TCAS – Indian Railway Train Control System By Mahesh Mangal Sr. ED/Signal/RDSO 26 July 2014

Train Protection system on IR

Auxiliary Warning System at Mumbai Working in Mumbai suburban since 1986. Track Magnet based system working in Mumbai suburban area (329 RKm), where trains run at a Headway of 3 to 4 minutes Opto coupler to interface & collect signal aspect This system is now getting obsolete and we have now developed a advance system which is interoperable with existing system.

Train Protection & Warning System(TPWS) System is installed on Chennai – Gummidipundi section of SR, Nizamuddin – Agra section of NR/NCR and on Metro Kolkatta. Works have been sanctioned for suburban section of ER, SER, SR & auto signalling sections (3330 RKM, 2362 onboard, Rs. 1737 cr). TPWS specification is based on proven European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) Level-1 configuration. Even though the system is working, but lot of time has been taken for customizing and it has not been possible to use system on trains running at more than 120 kmph.

Anti Collision Device (ACD) Installed on 1800 Kms of BG section of N.F. Railway in the year 2005-06 It is GPS based non signalling system. Train transmit their location and track ID and if a dangerous event like collision is likely to occur, automatically apply brakes and prevent the collision or minimize the impact of collision. Prevents head on/rear/side collisions. Provides station approach warning to drivers. Provides warning to road users at LC gates. Detects parting/jumbling of trains.

GPS Satellites UHF Data Radio Modem GPS Receiver Loco ACD Loco ACD I R I R To detect track ID in station, deviation count theory used results in wrong identification and cause false alarm resulting in operational and other problems. As such, not been found effective and has not been proliferated.

Experience of IR with existing TPWS Requires lot of data entry at the start of train which is inconvenient for existing loco pilots. Braking is not optimized for mixed rolling stock on IR. Intermittent update of MA results in un-necessary brake intervention whenever signal aspect is updated on approach. Needs lot of cable and trackside electronics which are failure prone. The procedure for train trip or start is cumbersome and any customization is not possible. No protection is available in case on non interlocked working. Does not provide facility of SoS which is considered essential as there are many collisions on IR due to derailment obstructing other track.

Development of Indigenous system RDSO started about 2 years ago to develop TCAS to take care the problems of ACD installed on NFR. However, in this period, not only the system developed takes care this problem but it also provides Automatic Train Protections(ATP) features as available in advance Train Control systems like ETCS L1 & L2. Multiple sources with interoperable product are developed with IPR being shared by firm and RDSO and cost of system is expected to be much lower than ETCS and only marginally higher than ACD.

Comparison of ETCS & TCAS Feature ETCS L-1 ETCS L-2 TCAS Cab Signalling Yes Line side signal Required Optional Continuous supervision Continuous update No Suitable for Auto signal Trials to be conducted shortly Collision prevention (independent of Signalling) SOS feature SIL-4 Vulnerability to theft Easy to operate 9

TCAS - System configuration GNSS/ GPS Radio Communication Loco TCAS Station RFID READER 10

Features of TCAS Automatic Train Protection(ATP) FEATURES Detection and Prevention of SPAD Full cab signalling with Display of signal aspect, movement authority, target distance and speed Continuous train control Protection for Permanent and temporary speed restriction. Detection of roll back TRAIN COLLISION FEATURES Head On Rear End Collision Side On Collision 11

Additional features to improve safety SOS from Loco and Station Derailment Alert with auto generation of SOS Automatic and Manual Brake Test Continuous horn while approaching LC gate or gang working. Detection of unusuals in interlocking like signal cleared for occupied line or train entered in wrong line etc. and controlling the train. Live display of train movement with their speed, location and any unusual in control office.

STATION EQUIPMENT Station TCAS – Gathers signaling inputs & loco inputs and transmits signaling inputs to Loco TCAS Radio- For communication with Locos SMI – Station Master Interface GPS – For time synchronization 13

LOCO EQUIPMENT Loco unit – Gathers inputs from RFID tags, speedometer and Station. BIU – Brake Interface Unit DMI – For In-cab display of signal aspect, TCAS status, alarms and alerts, SOS buttons. Radio & Antenna- For communication with stations and other Locos RFID Reader- To read RFID tags GPS and GPRS 14

ON TRACK EQUIPMENT RFID Tags provided in block section at every 1 km and station yard for each track and signals. Used for track identification, correction of location of train and identifying train direction. 15

Status of present development Work for undertaking extended field trial on 250 RKM section with 40 locomotives sanctioned. Section in Secundrabad division identified for trial. Section divided in three sub sections. Contract already awarded to 3 firms. TCAS Territory 16 Wadi

Status of present development 17

Status of present development Two firms have successfully developed the system. Field trials have been done by for 5-6 months. It has been also possible to achieve interoperability of product developed by two vendors. Third Firm (Awarded the developmental work in Nov-2013) has also tested their onboard equipment. Trial done on 4 stations with 4 Locos on 32 km Route-km, with Brake Interface Unit and most of the important features with interoperability tested. 18

Scenarios tested in recent trials In Cab Display of Signalling related information such as Movement Authority, Target Speed, Target Distance, Signal Aspect etc. Brake Test : To assess braking characteristics of train Prevention of SPAD PSR and TSR Loop line speed control Prevention of collisions in block section SoS from loco and station LC gate warning Control of train for certain interlocking abnormalities. 19

Current status After these trials, firms have manufactured the final equipment and type testing is in progress. The installation at stations, track and locomotives likely by Sep, 2014. Extended trials with 40 locos and on 250 kms sections will commence within 3 months. The present system being developed is suitable for absolute block signalling and RDSO is also working to upgrade this equipment later for automatic signalling. Lab for testing interoperability and offline testing of various scenarios has been setup at RDSO. 20

Trial Video (10 Mins)

THANKS