II INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE__________
TRANSPORT SYSTEMS TELEMATICS TST'02
P O LITEC H N IK I ŚLĄ SK IEJ 2002 T R A N SP O R T z.45, n r kol. 1570
signalling, area control, management centre, transport management Janusz G A W R O Ń SK I1
M O D E R N ST R U C T U R E S O F R A IL W A Y T R A F F IC C O N T R O L
New electronic and data transmissions open new possibilities of railway traffic management and control. Today, we have really safe computer solutions, w e can observe very fast development of this technology. Management centralisation gives many advantages as well for railway operators and railway customers. Hardware concentrations allow for better technical development. A data transmission is nerve system o f this structure. Even transmission has no safety meaning, we should remember to have possibility for temporary system decentralization for local operated.
N O W O C Z E SN E ST R U K T U R Y S T E R O W A N IA R U C H E M K O L E JO W Y M
W referacie opisana została struktura sterowania i zarządzania ruchem kolejowym w oparciu o nowoczesne urządzenia srk oraz techniki transmisji danych. Przykładowa organizacja oparta została na rozwiązaniu wdrażanym przez kolej niemiecką DB. Struktura ta składa się z Centrum Zarządzania Ruchem we Frankfurcie pełniącym nadrzędną funkcję dyspozytorską wobec siedmiu Obszarowych Centrów Sterowania Ruchem, na które została podzielona sieć kolei niemieckich. Podstawą systemu są nowoczesne urządzenia komputerowe oraz Lokalne Centra Sterowania rozmieszczone na sieci DB.
1. IN TR O D U C TIO N
N ew technologies w e can m eet in ou r day to day life and m odem science are m ore and more used in rail traffic solutions. As new technology was easy accepted in inform ation and com m ercial system s, its im plem entation in traffic control proceeds quite cautiously.
Functional abilities o f m odem system s are enorm ous b u t because o f their safety responsibility traditional system s are considered as m ore safe som etim es.
C om puterization o f this part o f technology seam s to be unavoidable anyway. T here are some solution already designed w hich are guaranteed to be safe at the level no low er then traditional systems.
E xperience o f European railw ays proofs great possibilities due to using com puterized control system s and sets direction for their further developm ent.
1 Alcatel Poland S .A ., Marsa 56, 04-242 Warsaw, Poland, Janusz.Gawronski@alcatel.pl
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2. M O D E R N T R F FIC C O N TR O L SY STEM S STR U CTU RES
T he germ an railw ay exam ple w ill be used as a m ost advanced m odem control technology.
F ig.l. Block diagram o f control system structure
T his concept is based on m odular structure divided into several levels. T h e base level consists o f existing interlockings as w ell as local rem ote control centres. G enerally they are com puterised interlocking, how ever it is possible to use interfaces to relay interlockings.
U pper level consists o f A rea Control C entres. G erm an railways DB are divided into seven such centres. In the future, all local operators will be m oved to that centres. Supervisory rule in this structure belongs to N etw ork M anagem ent C entre (N M C), controlling w hole national railw ay netw ork.
T h e idea o f N etw ork M anagem ent C entre (called D ispatching C entre as well) is based on concentrating all dispatching, m aintenance, inform ation functions in one place and integration o f all functions required for netw ork m anagem ent by one system .
Functions integrated in N etw ork M anagem ent C entre are dedicated m ainly for train traffic m onitoring and supervision.
S ufficient operation o f railway netw ork depends on proper operation o f signalling equipm ent like signals, p o in t m achines, A T P system s as well as system s im proving custom er service like passenger inform ation, lifts, ticket m achines. This is the reason how im portant integration o f supervisory and m aintenance functions in one place is. A dditionally in this solutions inform ation system s m ay use real tim e data directly from traffic situation
N etw ork M anagem ent Centre, together w ith A re C ontrol Centres m akes up coherent traffic m anagem ent and control system . Individual tasks are realised by different servers using the sam e database. Fig. 2 presents block diagram o f traffic m anagem ent system . Its main assum ption is to connect all spread operators term inals w ith one netw ork. Inside the centre this is the role o f LA N {Local Area Network). T he design o f the netw ork dues to it certain requirem ents. A ll control elem ents allocated on the netw ork are connected by special, safe
interfaces w ith W A N netw ork (Wide A rea N etw ork). L ocal C ontrol C entres as A lca te l’s system E ST W L90, others electronic interlockings or other relay system s are fully controlled by m ultifunctional M an M achine Interfaces (M M I) located in C entres.
Remote Control Centre Dispatching System
Senirp | ^ T T
CST DS CMS CDB STE MIS
O ct t ntar.
