Gate Protection System -Konkan Railway

A cost effective system for Railway Level Crossing

Protection

Konkan Railway

Presents

Bhanu Tayal, Director Operation & CommercialBhanu Tayal, Director Operation & Commercial

&&

Narendra Singh Deo, Narendra Singh Deo, CSTE/ACD, Konkan Railway

A cost effective system for Railway Level Crossing Protection 2

Gate Accidents - A ‘Challenge’ Accepted

Based on ‘Radio communication’,

‘Microprocessors’ and ‘Global Positioning

System (GPS)’ technology, the Anti-Collision

devices at Level Crossing Gates and on board

Locomotives can apply brakes and/or alarm

the crew of the Train to apply brakes in time,

in case the Gate is open to road traffic or the

track area is obstructed by any vehicle.


Necessity

A LA R P (or TOLER A B LE

R e gion)

B roa dly A c c e pta ble (or N EGLIGIB LE

R e gion)

N o N e e d for A LA R P

R IS K

N e c e s s a ry to m a inta ina s s ura nc e tha t r is k

re m a ins a t this le v e l

R is k c a nnot be jus tifie de x c e pt in e x tra ordina ry

c irc um s ta nc e s

Tole ra ble only if r is k re duc tionis im pra c tic a l or if

c os t gros s ly dis proportiona teto im prov e m e nt ga ine d

U na c c e pta ble (or IN TOLER A B LE

R e gion)


Necessity

European approach to public safety and safety in the workplace as setout in the Framework Directive of the European Union (89/ 391/ EEC).This states that safety

“is an objective which should not be subordinated to purely economicconsiderations.”


Factors affecting probability of

collision of Road vehicle with train

at LC Gates1. Rail traffic density

2. Road traffic density

3. Visibility of the track, warning signs to road users.

4. Absence of full width barrier protection

5. Absence of Hooter & Flasher

6. Poor road surface condition

7. Poor alignment and elevation of road crossing

8. Whether conditions

9. Human error


Criteria for provision of LC GatesCriteria for provision of LC Gates

1TVU < 6,000

2

3 10,000 ≤ TVU < 100,000

4

Unmanned Level Crossing

6,000 ≤ TVU < 10,000 All unmanned Level Crossings to be manned on programmed basisManned Level Crossing

TVU greater than or = 100,000

Road Flyover/overpass

TVU – Train Vehicle Unit


Some Statistics on US Rail Road

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

Collisions

Fatalities

Injuries

Courtesy: Federal Railroad Administration

Num

bers


Some Statistics of UK Rail

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20070

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

11

6

11 11

8

14

15

13

5

12

PedestrianRoad VehicleOn board trainTotal

Nu

mb

er

of

lev

el c

ros

sin

g f

ata

liti

es

Courtesy: Rail Safety & Standard Board -2007 Annual safety performance report – UK


Some Statistics of UK Rail

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20070

5

10

15

20

25

30

12 1111 13

11

18

128 5

7

12

11

5 4

5

6

4

7

4 4

1 1 2

Tra

in c

olli

sio

ns

wit

h r

oa

d v

eh

icle

s

PassiveAutomatically pro-tectedManually protected

Courtesy: Rail Safety & Standard Board -2007 Annual safety performance report – UK


Some Statistics of Australian Railway

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100Collisions at Level Cross-ings

Courtesy: Australian Transport Safety Bureau


Some Statistics on IR

Courtesy: Indian Railways

98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Total No of Accidents

No of LC Gate Accidents

Courtsey – Indian Railway




98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00% Trend of LC Accidents

% of Total accidents





98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Total No of Accidents

No of LC Gate Accidents

No of fatalities at Lcs



‘ACD’ – A Solution against ‘Collision’ found…

• Anti-Collision Device (ACD) – A KRCL ‘Patent’

• Unique features – Prevents in a ‘mid-section’

– ‘Head-on’ Collisions

– ‘Side’ Collisions

– ‘Rear-end’ Collisions

– Accidents at Level Crossings

• No other Technology in the World supports

above features


‘ACD’ – Testing and validation

• Anti-Collision Device (ACD) – It has been validated by Electronic Test & Development Centre, Chennai, India.

• The product is tested and inspected by Lloyd

Register Asia (LRA, India) before dispatching

to the site.

ETDC Website: www.stqc.nic.in

LRA Website: www.lr.org


ACD WORKING


ACD Project commissioned in Indian Railway

(Work sanctioned for another 3500RKm)

1360Total

567

82

133

Loco ACD

Guard ACD (Passenger)

Guard ACD (Freight)

Mobile ACDs -2

578Station ACD, Level Crossing ACD,

ACD Repeater, Locoshed ACD etc.

