Severn Tunnel Radio Bearer System design and implementation

1. Essay n.3
D. Cite at least one example of when your leadership had an impact on or
changed a certain situation, and justify how an IE Master’s Degree program
would help you to strengthen or improve this competence.
SEVERN TUNNEL BEARER SYSTEM
FOR GSM-R & EMERGENCY SERVICES

2. INTRODUCTION
 In December 2008, while I was working in London at
Network Rail ltd on roll-out project to provide GSM
coverage (called GSM-R) to the entire British railways
network, my company was asked by the UK Emergency
Services Organizations, such as Fire Brigade, Police
and Ambulance Departments, to design and install an
ad-hoc system able to provide wireless
communications throughout one of the longest railway
tunnels in the country, the so-called Severn Tunnel
 This tunnel is a strategic part of the rail trunk since it
carries an intensive passenger train service, and a
significant freight traffic (ref. Wikipedia)

3. SEVERN TUNNEL - GENERALS
 It’s a 7008 meters long tunnel, connecting South
Gloucestershire in the West of England to Monmouthshire in
South Wales under the estuary of the River Severn. For well over
100 years it was the longest mainline railway tunnel in the UK,
until Channel Tunnel Rail was completed in 2007
Welsh Portal
English Portal

4. PROJECT AIMS
 Wireless communications for emergency and commercial (such as
GSM-R) services had to be provided.
 The existing obsolete radio coverage system designed for Fire
Brigade’s radios and installed in the ‘80s wasn’t suitable to fit two
new additional technologies
GSM-R Fire Rescue Police Dep
system Services Radios
• Brand new • Existing • Brand new
system had system had system had
to be to be to be
designed renewed designed

5. POSSIBLE DESIGN SCENARIOS
1. Obsolete existing Fire Brigade radio system
equipment could have been simply replaced with
a new and more efficient one, whilst two new
separate GSM-R and Police Department radio
systems could have been deployed
2. Existing radio coverage equipment could have
been completely removed and a brand new
system catering for all the three technologies
could have been installed from scratch

6. IMPLEMENTATION DISCUSSION
 My tasks within the project was to coordinate the designing
team from a technical standpoint and to deal with all the
parts involved in order to find a performing and reliable
solution, which should have ideally been cost- and
installation-efficient
 From the very beginning, both our main partners (Fire
Brigade and Police Department) pushed for installing three
separated antenna systems inside the tunnel, since they
thought this would have been the simplest solution to
implement and maintain, hence the most reliable one
 On the contrary, my opinion was that a single, combined
system should have been adopted. I had already worked on
similar projects when in Italy, and knew from my previous
experience that I always got the best results with such an
solution

7. PROPOSED SOLUTION: THE “RADIATING CABLE”
 Instead of installing three
separate antennas – each
working at a specific
frequency and bearing only
one of the three technologies
to be implemented - a single Tunnel
shared radiating cable could English portal
be clipped to the tunnel
ceiling, for its entire length
 A radiating cable is a coaxial
slotted cable which can
radiate the wireless radio
signal towards a specific
direction, like a leaking water
pipe. It is also able to
combine different signals
operating at different
frequencies

8. PROS AND CONS OF OUR PROPOSED SOLUTION
•Better performance since the cable
provides a uniform radio coverage all
along the tunnel
•More reliable and easier to maintain since
only one piece of equipment is installed
inside the tunnel
•More complicated and time consuming
installation since long drums of heavy
cable have to be brought inside the
tunnel
• More expensive solution due to cost of
a 7 Kms cable compared to a separate
antennas system

9. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT: THE FINAL DECISION
 The initial skepticism of our partners regarding my
proposed design was overcome via a series of meetings
in which I showed them the advantages of the radiating
cable solution in terms of reliability and efficiency, and
clarified their doubts about it.
 We eventually agreed to implement our proposed design
after 4 months of discussions and compromises
 Equipment installation and commissioning went fairly
smooth even if, as expected, it lasted almost an year
 Once the system was completed, it was perfectly working
and meeting all initial customer’s requirements, making
the whole project a big success from all points of view

10. HOW AN IE MASTER’S DEGREE PROGRAM WOULD HAVE
HELPED ME IN A PROJECT SITUATION LIKE THIS?
 When preparing the comparative document showing the differences
between the two possible design scenarios, I realized that I lacked
some project management skills such as estimating time and cost
for the required activities, developing the budget and planning the
risks of each scenario
 Having a purely technical background and working experience I
found several difficulties in preparing and evaluating the project
from an economic point of view and I needed to ask some
colleagues of mine for help
 I’m expecting an IE Master’s Degree to allow me to add,
together with other financial and marketing skills, the
management and work-organization competences that will
complete my profile and make me a proper Project Manager,
able not only to deal with technical issues but also with other
aspects such as budget development or activity monitoring &
controlling