Concept of Centralization of Control Systems for Level Crossing Protection

Abstract

In terms of safety, rail-road crossings are critical points of interface between rail and road transport systems. This is due to the fact that among the total number of adverse events that take place in the area of railway infrastructure, the vast majorities are those occurring at these critical points. The issue of the occurrence of adverse events in the area of rail-road crossings has continuously been a serious topic of discussion for all entities related to land transport for many years. There is still a search for innovative methods influencing the improvement of safety at railroad crossings. The proposed solutions must, on the one hand, take into account many aspects (including: safety, legal, technical) and on the other hand, take into account economic factors. Currently, there are no crossing systems in Poland that enable the control of multiple remote peripheral devices (barriers, traffic signals, level crossing warning signal) of various rail-road crossings from one control core. The level crossing system enabling remote control from one control core is the PZZ-J system produced by the Czech company AŽD Praha s.r.o. However, this system is not approved in Poland. On the Polish railway network, can often be found a large concentration of rail-road crossings, where installation of such a system would be advisable taking into account economic factors. Reducing the cost of building the system enables the protection of a greater number of rail-road crossings, which implies a significant improvement in safety within these facilities. This article presents the concept of a control system for multiple remote peripheral devices of rail-road crossings using the PZZ-J system by AŽD Praha s.r.o., in order