Designing a real time train control and monitoring system architecture: a case study of Rift Valley Railways
Abstract
A train control system is a vital part of a railway transportation system
especially for a single line like RVR Railway. In a single line the track is a
shared resource but unlike road vehicles the train is does not steer away
from the track in the face of another oncoming train and thus there is an
omnipresent danger of collision with other trains.
Safe movement of trains in a single line is ensured through a
combination of a signaling systems and rules governing the use of the
shared resource. RVR has been using a mechanical signaling system that
is obsolete in technology, been prone to vandalism, labour intensive and
highly reliant on human integrity. The system is no longer viable.
Modern computerized Train control systems in use in heavily used
railway lines are not cost effective for lightly used lines. The purpose of
this project was to design a train control system that is cost effective,less
prone to vandalism and less reliant on human element using easily
available technologies.
A train control system based on GPS technology and client -server
technology was designed, built, tested and found to meet the objectives.
The system was designed with a mix of customized software and off the
shelf software.
The system comprises a GPS receiver, computer terminal and GSM
modem in the locomotive which communicates via GPRS to a server in
the control centre. The server runs Apache Web Server and MySQL.
The Locomotive driver requests and receives Authority to proceed
through the locomotive based terminal.
Using GPS systems for location determination and locally developed
software a safe and cost effective train control system working with little
human intervention can be developed at a fraction of imported
Publisher
School of Computing and Informatics
Description
MSc