Page 151 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 5

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número 5 - junio - 2018. Pág 149 - 157

Precise and reliable localization as a core of railway automation
(Rail 4.0)

Hutchinson, Michael

Marais, Juliette
Masson, Émilie

Mendizabal, Jaizki
Meyer zu Hörste, Michael

NSL, IFSTTAR, RAILENIUM, CEIT, DLR 1
Abstract:

High Speed Railway services have shown that Railways are a competitive and, at the same time,
an environmentally friendly transport system. The next level of improvement will be a higher
degree of automation, with partial or complete automatic train operation up to fully automatic
unattended driverless operation to reduce energy consumption and noise, as well as improving
punctuality and comfort. Based on extensive experience in separated railway systems such as
Metros, VAL (Véhicule automatique léger) and subways, today’s discussion focuses on the fully
automatic train operation on regular railway lines. This introduces some questions that are more
complex than in today’s systems: the performance, length and weight of the trains spreads in a
wider range; there are other and more complex operations; components such as level crossings in
different equipment variants are added; requirements are higher and the technological equipment
point is more heterogeneous. Many evolutionary or innovative approaches for railway automation
rely on precise and reliable localization. Especially for higher levels of automation it is essential.
Starting from existing technologies such as the European Train Control System (ETCS), moving on
to advanced driver assistance systems for local automatic operation up to full automatic train
operation (ATO), all of these solutions depend on knowledge of the position of the train on the
network. Improved concepts for railway operation e.g. using moving block, on-board integrity
supervision or virtual train sets will result in even higher requirements for accuracy and reliability
of the localization. The contribution shows an approach based on Global Navigation Satellite
Systems (GNSS) as a priority source of information used in combination with sensor data fusion.
Elements such as trackside augmentation as well as the use of digital maps will be discussed.
Different approaches are considered, e.g. those currently under development by projects in the
innovation program in the joint undertaking Shift2Rail.

Keywords: localisation, odometry, GALILEO, train control, digital route map

1 Hutchinson, Michael. Nottingham Scientific Limited (NSL). Email: michael.hutchinson@nsl.eu.com
Marais, Juliette. French institute of science and technology for transport, spatial planning, development and networks.
(IFSTTAR) Email: juliette.marais@ifsttar.fr
Masson, Émilie. Innovation R&D Project coordinator RAILENIUM. Email: emilie.masson@railenium.eu
Mendizabal, Jaizki. Centre for Technical Research and Studies - CEIT). Email: jmendizabal@ceit.es
Meyer zu Hörste, Michael. German Aerospace Centre (DLR). Email: Michael.MeyerzuHoerste@dlr.de.
(corresponding author)

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 149