B+R: Equipment for Brno underground backbone line
Brno underground on the city backbone line is supported by B+R control equipment
Controlling the train path for
trams, switches, and
air-conditioning
The contracting authority, the city's public
transport company Dopravní podnik měs-
ta Brna, has recently built two tunnels, inc-
luding the associated connections. The
earlier construction took place on the Bo-
hunice campus. The more recent project
consisted of controlling the transport servi-
ce passing through the rock in Brno Žabo-
vřesky. Both projects were partly carried
out by implementation companies. Speci-
fically, they were SKILLIn M&P s. r. o.,
which supplied the train path control for
the trams and switch control, and Synerga,
which was involved in the construction of
the on-campus part, where it put into ope-
ration the air conditioning and other pro-
cess control systems.
Train path design with
a high emphasis on safety
The entire train path control system ope-
rates on the principle of detecting vehic-
les passing through the tunnel; in real ti-
me, the system monitors online where
each car is in order to allow or forbid the
following vehicles to enter the sections.
The tunnel itself is divided into compart-
ments and sections, and there can only be
one vehicle in each section. A signalling
system is used to inform the following ve-
hicle about whether the section ahead is
occupied (i.e. it is forbidden to enter) or
free (i.e. it is free to go) or the second-next
section is occupied (meaning it would ha-
ve to stop at the next section). The so-cal-
led auto-block signal mode, used mainly
on railways, is in operation here. This is for
safety in the tunnels.
"Our task was to design and then imple-
ment a solution with the requirement be-
ing functional safety according to ČSN EN
61 508 ed.2. We were therefore looking
for a technology to meet this and form
a sort of a backbone for our connected
downstream technologies," explains Marek
TT ++ TT
Technika a trh 5/2024
This has long been the topic of rumours and funny stories. With a bit of exaggeration,
however, we can say now that Czechia's second-largest city already has
its underground. That is what some have nicknamed sections of tram line number one,
which carries up to a hundred thousand passengers on a daily basis. It is because
the service now runs through a half-kilometre-long tram tunnel built in Žabovřeská
Street. Because of the requirements for high functional safety and the specific
topology, the section uses a control system with B&R components.
rail transport
ll
components
30
Brno's "Underground"
on the City's Backbone Service
Supported by B&R Equipment
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