In July 1995, the Docklands Light Railway completed full cut-over to its new SELTRAC signalling technology as supplied by Alcatel Canada Inc. Many valuable lessons were learned by toth the supplier and the customer as they replaced the existing signalling system with the new technology with minimal disturbance of the operating railway. First the customer's requirements had to be established based on existing practices and the performance requirements which lead to the decision to replace the existing signalling system. During the development process both software and hardware had to be adapted to transfer the conceptual designs into a working system. Once the design was in place, the difficult job of trying to test new technology while keeping an existing railway running had to be addressed. Finally, the system was opened, the old equipment had to be decommissioned, and the contract had to be closed out. During each of these phases significant challenges were encountered in the resignalling process. The importance of good requirements management continually became evident. The roles of the various departments of an operating railway proved to be an area of contention with differing ideas on the system needs having to be resolved before closure could be brought to the design process. Trying to expedite a large commissioning programme while maintaining good working relationships with the operation's staff was a serious challenge. The project succeeded with minimal disturbance to the oprating railway thanks to the good will of the DLR operations staff and the efficient expertise of the field staff implementing the commissioningprogramme. The final act of closing out the contract, ensuring that all parties are satisfied witht the end product, still haunts the prime contractor. It all leads back to proper requirements management.
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