[Welcoming opening]
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to ITE Rail Engineering Hub! My name is [Your
Name], and I'll be your guide today to bring you for a short tour at our Rail
Engineering Hub. Let's get started!
[Background of the Hub]
This hub covers an area of about 1,050m2, and our design theme is “Industrial
Looks” so that our training facilities can be as authentic as possible. The uniqueness
of this training space is that, it is designed to be highly customizable for authentic
training, collaboration activities, as well as organizing skills competitions.
The Hub comprises of 4 zones namely
Zone 1 - RAIL ROLLING STOCK LAB,
Zone 2 - RAIL SYSTEMS ENGINEERING LAB
Zone 3 - RAIL PERMANENT WAY LAB
Zone 4 - RAIL AUTOMATION & CONTROL LAB
[Standing in front of the Train – Point 1]
Our first stop is the Rolling Stock and propulsion system in this Rail Rolling Stock
Lab. Here, we have a repurposed train cabin donated by our Land Transport
Authority [LTA]. We have purposely design this space with train platform wall
decals at the both sides of the wall, to give you a feel of standing at a MRT platform
waiting for your train.
If you observe carefully, the train station on the wall decals show Choa Chu Kang
Station (North-South Line) operated by SMRT, and Bukit Panjang Station
(Downtown Line) operated by SBS Transit, and ITE College West is located in
between these 2 stations.
In this lab, our students are able to practise their hand-skills on the maintenance of
authentic systems & equipment, such the doors system, power collection system,
lighting system, and certainly, in an authentic environment of being inside a real
train.
- Rolling stock training
o Train door,
o Train interior maintenance - Seats, grab pole and cabinet panels.
o Electrical wire routing
o Air ventilation duct and system routing
o Fire protection equipment
- Communication system
o In-train visual display
o Audio system (such as emergency communication system)
o In-train surveillance system (CCTV system)
You must be wondering how we get this 24 metres train into the lab?
[Demonstrate the opening/closing of train doors]
[Move to the train bogie – Point 2]
Looking over there where our first generation of train bogie sits – an iconic training
asset, courtesy of SMRT Corporation. Here, students will be able to understand the
working mechanisms of the train propulsion system.
Since the Bogie is heavy and not accessible for students to see the different
components of the bogie system, we need to enhance our teaching using the Mixed
Reality [MR] learning system. Students are able to take advantage of MR
technology to appreciate operation of the propulsion system and view in three
dimensions of its component.
Our MR system also comes with an assessment function to re-affirm the learning
effectiveness of each participant.
MR – to train propulsion system, the functions of the components
[Demonstrate the AR [MR] learning system by staff/students]
[Move to Zone 2 – Point 3]
This is the Rail System Engineering Lab where students get to learn about rail
components servicing and maintenance.
Students get to learn the individual components of a rail system, which forms the
complete rail mechanism and assemblies. Students will be expose to read and
interpret technical drawings, and use specialized tools to service, maintain, secure &
align different parts of the train components. Every step is critical to ensure the
functionality and reliability of the train.
Here are some of the train components students get to work on:
Table 1: Axle training kit
Table 2: Brakes system
Table 3: Pumps training kit
Table 4: LRT rails
Table 5: Engine system
Table 6: Gears training kit or system
Table 7: LRT collector shoes
We will group the training into 3 major area,
- mechanical equipment and practices.
o Pump: Sump pump in the station
Area of training – the handling of the component.
Inspection the component and identifying and replacing of
defects.
o Diesel Engine: For locomotive propulsion, it is an alternative
propulsion vehicle in situation when electrical locomotive cannot
operate.
Area of training – dismantling and assemblying of the
engine. Understand the function of the component through
authentic learning
- Rolling stock component maintenance
o Collector shoes,
o brakes,
o door operation and
o Axial training kit
- LRT powering system
o Transmission and distribution and collection (on board vehicle)
[Move to Zone 3 – Point 4]
This new training PWAY facility will provide an immersive learning and
teaching environment for our students and academic staff. At the same time,
staff will explore new and innovative pedagogic as well as andragogic
approaches to enhance both the teaching and learning experience in this
facility.
