Live signalling workstations in ROCs and SCs

Reminded of this question by this thread https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/rugby-roc-evacuated-18-09-18-evening.169945/

Based on this list https://wiki.openraildata.com/index.php/List_of_Train_Describers it seems that the current ROC migration situation is as below. Any updates/corrections welcome!

Ashford ROC (9)
A2 Ashford IECC B
A3 Ashford Front-End TD
AD Ashford IECC A

2x HS Workstations
5x Classic Workstations
2x North Kent Workstations

Basingstoke ROC (0)
None.

Cardiff ROC (11)
C1 SWCC Newport
C1 SWCC Newport East Usk
C1 SWCC Newport Ebbw
C1 SWCC Newport Severn Tunnel
C2 SWCC Cardiff Area MCS
C2 SWCC Vale of Glamorgan
C2 SWCC Valleys
C3 SWCC Shrewsbury North WestCAD
C4 WROC Shrewsbury-Newport Planned 2022
C5 WROC North Wales Coast WestCAD 09/03/2018*
C6 WROC Port Talbot West Planned 10/03/2019

SWCC Rhyl
SWCC St Fagans, St George’s, Llantrisant & Rhoose

Derby ROC (11)
BU EMCC Burton Area WestCAD 17/08/2018*
DY EMCC Derby Area WestCAD 03/10/2018
KG EMCC Kettering Area WestCAD 21/02/2018*
LR EMCC Leicester
MD EMCC Mansfield
NE EMCC North Erewash Area WestCAD
NM EMCC Nottingham WestCAD
TN EMCC Chesterfield Area WestCAD

EMCC Erewash
EMCC Trent
EMCC Netherfield

Didcot SC (14 - some duplication?)
D0 TVSC Temple Meads IECC
D0 TVSC Temple Meads Assist
D1 TVSC Reading IECC A (station)
D2 TVSC Reading IECC B (West Jnc)
D3 TVSC Paddington IECC
D4 TVSC Hayes IECC
D5 TVSC Didcot IECC
D6 TVSC Maidenhead IECC
D7 TVSC Swindon IECC
D9 TVSC Stoke Gifford IECC

TVSC Acton
TVSC Slough
TVSC Twyford
TVSC Newbury
TVSC Oxford
TVSC Crossings Desk

East Kent SC (4)
1 Ramsgate
2 Faversham
3 Sittingbourne
4 Rochester

Plus one inactive white elephant (Medway Valley).

Edinburgh SC (9)
EA Edinburgh IECC A
EB Edinburgh IECC B
EC Edinburgh IECC C
ED Edinburgh IECC D

7x Edinburgh WS
Cumbernauld WS
Cowlairs WS

Glasgow ROC (10)
G1 WSSC Glasgow Central
G1 WSSC Glasgow Bridge St
G1 WSSC Polmadie
G1 WSSC Shields
G1 WSSC Cathcart
G2 WSSC Paisley
G2 WSSC Ayr
G3 WSSC Newton
G3 WSSC Whifflet
G4 WSSC Motherwell
G4 WSSC Carstairs Sept 2019

Manchester ROC (6)
M0 MRROC Lime Street WestCAD 26/07/2018*
M1 MRROC Liverpool Area WestCAD
M2 MRROC Manchester North WestCAD
M3 MRROC Manchester Central WestCAD
M4 MRROC Wavertree WestCAD 07/05/2018*
M5 MRROC East Cheshire Planned 2019
M6 MRROC Hope Valley Planned 2018
M7 MRROC Manchester Piccadilly Planned 2018
M8 MRROC Slade Lane Planned 2018
M9 MRROC Blackpool Area WestCAD 29/01/2018

Romford ROC (2)
Q1 ROROC Stratford IECC
Q2 ROROC Shenfield IECC

Rugby ROC (1)
R3 RYROC Stafford Area WestCAD

Three Bridges ROC (10)
X0 TBROC Thameslink Core WestCAD
X1 TBROC London Bridge Central WestCAD
X2 TBROC Charing Cross WestCAD
X2 TBROC Grove Park
X3 TBROC Cannon Street WestCAD
X3 TBROC Lewisham
X3 TBROC North Kent East (until TM/ARS in 2019)
X5 TBROC Sutton Area WestCAD
X6 TBROC Streatham Area WestCAD
X7 TBROC East Sussex & Lewes Planned 11/03/2019
ES TBROC East Sussex MCS Planned decommissioning 11/03/2019

