Method for mixed operation of a section of railroad line with switch, and section of line and switch

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11834084-B2
Application number	US-202016823461-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2020
Priority date	Mar 26, 2019
Publication date	Dec 5, 2023
Grant date	Dec 5, 2023

Abstract

In a method for mixed operation of a section of railroad line, the section of line is trafficable by trains equipped with a train control system, and by trains not equipped with this train control system. The section of line is provided with a switch so that in the event that a train not equipped with the train control system is to enter the section of line from the direction of a side track, the section of line is indicated as occupied. The occupied indication is triggered by a first throwing of the switch in the direction of the side track. After the train not equipped with the train control system has passed through, the occupied indication is canceled. The cancelation is triggered by a second throwing of the switch. After throwing of the switch, a clearing run is carried out on the section of line by an equipped train.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for mixed operation of a section of railroad line, the section of railroad line being trafficable by trains equipped with a train control system and by trains not equipped with the train control system and the section of railroad line being provided with at least one switch, which comprises the steps of:
indicating the section of railroad line as occupied in an event that a train not equipped with the train control system is to enter the section of railroad line from a direction of a side track, wherein an occupied indication is triggered by a first throwing of the switch in the direction of the side track;
cancelling the occupied indication after the train not equipped with the train control system has passed through, a cancelation being triggered by a second throwing of the switch in a direction of the section of railroad line; and
carrying out a track clearing run at a reduced speed of operation to ensure that the driver of the equipped train can make a visual inspection to allow timely braking in the event of obstacles on the section of line using a train equipped with the train control system, by either:
after the second throwing of the switch, carrying out the track clearing run on the section of railroad line using the train equipped with the train control system before the section of railroad line is released for operation by the trains equipped with the train control system;
or
prior to the second throwing of the switch, carrying out the track clearing run using the train equipped with the train control system from the direction of the side track before the section of railroad line is released for operation by the trains equipped with the train control system after the second throwing of the switch.

2. The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises cancelling a released for operation by the trains equipped with the train control system if a position of the switch is not known.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein after each throwing of the switch in the direction of the section of railroad line, a derail on the side track is activated which prevents the side track from being traversed.

4. The method according to claim 1 , which further comprises controlling an operation on the side track by track safety equipment other than the train control system.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the train control system is a communications-based train control (CBTC) system.

6. A section of railroad line, comprising:
a train control system where the section of railroad line being trafficable by trains equipped with said train control system and by trains not equipped with said train control system;
at least one switch, and an occupied indication for the section of railroad line can be triggered by a first throwing of said switch in a direction of a side track, and cancelation of the occupied indication can be triggered by a second throwing of said switch in a direction of the section of railroad line;
said train control system configured to carry out a track clearing run at a reduced speed of operation to ensure that the driver of the equipped train can make a visual inspection to allow timely braking in the event of obstacles on the section of line by either:
after the second throwing of said switch, carrying out the track clearing run on the section of railroad line using a train equipped with the train control system before the section of railroad line is released for operation by said trains equipped with the train control system;
or
prior to the second throwing of said switch, carrying out the track clearing run using the train equipped with the train control system from the direction of said side track before the section of railroad line is released for operation by said trains equipped with the train control system after the second throwing of said switch.

7. The section of railroad line according to claim 6 , which further comprises canceling a release for operation by the trains equipped with the train control system if a position of the switch is not known.

8. The section of railroad line according to claim 6 , wherein at least one end of the section of railroad line is equipped with a color light signal.

9. The section of railroad line according to claim 6 , wherein said train control system is a communications-based train control (CBTC) system.

Assignees

• Siemens Mobility GmbH

Inventors

• Hammerl Malte
• Kohlruss Jacob Johannes

Classifications

• B61L27/04

  Automatic systems, e.g. controlled by train; Change-over to manual control · CPC title

• B61L27/20 Primary

  Trackside control of safe travel of vehicle or train, e.g. braking curve calculation · CPC title

• B61L1/14

  Devices for indicating the passing of the end of the vehicle or train · CPC title

• B61L19/00

  Arrangements for interlocking between points and signals by means of a single interlocking device {, e.g. central control} · CPC title

• B61L23/14 Primary

  automatically operated · CPC title