Sofwvcwn dt Trains
ÜB- (Mlduig System
CcrtkJ Cert ral Data Baso Tactnai
E w n te Minp»
!rfc*TTultn System
Interlocking Systems
TDG Tima D sU oce Graph n s s {toute Setting Survey SG Security Gateway ICS Intortociinj Central System
Fig.2. Management system block diagram
A t engineering phase m odular structure o f the system was arranged. F or redundancy realisation and new functions extension possibilities, m odules are divided according to their tasks. Fig.3 show s general centre structure. M ain part o f the system consists o f database including for exam ple tim etable o r elem ent status expectations. A t th e real tim e, system receives dynam ic inform ations from interlockings, A T P system s and other elem ents. All inform ations are available for all subsystem s. In this way it is possible to define w hen system should support th e o perator for exam ple w ith traffic conflict solutions. O perator interfaces (MMI) have an access to all servers, so operators can m onitor actual situation at m any views and displaying m ethods.
It is im portant to point out that orders given by N etw ork M anagem ent C entre to A rea Control C entres do not include control orders, so fail-safe transm ission is n o t required. The fail-safe transm ission is required betw een A rea C ontrol C entres and interlockings but even in this case disturbed order w ould be blocked by trackside interlocking.
C oncentration o f all system s in one place causes that people w ork all together. It is much easier to coordinate operational tasks w ith m aintenance, lets to plan tim e slots according to actual traffic situation. E asier sta ff m anagem ent is possible as w ell operational and technical, especially w hen unexpected traffic situations o r system problem s occur.
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Fig.3. WAN network in management system
G athering m anagem ent personnel in one place reduces exploitation costs.
T his way o f m anagem ent allow s for better sta ff accom m odation according to p lanned traffic situation for exam ple in rush hours. It is p ossible to give to one operator m ore then one station to operate. D irect advantage is em ploym ent lim itation, m ostly in operational sta ff w hich may reach 80%
A nother advantage o f centralization is availability o f real-tim e data about all kind of elem ents w hat m akes their diagnostic m uch easier. It is possible to inform low er level w orkers about m alfunctions together w ith m ore actual inform ation. D ue to that services optim ization is possible.
Integration o f functions and hardw are facilitates to use highest level o f com puter equipm ent. N ew est technology usage m akes data access easy and fast, lets for system extensions. S ystem flexibility and reacting fo r dynam ically changing traffic conditions requires additional functions using m icrocom puterised technology. O ne o f m ost im portant function is con flict m anagem ent. T hose conflicts m ay be caused by train delays, elem ents failures, etc.
D ifferent, im portant tool is autom atic route setting. R oute for each train identified by its num ber is set autom atically w hen the train approach the station.
System integration sim plifies statistic functions. F ast and deep analyses are possible to im prove custom er service o r em ploym ent optim isation.
T he bases o f rem ote control are local control centres, supervised by M anagem ent System . F o r th eir com m unication special gatew ays are required. Local control centres are
treated as single interlocking, operating som etim es several stations, together w ith line trackside elem ents. I new structure, for exam ple, operator from one o f polish local centre (Opalenica) w ould be m oved to area control centre to operate „his” are from there. D epending on traffic density another stations could be operated by him.
Fig.4. Data transmission between area and local centre
T he m ain advantages for netw ork solutions against d irect connections are cabling savings (access, connection costs) and transm issions reliability due to m any alternative connections via m any netw ork junctions.
A ctually in Poland no W A N netw ork is used for railw ay traffic control. H ow ever there is no technology requiring such solutions yet. D espite o f it, being step before traffic managem ent centralisation and new transm ission technology im plem entation, the w ay o f data exchange should be discussed and chosen
It seems that W A N netw ork is the best solution. Such connections are w orldw ide used to com m unicate in cities, regions, countries and continents.
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3. C O N CLU SIO N S
N ew electronic and data transm issions open new possibilities o f railw ay traffic m anagem ent and control. W hole organisation and control concept can and should be changed.
Today, w hen w e have w orked out really safe com puter solutions, we can observe very fast developm ent o f this technology. M anagem ent centralisation gives m any advantages as well for railw ay operators and railway custom ers. T he real-tim e data availability lets for better people and infrastructure usage. P reviously, those data collecting required m uch tim e and m any people involved. H ardw are concentrations allow s for b etter technical developm ent. A data transm ission is nerve system o f this structure. Even transm ission has no safety m eaning, we should rem em ber to have possibility for tem porary system decentralization for local operated.
B IB LIO G R A PH Y
[1] DYDUCH J„ GAWROŃSKI J., Komputerowe wspomaganie obszarowego sterowania ruchem kolejowym, Transcomp, Zakopane 2001
[2] Materiały własne firmy Alcatel
[3] GAWROŃSKI J., Integracja systemów sterowania ruchem kolejowym, TTS 1/2-2001
[4] DYDUCH J., PAWLIK M., Sterowanie pociągami na linii kolejowej, Konferencja "Transcomp '99", Zakopane 1999
[5] GAWROŃSKI J„ KANT M., Obszarowe centra sterowania ruchem kolejowym, Konferencja "Automatyka kolejowa", Sopot 2000
[6] GAWROŃSKI J., MIKOŁAJCZYK S„ Sieci transmisji danych w technice scentralizowanego zarządzania ruchem kolejowym, Konferencja "Kolej na Informatykę", Jelenia Góra 2000
R eviewer: Prof. Z bigniew Ginalski
