Photo of train driving simulator in use

Crossrail Integration Facility and Test Automation

Document type: Journal Publication
Author: Alessandra Scholl Sternberg CEng MIET
Publication Date: 02/10/2020

  • Abstract

    Systems integration has gained a higher level of importance as complex railway projects operate under tighter schedules than ever before and with limited access to tracks to run tests. This paper demonstrates how a fully automated off-site testing facility is extremely valuable to increase efficiency, cost-effectiveness and resilience of systems throughout a railway project life-cycle. The Crossrail Integration Facility (CIF) is a great example of this practice.

    Systems integration facilities, such as Crossrail’s, provide a means to perform thorough off-site interface, integration, timetable and transition testing, as well as simulation of faults to understand the system’s behaviour under degraded and emergency situations. It is a cost and time-effective approach to de-risk the later stages of the project, which brings real benefits to the delivery of railway signalling systems.

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  • Authors
    Photograph of Alessandra Scholl Sternberg

    Alessandra Scholl Sternberg CEng MIET - Siemens

    Alessandra Scholl Sternberg graduated with a Physics Engineering degree from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) in 2016 having spent a year of her studies at the University of Sheffield. Since graduating she works in Systems Engineering for Siemens Mobility. She spent 4 years in the UK working on the development of the Crossrail Integration Facility, and changed roles in August 2020 to her current position in the Netherlands, where she works in ETCS related projects. During her time in the Crossrail Project her responsibility was to develop and maintain the Test Automation System of the facility to facilitate the early Systems Integration work of the project.