SimSig Victoria Line (LUL)

Sim Versions

Version	Status	Scroll/Views Loader	Published	Comments
V4.2.2	Donationware	SL	20/12/2013	Available from Download section
V4.2.1	Donationware	SL	17/12/2013	Since updated
V4.1	Donationware	SL	05/11/2013	No longer available for download

Timetables

Title	Published	Author	Comments
Victoria Line 2009 - Mondays to Fridays v4.1 (updated to 4.1.2)	20/12/2013	Metcontroller	Bundled with v4.2.2
Victoria Line 2009 - Mondays to Fridays v4.1.2 (updated to 4.1.3)	16/06/2013	Metcontroller	Withdrawn
Victoria Line 2009 - Mondays to Fridays v4.1.3	17/6/2014	Metcontroller	Available from Download section
Victoria Line 2009 - Saturday Engineering v4.1 (updated to 4.1.1)	20/12/2013	Metcontroller	Bundled with v4.2.2
Victoria Line 2009 - Saturday Engineering v4.1.1	15/2/2014	Metcontroller	Available from Download section
Victoria Line 2009 - Saturday v4.1	20/12/2013	Metcontroller	Bundled with v4.2.2
Victoria Line 2009 - Sunday v4.1	20/12/2013	Metcontroller	Bundled with v4.2.2

Overview

London Underground’s Victoria Line was opened in sections between 1968 and 1971 running from Walthamstow in North London to Brixton in the South. The line is around 13 miles long end to end and, with the exception of Northumberland Park depot, is exclusively underground. From the start the line was operated by “1967” stock of 4 car units running as 8 car trains, these were replaced by “2009” 8 car units during 2011. The line is one of the fastest in London running at about 50mph between stations. It is almost fully automatic in operation with the driver attending to the doors and pressing the start button at each station. Thereafter the trains run themselves to a stop at the next station, all trains are required to stop at each station to reset the automatic coding system even if the stop is temporarily closed. A detailed explanation of the operation can be found here . The drivers can manually drive the trains in an emergency but are restricted in the speed they can run at. Generally 22mph if the signalling is working properly (coded manual), or 10mph (slow Manual) otherwise. Trains running into and out of Northumberland Park depot are manually driven at 10 mph.

Interlocking Machine Rooms

The signalling is managed from a control room in Cobourg Street near Euston (since moved to new building at Northumberland Park). Northumberland Park depot had its own signal box. Along the line are 9 Interlocking Machine Rooms (IMR) which contain the air-operated V-Frames which control the signalling and points in the area. Between the IMRs there may be some automatic signals. Finsbury Park IMR controls the junction with the Piccadilly line and a couple of the running signals on that line. The relevant part of the Piccadilly line is represented and a service can be timetabled on that line.

List of IMRs

Area	Label	Hot Key
VP	Walthamstow	P
VN	Northumberland Park	N
VL	Seven Sisters	L
VK	Finsbury Park	K
VJ	Highbury & Islington	J
VH	Kings Cross	H
VG	Warren Street	G
VF	Victoria	F
VE	Brixton	E

Keys 1-5 can also be used

Train Service

A number of trains are stabled overnight at Walthamstow, Brixton and Victoria but the bulk of the service starts from Northumberland Park depot. During a typical weekday around 37 different trains enter service. The service pattern varies with around 2 out of 3 of trains running between Walthamstow and Brixton with the rest from Seven Sisters to Brixton. A handful of services terminate at Victoria. Trains terminating at Seven Sisters must use Platform 4 from where they go to the depot or reverse at either No 62 or No 63 road returning to platform 5 for a southbound working. Throughout the day a shuttle of staff trains run between Seven Sisters and the depot, generally these are workings linked to trains entering or leaving service.

Units entering service carry the same 3 number ID all day - how this is dealt with in the sim is covered below.

Sim Operation

The Sim is built around the SimSig IECC signalling platform so some compromises have had to be made when compared to LU's 1960's signalling systems. The raw data is that in place towards the end of the ’67 stock operations and does not include, as far as I am aware, any of the upgrade work for the 2009 stock. The supplied timetable similarly is that in use by the ’67 stock. The Sim will support 2009 stock working but the signalling and control operation does not necessarily reflect that in place for this stock.

