Upgrading from a CTC into a CBTC System in a Dense Traffic Heavy-Haul Railroad

摘要

MRS Logistica S/A, a large Brazilian heavy haul railroad that connects the three largest Brazilian cities-Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte-has started to deploy in 2007 a recently acquired CBTC (Communications Based Train Control) system, known as SI ACO (Integrated Operations Control and Automation System), to replace existing signaling and control systems that are based on a CTC ( Centralized Traffic Control) architecture. As a premise, the new system should have a deployment plan where the new system would have to coexist with the existing CTC system, in a way that the deployment process would be transparent to the railroad operation (no impacts, no unsafe operation).This paper presents the most important challenges faced so far along the development and deployment of the SIA-CO system, describing the engineering solutions designed to overcome them, like the strategy for a gradual deployment , the coexistence with the existent CTC system and the operation of non-equipped trains in a CBTC are-a. The SIACO system has started to operate in a Pilot area in May of 2008 and it's expected to be fully deployed at all the railroad extension by 2010.