PWAY lab is designed to train the students to be competent in carrying out on-
site inspection, day to day track maintenance, services, repairs and rectifying
faults in rapid transit permanent way. The students will experience to perform,
inspect and maintain the PWAY rail joint such as inspect and maintain
Insulated Rail Joint, prepare and set-up the mould required for aluminothermic
welding. Students check the track geometry such as track gauge, laying and
cant are within the permissible limits. Beside maintaining the rail, students will
also inspect and maintain third rail system.
To support students’ learning of procedural knowledge, ITE has adopted the
use of Learning Through Filming (LTF) teaching strategy as a pedagogical
solution to engage the students in learning concepts and demonstrating
practical steps. Here are few of LTF videos to demonstrate the students are
experiencing their PWAY practical. They consist of the following:
1) Maintain Insulated Rail Joint
2) Prepare and set-up the mould for aluminothermic welding
3) Role play, students will also experience first-hand, the importance of
trackside safety and workplace efficiency
Moving on. Our Permanent Way Lab – I hope at this point you have the feeling of
being inside a train tunnel.
This is the space where students will be able to experience the actual track work
environment. They will have the opportunity to perform hands-on track installation,
and have a deeper understanding of PWay Track inspection.
Through role play, students will also experience first-hand, the importance of
trackside safety and workplace efficiency.
Besides the running rail, students will get to work on the unique Singapore railway
traction power distribution system - our SG 3 rd rail set up. The rail track and the 3 rd
rail system is sponsored by SMRT Corporation and SBS Transit.
[Move to Zone 4 – Point 5]
Electrical system and control
Student will learn
1. Electrical wire routing planning with our training kit
2. Different wiring configuration for different motor control techniques
3. Hand-skill required when handling electrical wire and its safety
measures
Pneumatic system and control
Student will learn
1. Pneumatic system using our training kit
2. Different configuration for different control techniques
3. Hand-skill required when handling pneumatic system and its safety
measures
Data analytic
Student will learn to work with data and using data identify deterioration of
component and using interaction of data to identify critical area of work. The
software that we are currently using is Tableau. We are also looking into
incorporating Robotic process automation (UiPath) and IoT elements into our
data analytic.
Area of collaboration with industry – currently in discussion with industry
partners (WSDip projects)
1. There is an inter-relationship between train wheels profile and
temperature – to help identifying effectiveness of train movement, such
as braking.
2. The other area – track geometry with acoustic data – deterioration of
track.
Collaborative learning space
Student will use this lab carry out their industry projects mainly for WSDip
students.
This is the Rail Automation and Control lab. It is also a highly customisable learning
environment, where it can be function as Classroom, IT Room, as well as with the
intention for collaborative learning activities, such as project discussion.
In this space, our training are focusing on data analytics training, electrical circuits
and IT in nature. Here, students will be introduced to traction control systems and
industrial wiring installation and configuration. This space also doubles as a
digitization lab where students can deepen their knowledge in data visualisation and
analytic.
[Move back to Zone 1 – Point 6]
Now we are back at Zone 1, you will notice the Overhead Catenary System (OCS)
over our training pantograph system. This traction power distribution system is
unique to our North-East line system. With this system donated by our industry
partner, SBS Transit, ITE is the only training institution that has a complete traction
power distribution training in Singapore.
Looking forward, we hope that our Rail Engineering Hub will be more than a learning
space for students. It would also be a space for us to promote an exciting career in
Rail Engineering and engage students with purposeful events and activities, such as,
WorldSkills Singapore Competition, LTA’s Rail Tech Grand Challenge, and ITE’s
IgnITE Skills Challenge.
[Move to Point 7]
We hope that you have a fruitful visit to our Rail Engineering Hub. Before we moving
off, shall we take a group photo in front of the train.