Autonomous Train Control System Principle: Fully Train‐Centric Route Generation and Track Resource Management
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT The current moving block systems still depend on wayside interlocking systems and zone controllers, resulting in complex control flow and limited control efficiency. While recent train‐centric solutions have simplified the system and enhanced line capacity, they still require explicit resource requests from the wayside infrastructure controller and necessitate storing all routes in onboard equipment. These limitations constrain system performance and maintainability. This study introduces an autonomous train control principle for fully train‐centric route generation and track resource management, eliminating reliance on wayside controllers. The proposed system models track layouts as directed graphs and generates routes through route factorisation and composition, ensuring compliance with railway safety and operational requirements. By utilising train‐to‐train coordinate transformations, ATCS enables direct management of track resources between trains without intermediaries, significantly improving the system's performance. Furthermore, a novel braking model is introduced, optimising headway distances and improving track utilisation. The proposed principle is evaluated on an actual railway track layout in Korea, and the results demonstrate its feasibility, achieving shorter headways, improved track capacity, and enhanced system maintainability and flexibility when compared to conventional CBTC and train‐centric CBTC systems.
DOI: 10.1049/itr2.70072
Authors: Sehchan Oh, Kyungran Kang, Young‐Jong Cho
Institutions: Korea Railroad Research Institute, Ajou University
Language: English
Subfield: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,790
Award: G1713182573
OpenAlex ID: W4413168325