Whole Life Costing of Off- Grid Power Supplies for Rail Level Crossing Safety Systems

In a collaborative project between Network Rail and Cardiff University, a comparative whole life cost analysis on two off-grid power supply solutions to power an Overlay Miniature Signal Light at an unprotected crossing was completed. Following a methodology closely aligned with Network Rail standards and BS EN 60300, a renewable off-grid power supply was designed in order to be compared with the non-renewable solution currently on trial on UK infrastructure. The whole life cost analysis was performed using HOMER Pro software where parametric cost estimating was used to populate the cost breakdown structure of each system. The new solution was developed from conducting a feasibility study on a case study location. Simulation results show that the new renewable solution demonstrates a positive investment after a 20-year lifetime where the net present values of the proposed and base system were £8,207 and £27,523.27 respectively. A roll out scenario of installation across 4,794 crossings was also done where the proposed solution showed to have a lower total whole life cost. Both solutions were modelled for the case study location Coedmawr Farm 2 Level Crossing in Carmarthenshire, Wales where an unprotecting crossing is situated.