In commuter lines, trains are often forced to decelerate or stop between stations because the preceding train has been delayed. Once a train stops between stations, both the travel time and the interval time between trains increase. This situation has an adverse effect on energy consumption. To solve these problems, we propose a new train control method based on the prediction of the train movement and data communications between sub-systems of a railway. Computer simulations confirm that this method reduces the amount of time trains are stopped between stations and the energy consumption at sub-stations.

Copyright (c) 2003 Railway Technical Research Institute