Integrated Electronic Control Centre

The Integrated Electronic Control Centre or IECC was developed in the late 1980s. To date, 140 operational years of reliable service has been achieved overall. The system is a UK based railway control centre, although variations exist around the world.

The system consists of an operator’s workstation with a series of VDU/LCD displays which depict the control area. This system includes Automatic Routesetting (ARS) which is a computer based route setting system driven from a pre-programmed timetable database. It can also handle severely disrupted service patterns and assist the signaller in the event of train or infrastructure failures.

IECCs were developed as an alternative to the traditional switch panel control, which in turn replaced mechanical lever frames. From the start they controlled solid state interlockings (SSIs) a software version of the traditional relay interlocking. The system can control as many miles of track as required, but typically around 50-100 miles. The IECC is a product owned by Network Rail and supported by AEA Technology Rail. Recently, PC-based control systems, similar to the IECC have been developed and are sold by various signalling contractors, e.g. Westinghouse WESTCAD.

IECCs commissioned to date are:

Liverpool Street: Great eastern main line to Colchester, Bishops Stortford and branches.

Marylebone: Chiltern lines to Aynho Junction near Banbury

Yoker: Glasgow North suburban area

York: East coast main line north of Doncaster to south of Darlington and Leeds area

Tyneside: East coast main line south of Darlington to south of Morpeth

Slough: Paddington to Heathrow airport

Swindon B: Didcot area

Ashford: Southern region SE section and channel tunnel rail link

Upminster: London, Tilbury, Southend line.

Sandhills: Merseyrail

... and soon to be introduced in Edinburgh.

Similar systems without ARS are located at:

Leamington Spa: Banbury - Warwick

Bournemouth: Dorset coast

West Hampstead (St Pancras): St Pancras area during construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Furthermore, these systems, which are already in existance, are due to be enhanced with a more advanced ARS than the standard IECC equivalent:

Rugby: West coast main line Watford – Rugby and eventually Nuneaton

Stoke: Colwich Junction – Crewe/Macclesfield.