Fixed ACDs – 1

Route Kms = 1760, Stations = 202


GPS based wireless Level Crossing

Protection System

• A subset of ACD system with limited

functionality of Level Crossing protection

• Consists of Gate and Loco units with

redundant radio modems

• Repeaters required for ensuring

communication in the defined zone of 3Km.


GPS Satellites

UHF Data Radio Modem

GPS Receiver

Working of “on-board” System

Receive inputs from satellites, communicate with Gate

Unit using radio modems & use intelligence to act

– To prevent ‘dangerous’ Collisions

Inter-ACD Radio Communication

Loco

Location Speed Course of Travel Time

Gate UNIT


Salient Features - What the system does

• ‘Train Approach’ Warning for road users at Level Crossings in the form of Audio Visual indication

• Detection of obstruction by road vehicle at level crossing

• Detection of Gate condition whether it is OPEN or CLOSED?

• Advance audio visual information to the train crew regarding the condition of the gate as detected by the Gate ACD.


Gate protection system CAN NOT Prevent a Train Collision when…

• The Train is a ‘NON’ ACD Train or Gate is not

provided with Gate ACD – ACD functions by

reacting to another ACD, as such if one of the two

identities is not provided with ACD, the protection

against collision will be missing

• ‘Adequate’ braking distance at that speed is not

available when a ‘dangerous’ collision-like situation

arises suddenly – However, severity of the collision

would be reduced as a function of the reaction time


Unit

for Locomotive( L 435 x W 203 x H 342 mm )


Driver Console ( L215 x

W80 x H125)

L 9 9 9 9 9

1 9 : 2 6

DRIVER'S CONSOLE

KONKAN RAILWAY CORPORATION LTD.

SOS ACD-OK ACD-M


Unit at Manned LC Gate


Location Box for Gate Unit


Scenario - Gate Approach

• Train approaches the Gate ST 346 At approximately 2000m from the Gate ‘Gate Approach’ message and audio buzzer appears for 10 seconds

S T 3 4 6 G A T E A P P R O A C H

1 9 : 2 6


Scenario – Gate OPEN

• Level Crossing Gate ST 346 is detected to be OPEN – Audio Visual Indication is automatically activated to draw the attention of the Driver and brakes are applied to reduce the speed to 15 Km/h.

S T 3 4 6 G A T E O P E N

1 9 : 2 6


Scenario – Gate occupied

• Level Crossing Gate ST 346 is detected to be occupied by the road vehicle - Audio Visual Indication is automatically activated to draw the attention of the Driver and brakes are applied to reduce the speed to 15 Km/h.

S T 3 4 6 G A T E O C C U P I E D

1 9 : 2 6


System Adaptability

• Loco Unit can be provided in any type of Diesel or Electric Locomotive

• The Auto Braking Unit (ABU) is suitable for Air Brake/Vacuum brake/Computerised Control Braking systems

• Level Crossing Unit can be installed at any type of Gate working system to detect OPEN/CLOSE condition of gate

• Loco and Level Crossing Units are capable of withstanding -10 deg C to +70 Deg C temp variation


System Benefits

• It does not require any inputs to be fed by the crew at the start of journey, thus human error is eliminated.

• Very economical and cost effective• Easily adaptable and expandable• Does not degrade the existing safety level• Employs state-of-art hardware and software

technology• No way side equipment required, hence no

requirement of Power• No cabling on the track required (which is more

expensive and cumbersome)• Less susceptible to Vandalism.


GPS based wireless gate protection system Implementation Plan

• Survey & Route Design • Manufacturing and Installation of Units with

accessories• Commissioning of individual Loco & Gate Unit

installations• Training of Personnel • Configuration & Customization of the route • Commissioning of the Route• Post warranty Annual Maintenance (if required)

NOTE - System can be implemented in 1000 RKm track within one year after the order is received. This excludes installation in Locomotives which takes 12 hrs for each Locomotive at the shed.


Maintenance Support System (MSS)

• Daily Reports of incidences of Warning to the Driver due to Gate OPEN or Obstruction

• Date wise Report of incidences of Warning to the Driver due to Gate OPEN or Obstruction

• Daily Maintenance Report – Failure of Loco Unit and Gate Unit

• Date wise Maintenance Report – Failure of Loco Unit and Gate Unit


Thank You

Documents

Gate Protection System -Konkan Railway