Overview of the Testing and Commissioning (T&C) Process for New Railways Lines

Part 1 of 5

Preamble

In the corridors of opportunity, sometimes a door swings wide before us, beckoning us to step into roles that seem larger than life, where the challenges tower like mountains, and the expectations feel like weights upon our shoulders.

Such was the journey a young engineer who found himself standing at the threshold of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project, facing the daunting proposition of stepping into the shoes of a Testing and Commissioning Manager.

That was nearly 24 years ago...a lot of water under the bridge since !

With no prior experience in this specialised domain this realm was entirely unfamiliar – the intricate world of testing and commissioning for a monumental railway undertaking.

And that is why, throughout a short series of 5 articles, we at 3ECO Ltd intend to demystify the complexities of T&C, attempting to offer a guiding light to aspiring engineers who may find themselves standing at similar crossroads. By distilling the fundamentals into digestible insights and practical wisdom, we hope to empower others to embark on their own journeys of discovery with confidence and clarity.

We invite you to join us on this journey and contribute where you can to the collective wisdom of our community. Your experiences, insights, and lessons learned are invaluable and have the power to inspire and guide others who may be navigating similar paths. By sharing your stories and perspectives, you not only enrich the dialogue surrounding testing and commissioning but also foster a culture of collaboration and growth within our industry.

Introduction

Testing and Commissioning (T&C) is a critical phase in project management, especially for projects involving complex systems like electrical, mechanical, and infrastructure projects. In a nutshell, the purpose of T&C is to ensure that all systems and components of a project are designed, installed, tested, and can be operated and maintained long term and according to the operational requirements of the future infrastructure custodian.

This process is therefore vital for guaranteeing the quality, safety, and reliability of the completed project.

What is Testing and Commissioning?

Testing and Commissioning refers to a systematic process of verifying and documenting that the performance of facilities, systems, and assemblies meets defined criteria and operational requirements. It encompasses a series of activities that start from the initial planning phase and continue through to the final handover and acceptance of the project by the client/Infrastructure Maintainer & Operator.

T&C Phases - Get the Basics Right

1. Planning and Preparation: This phase involves developing a comprehensive T&C plan, based on an outline T&C Strategy, that details the scope, objectives, and procedures for testing and commissioning. It includes defining roles and responsibilities, establishing timelines, and preparing all the necessary documentation, including the Commissioning Manual. Any performance and quality driven project will want the T&C planning and preparation phase to start alongside the design phase. Yes, that early ! There is a lot to do in order to not only produce, but to secure the buy in of T&C procedures by all departments within the project, not least your own colleagues in the Installation Team and the client's.
2. Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT): FAT is performed at the manufacturer's premises to ensure that the equipment and systems meet specified requirements before delivery on site. It involves functional tests and inspections. These could include qualification tests and routine tests. FAT should be detailed into Manufacturing Inspection & Test Plans and rely heavily on the Design Team having specified how the end product should behave and what it should deliver. Inputs from the T&C and the future Operation and Maintainance Teams are crucial and will save a lot of rework (and money) down the line if your Designer is pepared to listen to what you and they have to say.
3. Installation Release Notice (IRN): This is a formal notice indicating that the installation of equipment that forms part of a Commissioning Lot is complete and ready for testing and commissioning to start. The IRN process is one of the most important processes that forms part of the Commissioning Manual, together with the Work Authorisation Document or WAD. It is so important that it will be described in detail in a subsequent article because if you get that one wrong, you will be in serious trouble.
4. Site Acceptance Testing (SAT): After the equipment is installed on site and the intermediate static tests (e.g. installation checks) have been fully completed and the relevant IRNs have been signed off, the SATs verify that the installation meets the design specifications and that the equipment is operational in its intended environment. SATs are progressively performed and signed off on Commissioning Lots, sub-systems and systems. They include system integration testing and interface testing where relevant. At this stage the T&C Team should be in full control of the assets under test as well as the management of the access to these assets through the WAD. Otherwise you will not be able to control configuration changes to equipment being done behind your back and your testing records will rapidly become irrelevant defeating the purpose of the Progressive Assurance concept. On railway projects, the SATs generally culminate with the energisation of the Traction Power distribution systems (3rd Rail 650-750V D.C, OHLE 25kV A.C., etc...), from which point being disorganised or too submissive becomes extremely dangerous and could prove fatal...
5. Dynamic Integration Tests: These tests normally start when the Static Integration Testing phase is complete, although in reality project constraints do not always allow for such an ideal clear 'cut'. Dynamic tests ensure that individual systems interact correctly within the overall project. For railway projects this is the phase that sees the introduction of the rolling stock train sets, evolving within the environment of the newly constructed infrastructure. Though devoid of passengers for now, this juncture symbolises the culmination of tireless efforts and adherence to the guiding principles of engineering excellence. As Dynamic Integration Tests unfurl, each locomotive's journey along the newly forged route becomes a long-awaited reward for the collective dedication invested in bringing this vision to fruition.
6. Commissioning Hand Over: Upon successful completion of all tests, e.g. Static & Dynamic and provided final inspections during the observation period do not detect anything worrying or abnormal that would need to be addressed and rectified, a "Commissioning Hand Over" certificate or similar would need to be issued to formalise the transfer of responsibility of the overall system from the contractor to the client/maintainer for them to start their own dedicated Trial Operations initiatives which fall outside the scope of this article.

Project Management

Ensuring Compliance

T&C is there to ensure that all components of a project comply with the contractual and regulatory requirements. This compliance is crucial for avoiding legal and financial penalties and ensuring the project’s acceptance by relevant authorities in due course.

