Safety Guidelines for Computerised Train Control and Protection Systems


Yuji HIRAO,Ikuo WATANABE
In 1985 there was commissioned for the first time in Japan a microcomputerised interlocking,which controls railway signals and points in a station in a safety-critical manner.Since then this has been extended to other various train control and protection applications,such as automatic train protection,level crossing and so on.Today,to cope with higher system safety requirements and more sophisticated functions,as well as cost-effectiveness,it is important to formulate and diffuse these approaches in a more systematic manner.Safety guidelines for computerised train control and protection systems,which are based on Draft Standard IEC 1508,have been recently finalised by the specialist committee organised for that purpose.This paper describes an overview of the guidelines as well as situations in European countries,where the aim is the establishment of standards,CENELEC,with legal power.