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Railway Automation
Railway grades of automation
There are 4 levels of railway automation: from manual driving supervised by an automatic train protection system, to fully automated and unattended operation. To distinguish the levels of automation, one possible definition is the Grade of Automation (GoA) from 1 to...
Automatic Train Protection
Railway operations present 5 types of danger: derailment, head-on collision, rear-end collision, side swipe and collision with an obstacle. Because humans can make mistakes, operators have introduced systems to limit some of these risks: these are Automatic Train...
Automatic Train Operation
Automatic Train Operation is a function that controls the traction and brake of the train, respecting the signalling and following the timetable for the mission to be executed, while controlling the train in the best possible way, thanks to the knowledge of the...
ERTMS
ERTMS/ETCS : the european train control system
ERTMS/ETCS is the European Train Control System. As a safety system, ERTMS/ETCS supervises train movement based on signaling information, track data, speed, and train properties. It is a fundamental system for making the European railway area more integrated and...
ERTMS : the european rail traffic management system
ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) is the European train traffic management system, consisting of interoperable systems allowing for train protection, automatic train control, and ground-to-train radio communication. ERTMS is the cornerstone of a more...
ERTMS/ATO : the european train autopilot
ATO over ETCS, also called ERTMS/ATO, is the system enabling automatic driving of the train in presence of a driver, while respecting the european signalling ERTMS/ETCS, and the timetable. What are the main principles of ATO over ETCS and its architecture ? Let's find...
Exploration
ATO over Lineside Signalling
The european automatic driving system ATO over ETCS works associated with the european signalling system ERTMS/ETCS. For the complete solution to work, tracks must be equipped with ERTMS/ETCS. Problem : the rollout takes time and money, delaying the use of ATO over...
What is an autonomous train ?
An autonomous train, is a train on which traction and braking are performed by an autopilot, respecting the signalling orders and the timetable. Automatic driving can be done in presence of a driver, or unattended. While unattended train operation is existing for more...