Basic Points of Interest

London Underground don’t refer to the lines as Up/Down, rather they do it by direction. In the case of Victoria Line it is Northbound and Southbound. For SimSig purposes the data is coded with the Southbound as Up. The primary layout follows the panel diagram as found in the control centre at Cobourg Street near Euston, and the “swapping” of the running direction between Highbury and Islington and Warren Street is not shown. A geographically correct layout option is provided, which mimics the view that can be seen on other LU train monitoring systems. Each displayed Track Circuit, in most cases, is a combined view of a number of the quite short Track Circuits used for the train control system. Also of note is that Track Circuits at points and junctions “flood” rather than show the line of route we normally see on National Rail boxes and like the real panel there is no TC illumination when a route is set though, you can opt into that at Sim launch if you wish; but there are some display problems primarily with overlaps. Because it was difficult to decide which looked better during development of this particular simulation, you have a choice at launch if you'd prefer the display as a single horizontal scroll display, or as a mimic of the paged version - the scrolly version better reflects the real panel; whilst the paged layout is quite neat. Unfortunately it is not possible to switch between the actual paged/scrolly format so both options are launched on the scrolly platform. Note that the Hot-keys are the same for each display so don’t use them in “paged” mode, keys 1 and 2 excepted.

Signalling

The signalling mainly consists of 2 and 3 aspect main signals, the shunt signals are disc type similar to those seen on the National Rail system. The difference is in the “middle” aspect (Yellow); on the Victoria line this is a white aspect found below the red which illuminates when the train in front passes a “headway point”. In automatic running this allows the following train to start while the section in front is still occupied. Because of the automatic control there is no risk of the trains colliding as the system will bring the trains to a halt at the appropriate time. This is effected in the Sim by use of hidden signals in lieu of the headway points. Unlike on the National Rail there is no speed restriction on passing a white aspect: trains can run at line speed.

ARS

The Sim is fully fitted with ARS, though shunt routes require manual setting. The ARS can be switched off at Sim launch if you wish. ARS sub areas correspond to the V Frames (interlocking sub-areas). If the ARS is switched off, whether by frame or in total, the trains can still run automatically (at line speed) with the signals being set manually as required.

Most main signals have been given an Automatic button which you can also use to represent the Automatic working. Exactly which (ARS or Auto) button best represents the reality is not a question that can currently be answered.

Train Describers

This refers to the default timetable where the TDs are in the format Vnnn-t where nnn is the train number and t is the trip number. Piccadilly line trains are in a similar format prefixed by P. In ARS mode the TD will step up as the train reaches the end of its trip but in non-ARS mode you will need to manually increment the suffix. This is not particularly onerous as the trip numbers are sequential.

Scenarios

There are 3 levels of service: normal, minor delays and severe delays.

Normal: As it says on the packet, the Sim should not throw up any problems so it’s all up to you if it goes wrong!
Minor delays: Trains will be delayed from time to time at stations, also a possibility that trains will need to run in coded manual on certain sections of the line. The probability of a train problem is linked to the time of day but does not take into consideration the day of the week, so it’s as likely for a delay at 8.30 on a Monday as it is on a Sunday. There is a possibility of a signal, track, point or TD describer failure.
Severe delays: As for minor delays but more so. Various other problems maybe encountered including a train which may develop a defect in-service and you will need to decide how to deal with it. Note, that the defect is noted against the Vnnn number so a replacement train running to the same number will continue to report the defect unless the original train is returned to Northumberland Park depot first. If you decide to return the stock to Northumberland Park depot it must be running to a timetable that has the same first four characters as it was running within the Sim.

Timetables

There are 4 supplied timetables based on the final WTT that the 1967 stock ran to. Experimentation has shown that the optimal speed for the trains that allow them to keep to time is 37mph so that is the speed used. To avoid engineering trains and other special trains suffering delays the “Use freight timings” box should be ticked. This has no other effect than to override the Sim delay coding. Trains booked to cross to the Piccadilly line at Finsbury Park have to undergo a tripcock test and to pass this the timetable for that train must have the “tripcock” type ticked.

Signal Number Plan

Victoria Line Signal Number Plan

This is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer you can get a free download of the latest version from the Adobe website . When checked during March 2013, it had reached v11 and the download size was just under 50MB.

Last edited by GeoffM on 15/09/2016 at 03:00