2008 Q8 RISKS OF MAINTENANCE AND FAILURE OF TBS

[oxfordjack]

For comments:

Question 8
A railway uses an in-cab transmission-based signalling system, with a limited number of lineside signals also provided to enable a degraded mode of operation.
a) Describe the process you would follow to identify the risks associated with the maintenance
of the lineside signalling equipment. [6 marks]
b) Identify the main risks associated with the maintenance of the lineside signalling
equipment. Your answer should consider both planned and unplanned maintenance
activities. [8 marks]
c) Describe the management processes which should be adopted to minimise the risk of
disruption to train services caused by failures of the signalling system, and discuss the
impact of these processes on the risks identified in part (b). [11 marks]

[PJW]

For comments:

a) The 5 bullet points in bold are the generic answer, but you were asked to describe the process you would follow to identify the risks associated with the maintenance of the lineside signalling equipment; you did not do that- it was completely non-specific. Hence you would not get many marks I am afraid

b) You were asked to identify the main risks associated with the maintenance of the lineside signalling equipment. You briefly listed some relevant factors, but you should have expanded each to identify what the RISK actually is in each case and give more detail as an example to illustrate. You failed to refer to both planned and unplanned maintenance activities; however it was better than part a.

c) Again very light of detail; you did outline how to minimise the risk of disruption to train services caused by failures of the signalling system but I do not regard it as a description of the management processes.
You certainly didn't seem to try to assess the impact of these processes on the risks identified in part (b).

I am assuming that you attempted this in 20 minutes and so perhaps you wrote as much as you could. In such a short answer it is very important that every word counts and you restrict yourself to answering precisely the question asked.

The question was fundamentally about an in-cab transmission based signalling system, but one that has a few lineside signals as well for back-up. Nothing in what you wrote really reflected that scenario. Therefore the examiners would wonder if you had correctly understood what was required; you'd pick up some marks for the good stuff but overall you would not score well I fear.

[oxfordjack]

Thank you.