Abstract:

The passing capacity of several busy high-speed railway lines in China is declining, and reducing train headway can considerably improve train density.However, optimizing the control method for train control systems is important to reduce the headway. On one hand, the commonly employed “hit-hard-wall” control mode has redundancies, rendering it inefficient. On the other hand,the “hit-soft-wall” control mode cannot ensure the absolute safety of train operation. Therefore, this paper proposes a combined“hit-hard-wall” and “hit-soft-wall” control mode, which reduces train tracking interval while ensuring the absolute safety of the train. Further, basic principles for optimizing this control mode are presented herein.In addition, solutions for problems such as the inability to determine the speed of the preceding train and to fulfill control curve constraints under this mode are explored.The solutions include track circuit information-based train speed estimation and control curve generation techniques that satisfy relevant constraints. Considering the CRH380BL train as an example, a solution was developed to obtain recommended values for train control deceleration.Consequently, the train tracking interval on straight tracks was reduced by 3035 meters, and the interval tracking time was reduced by 31 seconds through the proposed control mode. This is of great significance for improving the operational efficiency and passing capacity of high-speed railway lines.

Key words: high-speed railway, train control system, hit-soft-wall, hit-hard-wall, train control curve, deceleration