The paper considers a possibility of a wider use of alternative means for control of track sections inoccupation on the JSC «RZD» objects. In order to exclude the decrease of operation safety the authors propose to consider the exposure of a track section to rail failures at equipping with alternative means of their detection, as well as the influence of rail circuits and operational measures on detecting failures and prevention of crashes.

The paper provides an overview of means for track availability checkup used on the JSC RZD railway network. It is established that axle counting systems have a limited distribution and widely used track circuits don’t always prevent from train crashes. It means that track circuits don’t provide a complete safety of railway operation. As a result, the authors propose to widen the application of axle counting systems on objects of Russian railways. The authors have also carried out an analysis of fixed failures and determined parameters that have the greatest influence on their appearance, which will exclude the decrease in safety of railway operation at equipment of track section with axle counting systems.