West Midlands SC (12)
BG WMSC Bromsgrove Corridor WestCAD
CV WMSC Cherwell Valley WestCAD
CY WMSC Coventry
KN WMSC Kings Norton WestCAD
LC WMSC Leamington Corridor
NS WMSC New Street Station WestCAD Planned 26/12/2021
PJ WMSC Proof House Jn WestCAD
SJ WMSC Stourbridge
SV WMSC Stour Valley WestCAD
TD WMSC Telford
WL WMSC Walsall WestCAD
WN WMSC Water Orton
WO WMSC Wolverhampton WestCAD

York ROC (4)
Y0 YKROC North Lincs 1 (west of Brocklesby)
Y0 YKROC North Lincs 2 (east of Brocklesby)
Y1 YKROC York Planned 26/12/2018
Y2 York IECC 2 (Leeds Central)
Y3 York IECC 3 (Leeds North Western)
Y4 YKROC Sheffield WestCAD
Y4 YKROC Rotherham
Y5 YKROC Brough WestCAD Planned 11/2018
Y6 YKROC Huddersfield WestCAD
Y7 YKROC Halifax WestCAD
Y8 YKROC Kings Cross North Planned 26/12/2018
Y9 YKROC Kings Cross South Planned 03/2020
Y? YKROC Harrogate-Poppleton Planned 2022
Y? YKROC Hartlepool Planned 30/11/2021

Strictly speaking, this is a list of Train Describer areas and their location, and not workstations, although in most cases they align.

A couple of points -

Ashford and Saltley are not ROCs.

Several of the areas included have 2 (or more) workstations, for example Thameslink Core, London Bridge Central.

Romford has IECC equipment in the ROC, but as far as I’m aware, the workstations remain at Liverpool St. (Happy to be corrected if wrong).

As BaldRick mentions, these are ordered by their TD SMART Area IDs, which largely, but not always, align to workstations in ROCs and SCCs.

Some missing ones...
Derby ROC/EMCC = Erewash WS, Trent WS, Netherfield WS
Three Bridges ROC = Lewisham WS (extends X3 - Cannon St TD) & Grove Park A (extends X2 - Charing X TD). Cannon Street is presently two workstations = Cannon St & North Kent East until TM/ARS in 2019. East Sussex Coast becomes Eastbourne once Lewes is commissioned.
York ROC Sheffield, is Sheffield/Rotherham
Romford ROC does now have the IECC Scalable in situ I believe.
Cowlairs, aka Glasgow ROC/WSSC = Paisley/Ayr. Glasgow = Central/Bridge St., Polmadie, Shields, Cathcart WSs
Cardiff ROC/SWCC C2 = Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan (VOG) & Valleys

Basingstoke ROC is not active yet on the signalling front, what you’ve listed is the newish ASC.

Also under TBROC what is Three Bridges TB ITD?

Didcot is also not a ROC yet.

Didcot TVSC has 14 workstations (Resonate IECC Scalable)
Paddington
Acton
Hayes
Slough
Twyford
Reading
Reading West Junction
Newbury
Oxford
Didcot
Swindon
Stoke Gifford (Bristol PW)
Bristol TM
Bristol TM Assist
and a crossings desk

Also not sure that Basingstoke ROC has any signalling in it at all at the moment. Basingstoke box does, but that's not in the ROC

jdxn said:

Also not sure that Basingstoke ROC has any signalling in it at all at the moment. Basingstoke box does, but that's not in the ROC

Click to expand...

AIUI the current signalling centre at Basingstoke is in a prefabricated building in the car park and is usually referred to as “Basingstoke New”, to differentiate from the ‘signal box’ at the junction which closed around 10 years ago. They’ve been gradually expanding “New” with additional recontrolled sections but supposedly only as a transitional phase prior to moving again into the ROC.

Isn't there some sort of signalling centre at Edinburgh that was going to become a ROC but has now been dropped from the ultimate list, with its control area to be absorbed into Cowlairs instead?

Also wasn't there going to be one at Gillingham or some such place?

