White Papers

At Zonegreen we have developed a range of innovative and ground-breaking safety and efficiency solutions for rail depots.

We invest considerably in Research & Development both to create new products and enhance our existing range.  These white papers provide the background to some of our technologies:

Safety Integrity Level Requirements of a Depot Protection

Depot Protection Systems are installed in train maintenance facilities to control the safe movement of rail vehicles, protecting staff working in the vicinity. An analysis of the obligations of the safety functions performed by a Depot Protection System in a maintenance facility has concluded that a SIL 2 target level is required.

A system can only be deemed as SIL compliant system if assessed as a whole, rather than relying on compliant COTS (commercial off-the shelf) components in a system using software of unknown pedigree (SOUP). Zonegreen’s DPPS^TM has been assessed to meet the hardware and software requirements of SIL 2. DPPS^TM uses standardised software and hardware across all installations, resulting in all DPPS^TM installations meeting SIL 2.

Download Paper

Shunter Safety “The industry’s hidden concern”

According to a recent study carried out by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) shunter safety still remains a serious concern across the board in the UK rail industry.

Occupational health risks that such a job entails are great. Operating heavy manual points, sometimes when standing on an uneven surface or working in poor conditions, could lead to lasting damage to the back, neck or shoulders, which not only causes the employee suffering and lost working days, but could also lead to a more serious accident.

Download Paper

Things are steaming rapidly ahead… are all railway depots keeping up?

Some rail maintenance depots seem to look, and operate, as if they are still in the steam age. All very quaint, but how efficient are they, and even more important, how safe for depot staff?

Over the past two decades, depot infrastructure has undergone changes which have clearly made a positive impact on safety. Better lighting arrangements, communication systems, access points, switches/crossings, signal sighting, fouling points and SPAD traps all contribute to increased safety.

Download Paper

Driverless Train Safety – SMART DPPS™ in use on the Dubai Metro

Driverless train systems are constantly growing in popularity and are bringing about huge changes in urban mass transportation. While there has been some degree of automation on rail networks for decades, the current trend towards fully automated and driverless networks shows no signs of hitting the buffers.

The world’s longest driverless train network has turned to Zonegreen’s SMART DPPS™ to ensure the safety of depot staff.

Download Paper