Author:  Fred Coleman III, Young J. Moon

Sponsoring Agency:  Illinois Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration

Date of Publication:  1998

Abstract:

The objective of this paper is to determine the location of sensors in the track system functioning as checkpoints to provide information to a train on the status of the crossing and provide evasive maneuver time for the train and trapped vehicle. Two train-operating scenarios are evaluated: the first provides no deceleration when a trapped vehicle is detected; the second scenario has the train decelerate at a tolerable deceleration rate to passengers when a trapped vehicle is detected. The findings indicate that there is a trade-off between minimizing the distances to locate the trapped vehicle detection sensors in the track system and potential issues of reliability of vehicle detection and maximization of safety. Recommendations include provision of on-board real-time status information on the crossing(s) in the train with automatic train location and control to continuously provide safe stopping distances in event of a trapped vehicle.
 

No. of Pages:  8