Adding Advance Crossing Activations to Cab Signaling Territory

摘要

Following up on the presentation by Fries and Shue at the 2017 AREMA Conference, this presentation discusses adding Advance Crossing Activation functionality to a territory in which the primary mode of enforcement is based on interpreting cab codes from the rails. This work supports an enhancement to a passenger rail service which shares track with freight trains. The higher speed limits allowed on passenger service and the high density of grade crossings in the territory near densely populated urban areas called for a wireless crossing activation function being supplemented to the Cab Signaling based Automatic Train Protection system currently used in the territory. The solution required that many elements of Alstom's ITCS PTC system, hereafter referred to as ITCS, be added to a Cab Signaling system. For example, vital train location determination is required along with vital enforcement of targets with different speed limit requirements encountered along the route. This protection system is then coordinated with the concurrently operating Cab Signaling system in order to significantly increase the safe operating speed of the equipped passenger trains. This paper will describe how the two protection systems operate both independently and in coordination. Some of the challenges encountered in deploying this hybrid protection system along with thoughts on potential future enhancements will also be provided.