Next Stop: Digital Transformation

Digitalization is in full swing. This also applies to Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ), which, together with Siemens solution partner Autexis Control AG, has renewed and automated the route and operations control systems.

The Oerlikon tram depot, built in 1938, provides space for up to 70 trams. To ensure that more than 800,000 passengers per day continue to reach their destinations smoothly in the future, VBZ has steadily modernized its depots over the past few years. In addition to improved building insulation and photovoltaic systems, digitalization has also taken hold: whereas previously numerous buttons and switches had to be operated manually to set routes, this process is now automated and digitalized.

For everyday depot operations, it offers major advantages if we can also maintain an overview of operations from our desks.

Samuel Kaufmann, Systemengineer at the VBZ

The technology at a glance

Dabei setzen die VBZ nicht nur auf zahlreiche fehlersichere Steuerungen, Frequenzumrichter und Peripheriemodule von Siemens, neu beruht auch die Visualisierung des gesamten Betriebs auf dem webbasierten Visualisierungssystem WinCC Unified. Alle wichtigen Informationen und der Zustand der Geleise, Signale oder Tore sind an mehreren Bedienstellen ersichtlich. An der Hauptbedienstelle – dem Leitstand – werden sie auf zwei grossen Simatic HMI dargestellt.

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A partnership in practice

In 2021, Siemens solution partner Autexis Control AG won the tender for the digitalization project. Early on, visualizing the depot in the control room with WinCC Unified was discussed, recalls Zimmermann: “We wanted an open system that would keep all our digitalization options open. With WinCC Unified, we are prepared for any future operating scenarios, which we are now continuously developing.”

Carlo Sulzer, Product Manager for WinCC, emphasizes that it is not a given for a company to take on a project of this scale with a new type of software. The software was therefore tested in a pilot project. “For us, such collaboration is a stroke of luck. VBZ consistently shows a strong willingness to work in a solution-oriented way, largely handles engineering and programming itself together with Autexis, and when a function is not available, they find workarounds,” says Sulzer.

We analyze, optimize and automate as many processes in the depot as possible – from vehicle entry and preparation through to departures.

Stefan Zimmermann, Systemengineer at VBZ

Safety as a priority

Not only is safety on the tracks important, but digitalization has also brought the issue of cybersecurity increasingly to the forefront. VBZ takes a cautious approach and, for example, integrates only a limited number of external clients such as tablets for operation, even though this would be easy to implement thanks to the WinCC interfaces.

The digital journey continues

In May 2022, VBZ received the operating permit for the modernized depot. Following the positive experience, VBZ will also deploy WinCC Unified at the Hard tram depot. The risk of using software that has not been widely tested for long has paid off, confirms Kaufmann: “With WinCC Unified, we have created a library for so-called faceplates. These are practical templates that allow us to store specific values for frequently used objects such as switches or gates and reuse them repeatedly. Soon, we will also use web technology to access the scheduling and control center websites with up-to-date operational information, as well as the depot’s operating manual, directly from the control room.”

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