Networked axle load checkpoints for rescheduling in railway operation

摘要

Rescheduling requires actual and reliable information about the load of trains. For passenger trains the load varies due to the occupancy but with lower impact on the running time than in freight traffic where the overall load of cargo trains may differ from day to day depending on the actual demand. So the ordered time slot will offer reserves in running time according to the safety philosophy in railway operation. This unknown running time reserve is a crucial parameter for all rescheduling procedures, although the railway undertakings have knowledge about their actual load. A proper solution to receive this missing piece of live data in the dispatching system of an infrastructure manager is given by networked axle load checkpoints. So if one train is indicated as lower loaded than in the cargo information system provided, the infrastructure manager is able, to enforce the railway undertaking to update the load data. Therefore they might be able to run in a different speed profile type which allows faster passing of critical sections in the railway network. Networked axle load checkpoints allow updating load data in daily operation to improve the operational performance.