Railway engineering - the systems approach

This special issue of Electric Power Applications is devoted to topics in electric traction. The papers have been selected to illustrate the need for a systems engineering approach to co-ordinate the major items of electronic and electrical equipment which must be brought together to achieve a reliable and economic transport service. In keeping with the international nature of the rail traction business, the papers have been written by several European authors, covering the fields of traction drives, signalling and train control, solid-state interlocking, automatic fare collection and project co-ordination. This emphasis is appropriate because European companies have been particularly successful in exporting railway traction products to the rest of the world. However, as in many areas of modern technology, competition from the East is tough. While traction products are often associated with high prestige projects, there is always challenging competition for European industry from Japanese companies which have a substantial home market, as a base for their export activities. The business is competitive and there has been a worldwide surplus of manufacturing capacity for several years in those sectors of industry which produce both mechanical parts and electrical/ electronic equipment.