Since it has been stated in the parent thread that WMSCC "isn't going away", do we also need a list of signalling centres that aren't ROCs but aren't going away?

Plus your missing Gillingham (East Kent), which is a SCC, but meant to be a ROC

Should Ashford also have HS1 included in it?

Tio Terry said:

Should Ashford also have HS1 included in it?

Click to expand...

Indeed!

2 x High Speed Workstations (separate to the IECC but on the same ops floor) along with the 5 classic side workstations (split across IECC A and IECC B) and the 2 North Kent Workstations - for a total of 9.

snowball said:

Isn't there some sort of signalling centre at Edinburgh that was going to become a ROC but has now been dropped from the ultimate list, with its control area to be absorbed into Cowlairs instead?

Click to expand...

Edinburgh controls as much as West-of-Scotland does, including the Cowlairs workstation. My understanding is that it was then wasn't going to be an ROC, and now isn't anticipated to move at all. The plan probably varies depending on who you talk to and when, so whether it indicates that it's back on the ROC plan or is a tacit acceptance that 15-20 SCCs is better 7 ROCs I don't know.

Regards Cardiff South Wales Signalling Centre/Wales ROC

Newport Link Grade 6
Severn Tunnel WestCad Classic
East Usk WestCad Classic
Newport WestCad Classic
Ebbw WestCad Classic

Cardiff link Grade 7
Cardiff Mainline MCS
Cardiff Valleys MCS
Vale of Glamorgan MCS

Rhyl Link Grade 4
Rhyl WestCad Classic

Shrewsbury Link Grade 4
Shrewsbury North WestCad Classic

St Fagans Level Crossing Link Grade 2
St Fagans, St George’s, Llantrisant & Rhoose.

Future workstations
Swansea to Port Talbot probably Grade 7 (March 2019)
Tondu SB area CP6
Park Junction SB area CP6
March 2019 fringe to Carmarthen Junction SB area CP6.

No other migration into Wales ROC in CP6.

Commissioned workstations in West of Scotland Signalling Centre (Turkey Yard/Cowlairs Road, Springburn, Glasgow)
1) Ayr
2) Paisley
3) Shields
4) Cathcart
5) Bridge Street
6) Glasgow Central
7) Polmadie
8) Newton
9) Motherwell
10) Whifflet

Commissioned workstations in Edinburgh Signalling Centre (New Street car park, Edinburgh)
1) w/s1
2) w/s 2
3) w/s 3
4) w/s 4
5) w/s 5
6) w/s 6
7) w/s 7
8) Cumbernauld w/s*
9) Cowlairs w/s*

*The Cumbernauld and Cowlairs workstations are physically located on the same operating floor as the seven Edinburgh workstations but are managed seperately, with a seperate link structure and no oversight from the Edinburgh SSM.

The ROC plan for Scotland is very unclear. At one point it was announced there would be two centres - East (the current Edinburgh SC) and West (the current WSSC). Then it was changed to Edinburgh closing and WSSC being greatly expanded to become the sole ROC for Scotland. Rumours now abound that Edinburgh SC will end up relocating away from New Street to an alternate site for various reasons of space and security but will otherwise carry on exactly as before.

At the moment WSSC is a sort of pseudo-ROC as it was built before the specifications were fully developed; the Control function is co-located on the same floor as the 10 signalling workstations but behind a glass partition wall, with the signallers grudgingly tolerating the presence of the controllers and vice versa. With the recent shoehorning in of the new Motherwell workstations and the introduction of new desks in Control (for example two Hitachi maintenance controllers) it’s clear that any further expansion of either the signalling floor or the Control will require a substantial extension to the building but the site is so restricted that there’s not really anywhere available to extend into. The latest rumour is that with the confirmation that NR Scotland will be moving back into Buchanan House the Control will go back there as well but this would seem to fly in the face of the entire ROC concept. In any case the facilities inside WSSC are becoming increasingly inadequate for the number of staff working there and car parking is becoming a huge issue so if it is to become a ‘proper’ ROC to the same specifications as those in England and Wales then something will have to give...

IanXC said:

Reminded of this question by this thread https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/rugby-roc-evacuated-18-09-18-evening.169945/

Based on this list https://wiki.openraildata.com/index.php/List_of_Train_Describers it seems that the current ROC migration situation is as below. Any updates/corrections welcome!

