DK3105103T3

DK3105103T3 - Method and system configuration for repositioning a rail vehicle

Info

Publication number: DK3105103T3
Application number: DK15712554.3T
Authority: DK
Inventors: Jacob Johannes Kohlruss
Original assignee: Siemens Ag
Priority date: 2014-04-08
Filing date: 2015-03-17
Publication date: 2018-02-26
Also published as: EP3105103B1; ES2662612T3; EP3105103A1; CN106103236A; DE102014206741A1; CN106103236B; WO2015154950A1; HUE038476T2; NO2748793T3

Description

The invention relates to a method for re-determining the location of a first rail vehicle whose locating function has failed, and to a corresponding system configuration.

In rail systems, train locating, i.e. continuously tracking the position of each individual rail vehicle, is critically important for safety. Particularly where headways are short, e.g. in metro systems, the current position of the individual trains must be known trackside, e.g. in an interlocking or control centre, at all times. If a rail vehicle's locating function fails, the rail vehicle has to be stopped. Following rail vehicles must also be stopped, as the position of the rail vehicle with the failed locating function is unknown trackside, and there is therefore the possibility of collision with another rail vehicle. This significantly impairs the performance of the overall system. The locating function failure causing the problem may occur due to technical faults or because particular tolerances have been exceeded.

Losing the location of a rail vehicle has hitherto involved a considerably manpower-intensive response. First, personnel are sent to the rail vehicle in order to move it manually over the nearest absolute location device, e.g. a balise. The driver assumes the trailing protection function and may also communicate the rail vehicle's current location by telephone to the trackside monitoring system on the basis of the route mileage. The trackside monitoring system is also manned. Once the rail vehicle has been moved over the absolute location device, proper locating is re-established so that the rail vehicle can automatically continue its journey. If it is not possible to re-determine the location by means of the absolute location device, the locating system is defective and driver now only proceeds to the nearest stop where passengers can possibly be evacuated.

The document DE 195 23 726 A1 describes a method for redetermining the location of a rail vehicle by way of a track vacancy detection system subordinate to a continuous ATC system with axle counters.

The object of the invention is to specify a method and a system configuration which allow faster and personnel-independent re-determining of the location of a rail vehicle whose locating function has failed.

This object is achieved by a method with the features of claim 1 involving the following steps: 1. stopping the first rail vehicle, 2. transmission of the failure information by the first rail vehicle to a trackside monitoring unit, 3. transmission of the failure information by the trackside monitoring unit to a second rail vehicle following behind the first rail vehicle, 4. moving the second rail vehicle closer to the first rail vehicle, 5. activating a distance sensor of the second rail vehicle and measuring the distance from the first rail vehicle, 6. stopping the second rail vehicle at a safe distance from the first rail vehicle, 7. transmitting the position of the second rail vehicle and its distance from the first rail vehicle to the trackside monitoring unit and 8. determining of the position of the first rail vehicle by the trackside monitoring unit from the data received in step 7.

This object is also achieved by a system configuration with the features of claim 3 in which a trackside monitoring unit is designed for as-required communication with a train control unit of a rail vehicle, wherein the train control unit is connected to a locating device of the rail vehicle and a distance sensor of the rail vehicle for determining the distance from another rail vehicle in the direction of travel of the rail vehicle.

In this way the "de-located" first rail vehicle is located by a second rail vehicle whose locating function is intact and a trackside monitoring unit. Said second rail vehicle approaches to within a safe distance of the first rail vehicle and then determines its distance from the "de-located" first rail vehicle by means of a distance sensor. The distance sensor also enables the safety spacing between the trains, which normally corresponds to at least the braking distance, to be maintained. Once the second rail vehicle has stopped, it transmits its own position and the distance measurement to the trackside monitoring unit which determines the position data of the first rail vehicle from this data. This makes it possible, using technical means, to re-determine the location of a rail vehicle without instantaneous locating function, wherein no human resources of any kind are required.

According to claim 2, the method continues with the following steps : 9. transmission of the position data of the first rail vehicle by the trackside monitoring unit to the first rail vehicle and 10. ascertaining whether it is possible for the first rail vehicle to restore its own locating function using the position data received, wherein 10.1 if so, this information is transmitted to the trackside monitoring unit and regular operation is resumed by the first rail vehicle, or 10.2 if not, this information is transmitted by the first rail vehicle to the trackside monitoring unit which thereupon issues instructions to the first rail vehicle to proceed at slow speed and to the second rail vehicle to follow the first rail vehicle at a safe distance, wherein the steps 7, 8 and 9 are continuously repeated cyclically until the two rail vehicles have reached safe stopping points.

Once the location has been re-determined, the position data determined by the trackside monitoring unit as per step 8 is transmitted to the first rail vehicle which then attempts to compare it with its own location data, if any. The aim here is to re-establish its own locating function.

If this is so, the now intact again locating function of the first rail vehicle is used to resume regular operation of the first rail vehicle. The first rail vehicle simultaneously transmits the confirmation information to the trackside monitoring unit, thereby concluding the latter's activities.

