Plum Line tests maintenance-free operation (2. strana)
The Plum Line regional railway tests maintenance-free operation
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under the supervision of engineers and
the results are very satisfactory.
There will also be monitoring of level
crossings, ETCS (the common European
Train Control System), the operation of in-
formation systems and public address sys-
tems, the lighting of stations and stops,
and other elements. Smart sensors will be
installed on culverts and bridges to moni-
tor their condition.
"What we expect from this innovative
system, which will run in trial mode for a
year, is a significant reduction of the cost
of operating the line, improved efficiency
of maintenance responses, and minimi-
sing any traffic restrictions. At the mo-
ment, there are no traffic staff working on
the line as it is controlled remotely from
the dispatch centre at Lovosice station. I
am convinced that the future of smooth
railway transport lies in diagnostic and au-
tomatic responses to parameters of the li-
ne that have deteriorated," says Zdeněk
Chrdle, General Manager of AŽD.
The Plum Line will be safer,
introducing online image transfer
from level crossings
AŽD, a manufacturer of modern railway
signalling technologies, responded briskly
to the increasing number of tragic acci-
dents at level crossings involving road
vehicles getting stuck between the barri-
ers. The company is currently testing onli-
ne image transmission from problematic
level crossings to the driver of an approa-
ching railway vehicle on its "Plum Line"
(Čížkovice-Obrnice).
A total of seven level crossings on this li-
ne will be fitted with the image transmissi-
on functionality within three months. A
driver approaching a problematic level
crossing will be able to see in time whet-
her a road vehicle has become stuck on
the crossing after the audible warning and
the lowering of the barriers.
"The way the system is designed is that
the driver will not have to keep watching
the tablet showing images from the indivi-
dual crossings as it would distract the dri-
ver from watching the track. He or she will
be alerted to a problem at the level cros-
sing by an audible signal so that the driver
can start braking after reviewing the ima-
ge from the crossing. Even if the train fai-
led to stop completely, the deceleration
would at least dramatically mitigate the
consequences of the accident," explains
Zdeněk Chrdle, AŽD's General Manager.
AŽD is now testing the system on two
level crossings on the Plum Line. A speci-
al tablet added to the driver's station
shows images from the problematic level
crossings as part of the testing. In the next
stage, the image can be transferred to the
tablet, which is now a standard part of the
equipment of the vehicles used on the
Plum Line, via the new FRMCS (Future Ra-
ilway Mobile Communication System - a
successor to the current GSM-R system
used on railways) or a high-capacity 5G
network or the Starlink satellite internet
network.
"Going into the future, we plan to link
this innovation, for instance, with the uni-
fied ETCS European Train Control System,
which would mean that in the event of
any problem at a level crossing, the mo-
ving railway vehicle would start braking
automatically without input from the dri-
ver. At the Kopidlnka, which is our experi-
mental track between Kopidlno and Dolní
Bousov, this new online transmission of
images from level crossings will be imple-
mented in the autonomous train under
testing, which will resolve the long-stan-
ding question as to how an autonomous
train can react on its own to a person or
vehicle at a level crossing with the war-
ning on. Passenger safety is the absolute
priority for AŽD and we will, therefore,
keep coming up with new automatic safe-
ty features that will not place a burden on
the drivers," says Zdeněk Chrdle. p
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rail transport
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