Three Bridges (8)
TB Three Bridges ITD
X0 TBROC Thameslink Core WestCAD
X1 TBROC London Bridge Central WestCAD
X2 TBROC Charing Cross WestCAD
X3 TBROC Cannon Street WestCAD
X5 TBROC Sutton Area WestCAD
X6 TBROC Streatham Area WestCAD
X7 TBROC East Sussex & Lewes Planned 11/03/2019
ES TBROC East Sussex MCS Planned decommissioning 11/03/2019

Click to expand...

I’m pretty sure that “TB Three Bridges ITD” refers to Three Bridges ASC and not Three Bridges ROC, but happy to be corrected if I’m wrong.

Saltley isn't a proper ROC either is it? We've been told it's eventually going into Rugby ROC, but for now it's easier just to migrate the WM to WMSC until that area is fully done, then port it over to Rugby. Incidentally. Is Colwich panel (Stoke SCC) going over to the ROC as there's a lot of new troughing and cabling going in around the Rugeley-Armitage area. Looks exactly like what has been done at Runcorn.

Thanks all, I have updated the list as best I can from the information given.

If the list is interesting, feel free to keep posting updates and I will continue to update the list.

What's the position on Gillingham?

DY is already in use for the ROC. The border with the Burton workstation is just after stenson junction

The two Reading workstations in TVSC at Didcot are:

• Reading Station
• Reading West Junction

Highlandspring said:

The ROC plan for Scotland is very unclear. At one point it was announced there would be two centres - East (the current Edinburgh SC) and West (the current WSSC). Then it was changed to Edinburgh closing and WSSC being greatly expanded to become the sole ROC for Scotland. Rumours now abound that Edinburgh SC will end up relocating away from New Street to an alternate site for various reasons of space and security but will otherwise carry on exactly as before.

Click to expand...

I'd heard the ROC plan was unclear, though I thought we were meant to be having the WSSC controlling up to Perth, and Inverness SC everything North of Perth.

driver_m said:

Saltley isn't a proper ROC either is it? We've been told it's eventually going into Rugby ROC, but for now it's easier just to migrate the WM to WMSC until that area is fully done, then port it over to Rugby. Incidentally. Is Colwich panel (Stoke SCC) going over to the ROC as there's a lot of new troughing and cabling going in around the Rugeley-Armitage area. Looks exactly like what has been done at Runcorn.

Click to expand...

WMSCC at Saltley isn't a ROC (Saltley PSB next door closed a good while back), it is pretty much full when New St phase 7 is done in Dec 21 (Aston box is the only bit that will probably go in there). As for Colwich, the current plan isn't to do it, £££ being the problem. The troughing is for Colwich resignalling which is 2019/20 ish.

The Planner said:

WMSCC at Saltley isn't a ROC (Saltley PSB next door closed a good while back), it is pretty much full when New St phase 7 is done in Dec 21 (Aston box is the only bit that will probably go in there). As for Colwich, the current plan isn't to do it, £££ being the problem. The troughing is for Colwich resignalling which is 2019/20 ish.

Click to expand...

I thought that NR were trying to get rid of all traces of 1960s signalling Infrastructure on the WCML. So its going to be new signals and troughing but still in Stoke SCC?

Last I heard it was, cheap as chips job.

IanXC said:

Reminded of this question by this thread https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/rugby-roc-evacuated-18-09-18-evening.169945/

Based on this list https://wiki.openraildata.com/index.php/List_of_Train_Describers it seems that the current ROC migration situation is as below. Any updates/corrections welcome!

Rugby ROC (1)
R3 RYROC Stafford Area WestCAD

Click to expand...

Looking at my August 2013 Track maps book, it says that Rugby ROC covers the following areas:-

WT - King's Langley to Tring
TK - Tring to Milton Keynes
KR - Milton Keynes to Kilsby Tunnel
NR - Northampton to Rugby
HN - Hanslope to Northampton
RY - Hunsbury Hill Tunnel to Hillmorton Junction (this is the old Rugby PSB, I presume)
RC - Rugby to Coventry
CN - Coventry to Nuneaton
RN - Rugby to Nuneaton
NL - Nuneaton to Lichfield
NW - Nuneaton to Whitacre Junction
WN - Wigston to Nuneaton
LS - Lichfield to Stafford

And since my book was printed, I believe it's also in control of:-

The former Watford Junction PSB (now part of the WT code??)
Not sure about between Stafford and Wolverhampton, as I think that went into Saltley (WMCC)


So, if I'm correct - it controls the WCML from Watford up to Lichfield, then hands over to Stoke SCC for the former Colwich area, before REGAINING control for the area between Colwich Junction and Stafford, from where it hands back to Stoke SCC..

