Students are encouraged to read and gain experience wider than the essential reading list as a broad knowledge of railway control and communications systems engineering is needed to pass this module.
Questions in the exam paper will cover all learning objectives within the syllabus for the Certificate in Railway Control Engineering Fundamentals (module A), as below, and all articles from the essential reading list.
Learning objectives are:
The following documents have been withdrawn -
They have been replaced by one new document
Questions from this new document will be set for the October 2025 Certificate exam.
All items on the essential reading list below are available free of charge and most of these are short articles. Studying and understanding all of the items in the essential list will enable a candidate to pass the Certificate.
Candidates are also recommended to check the IRSE Younger Members' study videos as they have commissioned a series of talks by the "back to basics" article authors and there is useful feedback for candidates within the annual exam reviews.
The Certificate (module A) syllabus gives the scope of the exam, arranged under 10 learning objectives.
The Certificate (Module A) Study Guide v3 March 2022 gives advice to candidates on preparing for the certificate
Also watch Hedley Calderbank's presentation within the February 2023 exam review for more tips
The Certificate (Module A) Example Questions contains questions with answers that demonstrate the style, format and typical content of the various question types used in the Certificate (Module A)
Updated February 2022!
The Glossary of Train Control Terminology gives common terms, acronyms and alternative terminology for railway control functions, systems and equipment
The Introduction to Railway Signalling document is a very basic introduction to the subject of railway signalling. Certificate candidates with little prior knowledge should start here
The Fundamental requirements for a train control system (back to basics) article is a short article on the essential requirements for any train control system
The Train detection (back to basics) article is an overview of the many ways in which train positions can be determined
Interlockings (back to basics) are two articles covering the technologies and functionality of the fundamental core of a signalling system
Dependability of railway control & communication systems explores the fundamentals of reliability, availability, maintainability, safety and security in railway control engineering
The Principles of railway safety engineering (back to basics) article explains the identification and analysis of hazards and risks
The Train protection (back to basics) article details the story of train protection from train stops to ATP systems, ETCS, CBTC and PTC - updated April 2023
The Operator interfaces (back to basics) article covers the interface between the human operator and the signalling system from lever frames to computer workstations
Also watch Ian Mitchell's presentation to the IRSE Younger Members
Telecoms (back to basics) are two articles covering the whole breadth of telecoms networks and customer-facing communications respectively
Safety engineering for railway control & communication systems details principles of integrity and safety management as applied to railway control systems
Metro railways - automation and summary of differences from typical main line railways provides a summary of ways in which issues affecting railway control engineering typically differ between metros and main line railways. Also an outline of the various degrees of metro automation
The Level crossings (back to basics) article details fundamental principles and typical applications of level crossings
Also watch Ed Rollings' presentation to the IRSE Younger Members
Railway control & communications systems management gives a summary of some aspects of systems management, life cycle and interfaces
Interfaces and interactions between railway control & communications and related systems details an outline of the interfaces with operations and other engineering systems
Points (back to basics) articles cover principles and common practices of points operating mechanisms
Maintenance and RCM (back to basics) article covers the role of maintenance and remote condition monitoring
Safety integrity levels (back to basics) article explains SILs
Metro train control systems (back to basics) article gives an introduction to metro train control systems
Signals (back to basics) looks at lineside railway signals in greater detail
Signalling the layout has been written for Certificate candidates to understand signalling the layout requirements for a number of systems.
This document supersedes previously available documents 16 (safe train separation) and 23 (study guide for Module 2 signalling the layout).
19 March 2025
Documents 9, 10, 16, 19 and 23 have been withdrawn and replaced
The following are recommended for Certificate in Railway Control Engineering Fundamentals (module A) candidates who want a wider perspective, or alternative approaches to subjects covered in the essential reading list.
These books can be purchased at the IRSE store (discounts available for IRSE members - log in to see these)
Looking for help for your exam studies? Watch the study videos collated by IRSE Younger Members' Section on our Vimeo study channel at https://vimeo.com/showcase/study