CLEARSY in charge of signaling safety software for lines 2 and 3 of the Nice tramway.

21 July 2020

Luxembourg-City, and now Nice lines 2 and 3: for the second time in two years, CLEARSY will produce the safety software for the signaling of a tram line. Its solution for Nice increases the flexibility of the signaling system as well as its competitiveness. As part of this contract, CLEARSY delivers to Mobility a software and hardware service in a SIL4 environment.

The Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur builds lines 2 and 3 of the Nice tramway. It has commissioned the implementation of the railway signaling devices (interlocking) to Mobility, the Vinci Energies subsidiary dedicated to transport infrastructure, which subcontracted the signaling safety logic to CLEARSY. In this context, CLEARSY will have to deliver the safety software (development and implementation) of maneuvering areas, axle counters, and vital relays from its RS4 product line (SIL4). CLEARSY will also have to deliver a safety report for a SIL4 certification of its safety software according to the railway standard EN 50128 version 2011.

The architecture proposed in this project interfaces two controllers, including one fail-safe (SIL4) controller HIMA, and is identical to the solution implemented for the Luxembourg City tramway. “This architecture  reduces development costs and improves flexibility when adapting to any modification requested by the owner builder (Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur), much more so than a traditional approach,” explains Michaël Marmolle, manager of the project.

Overall, the system consists of safety software embedded in failssafe PLCs HIMA, and axle counters for the detection of train positions and signal crossings in stations not equipped with ATS (automatic train stop) devices. The fail-safe PLCs are installed in the signaling cabinets and the interface between the wayside devices and the safety PLCs is ensured by RS4 vital relays integrated in the cabinet. CLEARSY will provide the 92 track sensors to manage 57 detection zones and approximately 500 RS4 relays (models 202.24V, 304P.24V and 406). These vital relays, all SIL4 certified, are designed, produced and sold by CLEARSY.