If not, i.e. if self-location of the first rail vehicle is impossible because of a technical defect, for example, the trackside monitoring unit takes over the coordination of the two rail vehicles, wherein the first rail vehicle is guided with the aid of the second rail vehicle to a safe stopping point by the second rail vehicle continuously transmitting the position and distance information to the trackside monitoring unit which determines therefrom current position data of the first rail vehicle and transmits it to the first rail vehicle. This effectively provides safe conduct for the first rail vehicle whose locating function is defective until a safe stopping point is reached where passengers can possibly alight. The stopping point can also be a storage yard or repair depot. If the convoy has to pass through a tunnel, the automatic method claimed also obviates the need for a tunnel access restriction whereby the entire operation would have to be shut down, as personnel do not need to enter the tunnel. It is also particularly advantageous that a reaction occurs immediately after the locating function of the first rail vehicle has been found to be defective and no delays of any kind occur during re-determining of the location with the aid of the second rail vehicle. Operational disturbance and performance impairment are reduced to a minimum.

The system configuration according to claim 3 consists of components which are largely already available and can be shared for the method sequence. The distance sensor according to claim 4 can be a radar sensor which is normally designed for distance and speed measurements above ground, wherein the radar sensor only needs to be alignable in the direction of travel. However, other embodiments of the distance sensor are also conceivable, e.g. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) or laser scanner based.

Important components of a system configuration for redetermining the location of a rail vehicle having a failed locating function are illustrated in the single drawing.

This shows a first rail vehicle 1 and a second rail vehicle 2 on a common track 3, wherein the second rail vehicle 2 is following the first rail vehicle 1. The rail vehicles 1 and 2 are equipped with train control units 4 and 5 respectively which interoperate with distance sensors 6 and 7 respectively and locating devices 8 and 9 respectively. In addition, the train control units 4 and 5 can be connected to a fixed trackside monitoring unit 12 via transceiver devices 10 and 11 respectively .

This system configuration is designed such that the location of the first rail vehicle 1 can be re-determined if its locating device 8 fails. For this purpose, using the distance sensor 7 and the trackside monitoring unit 12, the second rail vehicle 2 is brought up as closely as possible - whilst maintaining a safe distance - to the first rail vehicle 1 which has been stopped because of locating function failure.

In this stopping position, the locating device 9 of the second rail vehicle 2 transmits its location data to the trackside monitoring unit 12 via the train control unit 5 and the transceiver device 11. The distance sensor 7 measures the distance from the first rail vehicle 1, wherein the distance data is also transmitted via the train control unit 5 and the transceiver device 11 to the trackside monitoring unit 12. The trackside monitoring unit 12 uses the location data and the distance data to determine the position of the first rail vehicle 1. The location of the first rail vehicle 1 is thus re-determined.

The system configuration can also be used to escort the rail vehicle 1 with the aid of the second rail vehicle 2 and its distance and location data at slow speed to a position where it is possible to re-establish the locating function of the first rail vehicle 1 or to some other location where train traffic on the track 3 is no longer affected. This method operates automatically and without time delay, a particular advantage being that personnel do not have to be deployed to find the first rail vehicle and remove it safely from the danger zone.

Claims

A method of repositioning a first rail vehicle (1) whose positioning function has fallen out, with the following steps: 1. stopping the first rail vehicle (1), 2. transmitting the fallout information by the first rail vehicle (1) to a stretch monitoring device (12), 3. transmitting the outcome information through the stretch monitoring device (12) to a second rail vehicle (2), which follows the first rail vehicle (1), 4. moving the second rail vehicle (2) closer to the first rail vehicle ( 1), 5. activating a distance sensor (7) of the second rail vehicle (2) and measuring the distance from the first rail vehicle (1), 6. stopping the second rail vehicle (2) in a position with safety distance from the first rail vehicle (1), 7. transmitting the position of the second rail vehicle (2) and its distance from the first rail vehicle (1) to the stretch monitoring device (12) and 8. destroy the position data of the first rail vehicle (1) by means of stretching the monitoring device (12) from the step 7 in the received data.

Method according to claim 1, characterized by the following additional steps: 9. transmitting the position data of the first rail vehicle (1) by means of the stretch monitoring device (12) to the first rail vehicle (1) and 10. position data received is possible to restore the position function by means of the first rail vehicle (1), where 10.1 if yes, this information is transmitted to the stretch monitoring device (12) and regular operation is continued by the first rail vehicle (1), or 10.2 if no , this information is transmitted by the first rail vehicle (1) to the stretch monitoring device (12), which then provides driving commands to the first rail vehicle (1) for slow travel and to the second rail vehicle (2) to follow the first rail vehicle (1) at a safe distance , where steps 7, 8 and 9 are repeated cyclically permanently until more secure is achieved holding positions for the two rail vehicles (1,2).

A system configuration for performing the method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a stretch monitoring device (12) is provided for communicating with a train control device (5) of another rail vehicle (2), wherein the train control device (5) is connected to a positioning device ( 9) of the second rail vehicle (2) and a distance sensor (7) of the second rail vehicle (2) to determine the distance from a first rail vehicle (1) located in the direction of travel of the second rail vehicle (2), the stretch monitoring device (12) ) is designed to determine, from the location data of the location device (9) of the second rail vehicle (2) and the determined distance from the first rail vehicle, the position of the first rail vehicle (1).

System configuration according to claim 3, characterized in that the distance sensor (6; 7) is designed as a radar sensor.