Category: Transport control systems

Authors:

Popov A. N. , Grishaev S. Yu.

Annotation:
the increased risk of traffi c accidents and the need to wait for the opening of the crossing for cars when the train passes through and the losses associated with this waiting. Over time, the severity of the problem only grows – there are more and more cars, the intensity and speed of traffi c increases, as does the weight of trains. The most eff ective means of solving the problem of delimiting traffi c fl ows at crossings is their separation at diff erent levels through the construction of overpasses. A signifi cant drawback of overpass construction, which does not allow to completely solve the problem in an acceptable timeframe, is the high capital costs of construction. Therefore, for most crossings located at the same level, the main means of controlling traffi c fl ows is the automatic crossing signaling (APS), the principles of which have remained practically unchanged since the middle of the last century, whereabouts the conditions for its operation have signifi cantly deteriorated. According to the existing method for calculating I-276–00, the time of notifi cation of the train approaching is determined depending on the maximum speed of trains at the crossing and the number of railway tracks across which the road passes, but the characteristics of the train and the length of its braking path are not taken into account. Previous studies have shown that with the minimum width of the crossing established by the existing methodology, the stop of freight trains before the crossing after its closure is guaranteed only for speeds of no more than 30 km/h, the stop of passenger trains is no more than 60 km/h. At higher speeds, the braking distance may not be enough, which will lead to a collision in the event of a forced stop of vehicles at a level crossing. Trains crossing a level crossing have diff erent characteristics: travel speed and braking factors. Therefore, it is required to assess the likelihood of a collision when the vehicle is forced to stop at a level crossing. The paper investigates the situation of a car breakdown at a railway crossing. Based on the data obtained from the locomotive on-board complexes, histograms of the distributions of the speed and the actual braking factors of trains approaching the crossing were constructed. On the basis of the obtained statistical data, the hypothesis of the subordination of the actual stopping of trains to the theoretical Cauchy distribution is confi rmed. A statistical model of the distribution of the speed of trains when approaching a crossing is proposed. A method is given for assessing the probability of a collision with a train in case of a car breakdown at a level crossing. The numerical value of the collision probability estimate was obtained by the method described in the work. The necessity of developing the APS control system based on the characteristics of the approaching train has been substantiated.

Key words:
Level crossing, automatic crossing signaling, notifi cation area, braking distance, notifi cation time, onboard locomotive complexes.


Download article