Basic Principles of Railway Signaling

No department of railways has been more developed by modern technology than signaling and telecommunications. Color light signals, electrical operation of signals and points, track-circuiting, route-setting panel control, automatic train operation, computer-based centralized traffic control (CTC) – these are the basic elements of up-to-date signaling.

The method of operating long railway lines by CTC began in the USA in 1927. The principle is that at the central point the operator has a diagram showing him where every train is and he can control the whole section of the line – possibly of two or three hundred miles – from his control console. The operator can see and control the overall track circuit. On modern railways the main line and station approaches are controlled from a single control center to provide regular traffic and avoid delays.

To control a whole trunk line from one place a single control centre was first introduced in Japan, on the New Tokaido Line. The entire line between Tokyo and Osaka is wholly controlled from the general control center located in Tokyo. It’s well known that conventional CTC uses conventional relays. Practical railway experience shows that it takes much time to transmit information therefore the Japanese National Railways have developed a new system using transistors and diodes. This system proves to be more reliable; besides that it is more economical because it helps to save time: it takes about one second to scan indications for all tracks. At present up-to-date electronic equipment including a digital computer is widely used to automate train operation and to improve the quality of railway service.

 

Ex. 18. Answer the following questions to text A:

1. Do railway signaling and communications have the most advanced technologies and equipment? 2. What are the basic elements of up-to-date signaling? 3. Which of them is the latest one? 4. What’s your opinion on the subject? 5. What does the abbreviation CTC mean? 6. What country was the first to use CTC on its railways? 7. What kind of a diagram does the operator have on his (her) control console? 8. How long may be the section of the main line controlled from the single control centre? 9. What approaches are controlled from a single control centre? 10. Why is CTC so important for railways? 11. What railways began to control a whole trunk line by means of CTC? 12. What devices had been used to transmit information before the Japanese National Railways developed a new system using transistors and diodes? 13. Why are transistors and diodes more reliable than relays? 14. What is the latest development used to automate train operation and improve the quality of railway service?

Ex. 19. Search text A for the English equivalents of the following Russian phrases:

принцип заключается в том, что …; полностью контролируется; подъездные станционные пути; участок железнодорожной линии; хорошо известно, что …; автоматизировать движение поездов; снимать показания.

 

Ex. 20. Scan text A and match the synonyms:

A	B
1) railway	a) to control
2) to save	b) trunk line
3) up-to-date	c) point
4) main line	d) to transfer
5) to transmit	e) modern
6) to operate	f) railroad
7) switch	g) to economize

Ex. 21. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English:

1. Несомненно, что введение диспетчерской централизации обеспечило безопасность железнодорожных перевозок. 2. Система скоростной авторегулировки устанавливается для гарантии безопасного управления поездом. 3. Насколько я знаю, поезд прошел маршрут без задержек. 4. Хорошо известно, что сигнализация применяется для контроля и регулировки движения поездов. 5. Оборудование поездов этой системой позволит повысить пропускную способность линии (track capacity). 6. Система управления стрелками и сигналами из одного пункта называется централизацией стрелок и сигналов. 7. Диспетчер в центре управления получает полную информацию о движении поезда по участку. 8. Диспетчер должен контролировать автоведение поезда. Для этого он использует радиосвязь и может общаться как с машинистом, так и c дежурным по станции (yard master). 9. ДЦ сочетает в себе принципы кнопочного переключателя со способностями цифрового компьютераобрабатывать данные с высокой скоростью. 10. На дисплее показывается общая схема пути

 

Ex. 22. A. Translate the words and phrases given in the box into English:

диспетчерская централизация рельсовая цепь кнопочные переключатели движение автоматическая установка маршрута клавиатура схема пути участок занятость пути цифровой компьютер пульт управления показания стрелочные переводы

 

B. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate word or phrase and translate the text into Russian.

Centralized Traffic Control

C … T … C … is a signaling system of railway operation which is used to control train traffic by signal indications. The system consists of a centralized train dispatcher's office that controls railroad s … in the CTC territory and the signals that railroad engineers must obey in order to keep the t … moving safely and smoothly across the railroad. It combines the principles of p …- b … s … with the high-speed processing capabilities of a digital minicomputer. The basic c… c… has two displays for t … d … of the controlled distance and a centre display. They are placed directly in front of the dispatcher. The display shows the overall track diagram including current routes, t … o … and signal i …. The p …- b … s … are replaced by a compact control console keyboard. This k … enables the operator to call up an enlarged track plan of a selected s … which shows the current status of the a … r … s …, signal indications and t … c... occupancies. Besides, the keyboard enables the operator to make a change if necessary. All these control functions are performed via the d … c....

C. What do you call:

1. The system which controls the movement of trains by signal indications.

2. The man who controls all the movements of the train.

3. A special panel with push-button switches.

4. A device which performs the control functions.

5. A complete set of keys, usually hand-operated.

D. Speak on the operation of the CTC system.

 

Text B. Scan the text and write down all the unknown words. Read the text trying to guess the meaning of the unknown words. Retell the text in Russian.

The driver of a bullet train in Japan is under investigation after falling asleep for nearly ten minutes at the helm. The train was travelling at 170mph with 800 passengers on board.

Railway staff became suspicious when the train pulled into Okayama station, about 90 miles east of Hiroshima. It came to a halt about 100 metres before it was supposed to, leaving rear carriages outside the station. They inspected the driver's cab and found him asleep in his chair, according to a source at West Japan Railway. Staff knocked on the window but he continued to sleep. Eventually the conductor went inside the compartment and woke him up.

The driver, 33, told his superiors that he "had no memory" of what happened for a period of about eight minutes until he woke up.

A West Japan Railway spokesman said the driver had plenty of sleep and had not been drinking alcohol.

Police said the driver was under investigation for possible violations of the railway law and for causing danger due to professional negligence while driving.

No one was hurt in the incident because the train was on autopilot at the time. Drivers normally take over and steer the train manually in the final stretch to a station.

Lesson two

 

Ex. 1. Practice the reading of the following words and phrases:

appraise, efficiency, insulate, exist, responsibility, telecommunications, availability, techniques, intermittent, reappraisal, require, essential, headache, throughout;

powerful computer equipment, rapid information, sophisticated signaling systems, optimum time, continuous data exchange, secure coding, driverless operation, up-to-date facilities.