Stampy said:

Looking at my August 2013 Track maps book, it says that Rugby ROC covers the following areas:-

WT - King's Langley to Tring
TK - Tring to Milton Keynes
KR - Milton Keynes to Kilsby Tunnel
NR - Northampton to Rugby
HN - Hanslope to Northampton
RY - Hunsbury Hill Tunnel to Hillmorton Junction (this is the old Rugby PSB, I presume)
RC - Rugby to Coventry
CN - Coventry to Nuneaton
RN - Rugby to Nuneaton
NL - Nuneaton to Lichfield
NW - Nuneaton to Whitacre Junction
WN - Wigston to Nuneaton
LS - Lichfield to Stafford

And since my book was printed, I believe it's also in control of:-

The former Watford Junction PSB (now part of the WT code??)
Not sure about between Stafford and Wolverhampton, as I think that went into Saltley (WMCC)


So, if I'm correct - it controls the WCML from Watford up to Lichfield, then hands over to Stoke SCC for the former Colwich area, before REGAINING control for the area between Colwich Junction and Stafford, from where it hands back to Stoke SCC..

Click to expand...

According to the recent thread about the fire at a Rugby ROC, that list is premature. There is hardly anything in the ROC yet, just Stafford, most routes are still controlled by the adjacent SCC.

Stampy said:

Looking at my August 2013 Track maps book, it says that Rugby ROC covers the following areas:-

WT - King's Langley to Tring
TK - Tring to Milton Keynes
KR - Milton Keynes to Kilsby Tunnel
NR - Northampton to Rugby
HN - Hanslope to Northampton
RY - Hunsbury Hill Tunnel to Hillmorton Junction (this is the old Rugby PSB, I presume)
RC - Rugby to Coventry
CN - Coventry to Nuneaton
RN - Rugby to Nuneaton
NL - Nuneaton to Lichfield
NW - Nuneaton to Whitacre Junction
WN - Wigston to Nuneaton
LS - Lichfield to Stafford

And since my book was printed, I believe it's also in control of:-

The former Watford Junction PSB (now part of the WT code??)
Not sure about between Stafford and Wolverhampton, as I think that went into Saltley (WMCC)


So, if I'm correct - it controls the WCML from Watford up to Lichfield, then hands over to Stoke SCC for the former Colwich area, before REGAINING control for the area between Colwich Junction and Stafford, from where it hands back to Stoke SCC..

Click to expand...

swt_passenger said:

According to the recent thread about the fire at a Rugby ROC, that list is premature. There is hardly anything in the ROC yet, just Stafford, most routes are still controlled by the adjacent SCC.

Click to expand...

I would go further in fact and say all of the codes are still controlled from Rugby SCC.

Watford junction PSB migrated into Wembley Main Line SSC as a westcad workstation intergrated into the main panel signalling control desk along side the existing panels and also extending the diagram too, from a layman’s point of view they made a nice job of it.

carriageline said:

Plus your missing Gillingham (East Kent), which is a SCC, but meant to be a ROC

Click to expand...

snowball said:

What's the position on Gillingham?

Click to expand...

East Kent Signalling Centre (EKSC) has four active workstations:

1 Ramsgate
2 Faversham
3 Sittingbourne
4 Rochester

Plus one inactive white elephant (Medway Valley).

Intended to become Kent’s ROC, but does not currently have ROC status (although most of the box email addresses refer to it as a ROC!).

1990s BR building rather than a new build so currently lacks some of the ‘ROC spec’ facilities (eg gym, electric car charging points).

Stampy said:

Looking at my August 2013 Track maps book, it says that Rugby ROC covers the following areas:-

Click to expand...

As far as I can see, it correctly says they are controlled from Rugby SCC. Maybe Stampy didn't realise that the SCC is not the same as the ROC.