from time. If you spot a conflict within 5 minutes from time that does not appear to have been dealt with, contact the SSM.
Other Train Markers
A pink (P) indicates a platform change. This (P) can be generated by a platform change undertaken within acumen, or a message received from an external source such as DARWIN or TIGER. You can hover over the (P) to see the original planned platform.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The SSMs are using acumen to plan changes. During this process, acumen could display an intermediate state of the plan rather than the finalised plan. Therefore you should always confirm the intended platform with the SSM, particularly if a change could result in a wrong route.
A white (W) indicates a warning and will display if the platform shown in acumen is different to that displayed on CIS for passengers. Remember, acumen does not publish any messages so a (W) could appear if a change is made in acumen but not elsewhere.
A purple (T) is displayed if there is a known issue with train crew that is expected to impact the departure of the service.
A blue counter icon e.g. (1) represents how many train notes have been applied to that service. For example, station staff informing that there are VIPs on a service. You can hover over the counter icon to read the content of the most recent note. If there is more than one note, click on the icon to open the Train Details View where all notes are listed at the bottom.
Other interfaces[edit]
The platform docker is the main interface to acumen but there are additional tabs along the top that contain further information. You can read more about these here: Platform Docker Tabs.
As a Signaller you may wish to look at the Alert List. This acts as a log of changes to the plan, whether undertaken within acumen or as messages received from external sources such as TRUST or DARWIN.
The IRC tab is a messaging feature. IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat and allows users of the same docker to send non safety critical messages. For example, the SSM may send over a list of TOC alterations. This message can be quickly responded to in the IRC, rather than a confirmation phone call.
Summary of Important Notes[edit]
- acumen is an operational decision support tool. It is designed to support decision-making and visualisation of the plan. acumen is a computer system so can only display the data it receives. In all cases you should work to the SSM's instructions.
- The association data within the timetable cannot always be relied upon. The acumen SSM superusers advise signallers not to rely on the associations displayed.
- Conflict detection runs across the whole forecast - 4hrs. It is often not necessary to resolve conflicts this far out because the live situation can change; trains could lose or make up time along their journey. The acumen SSM superusers aim to deal with conflicts approximately 10mins from time. If you spot a conflict within 5 minutes from time that does not appear to have been dealt with, contact the SSM.
- The SSMs are using acumen to plan changes. During this process, acumen could display an intermediate state of the plan rather than the finalised plan. Therefore you should always confirm the intended platform with the SSM, particularly if a change could result in a wrong route.