RailCorp begins train safety system rollout

Novo Rail Alliance has installed the first section of an automatic train protection (ATP) system to be rolled across the entire RailCorp train network in NSW.

The first stage of the RailCorp ATP program will run on an approximately 60-kilometre section of track between Berowra, on the northern edge of Sydney, and Wyong on the NSW central coast.

The rollout is expected to occur over 11 months on RailCorp "possession weekends" - scheduled periods where trains do not run so that maintenance and other batched work can occur.

Main North Enabling Works that kicked off last month concentrated on a section of track between Gosford and Warnervale.

The alliance rolled out 76 balises - electronic beacons - on the section of track.

Balises transmit track and signalling data to onboard automatic train protection (ATP) computers on the trains, which process and display the information to the driver.

If the data is ignored, the ATP system can trigger braking to prevent the train from exceeding the speed limit for that part of the track, passing a red signal or travelling beyond its "permitted movement authority".

The start of full rollout of the ATP came after a $13 million trial of the technology by RailCorp in the Blue Mountains, which began in 2007.

Novo Rail is an alliance of RailCorp, Aurecon, Laing O'Rourke and O'Donnell Griffin.