Obviously T&C is not the only department who must meet this key objective, but it is generally the one that will be there after nearly everyone else has gone home. As a result, the T&C Team may be unfairly perceived as the one in charge of 'fixing things'. Be prepared for this interesting challenge...

Risk Mitigation

By thoroughly testing and verifying all systems within the scope of works, T&C mitigates the risks associated with system failures, operational downtime, and safety hazards. Early identification and resolution of issues prevent costly rectifications later in the project lifecycle. Said otherwise, late identification and/or delaying the resolution of known issues will cost the project a small fortune and unfortunately, examples abound.

Make no mistake, the T&C Team often finds itself caught between a rock and a hard place. On one side, the installation team is eager for Installation Release Notices (IRNs) to be signed off as quickly as possible. On the other, the T&C team must ensure that every "t" is crossed and every "i" is dotted, knowing that any oversight now will lead to significant challenges down the line.

Quality Assurance

T&C acts as a quality assurance gate keeper by ensuring that the project meets the specified standards and the client(s)' expectations. In fact, T&C and QA must work hand-in-hand in supporting the Progressive Assurance principles. When producing Assurance/Technical Cases to demonstrate the works meet the specifications, the T&C records only form a part of the mountain of records and evidence a large and complex project generates. Still, when the QA and the T&C processes are fully integrated, the demonstration for compliance is much more straigthforward.

Enhanced Communication and Coordination

The T&C process promotes clear communication and coordination among all stakeholders, including project managers, engineers, contractors, and clients. This collaboration is essential for the smooth execution and timely completion of the project. The T&C Manager is usually the 'last individual standing' when almost everyone else has left the project to pastures new.

At some point during the project which coincide with the signing off of IRNs, on-site access shall be controlled by the T&C Team in areas where the main contractor is the Principal Contractor, to prevent any alteration or damage to all parts of the project, including tested plant and materials, infrastructures and systems and to record all post-IRN operations within the scope of works. Coordination at this stage is even more crucial as certain key systems are likely to be energised and could be dangerous to approach without the proper mitigations and Permits to Work in place.

Management of the Interfaces with Others

Having to deal with a myriad of interfacing works is usually the norm on complex projects. A matrix defining responsibility for installation and testing of some key items of Plants and Materials situated at the interface between contracts must be provided for clarity of scope and responsibilities. If not, it will likely be a disaster several years from contract award.

Throughout the T&C process, someone has to take a lead role in co-ordinating and managing the interfaces with other contractors, via or in conjunction with the end client. The T&C Team shall ensure that for each identified interface between contractors' systems, the appropriate test requirements are clearly identified and will include in particular safety and Electo Magnetic Compatibility and Interference issues (EMC/EMI). A big topic during HAZID preparation meetings leading to systems' first energisation.

Throughout the Testing & Commissioning phases, information required from the interfacing parties shall be identified so that they prepare and progress their activities in a timely manner to allow for the future Systems Integration phase to take place. This information must be incorporated into well defined interface documents. Your Designer and Planner colleagues should definitely be a part of this whole interface endeavour but you need to be the custodian of the Commissioning Logic, in particular the Overall Commissioning Logic if you are 'unlucky' enough to be responsible for overall system integration.

Note that Testing and Commissioning interfaces works relate obviously to other project contractors but also to external railway neworks and external facility networks that are relevant to the project. And that is not a small feat.

Commissioning Manual

To regulate site activities during Testing and Commissioning it is important to develop a Commissioning Manual. This document must take into account all site constraints related to safety, access control, means of communication, staff certification, and access for visits and inspections by the different project parties including HSE and the ORR when and where applicable.

The aim of the Commissioning Manual it to gather and reference all the procedures necessary to enable and facilitate test and intervention activities during the Testing and Commissioning phases related to works taking place on site. Crucially, the documents forming part of the Commissioning Manual must be used by every other contractors, assuming there are any, during the various testing & commissioning phases of the project to ensure consistency of approach and to facilitate the integration of all the systems that are being delivered by different organisations within the same project.

The Installation Release Notice (IRN) procedure and the Work Authorisation Document (WAD) procedure are at the heart of the Commissioning Manual.

For railway related projects the Commissioning Manual also include the “Construction & Commissioning Railway Rulebook”.

Construction & Commissioning Railway Rulebook

The Construction & Commissioning Railway Rulebook (CCRRB) is a very important document that establishes how rail related operations are to be safely conducted throughout the project delivery. The Construction Section of the CCRRB shall address the construction of trackworks and other equipment situated within the rail corridor if rail-road vehicle/plant and Engineer's Trains are to be used for these works.

The Commissioning Section of the CCRRB shall address the changes in nature of the infrastructure (e.g. mainly the energisation of the Traction Power element) and provide a clear set of operational rules for working in a live environment and allowing passenger test trains to be used during the Dynamic Integration Phase of the works.

The CCRRB regulates matters such as safety measures, site constraints and communication measures with respect to all train operations. Throughout the Testing and Commissioning process, and particularly during Traction Power energisations and Dynamic Integration Testing, it is essential that a high standard of communication is in place between all areas involved in the test scenarios. To that end, a temporary radio system must be established to allow for continuous communication.

The CCRRB shall be complied with by all parties involved on the project.

Hopefully, that gives you plenty to digest for now.

In the next chapter - part 2 of 5 - we will outline what organisational structure Tier 1 contractors should put in place to optimise the safe and effective delivery of their testing & commissioning scope of works.

https://3eco.uk/2024/06/06/testing-and-commissioning-process-railway-projects/

Read our next article - part 2 of 5 here https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/3eco_3ecoabrltd-3eco-railinfrastructure-activity-7206882993175433216-_qMv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop