Train management system

1. International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), ISSN 0976-
6367(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6375(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), © IAEME
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TRAIN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM


Mr. Bhagya Parekh
1
, Mr. Tushar Sawant
2
, Mr. Naineel Shah
3
, Mr. Rushabh Mehta
4

1,3,4
B.E. Student (EXTC), D. J. Sanghvi College, Mumbai
2
M.E. Student (EXTC), D. J. Sanghvi College, Mumbai

ABSTRACT

The Mumbai Suburban train system, operating approx. 1457 trains & handling approx. 10
Lakh passengers daily, is a high density, high turn around complex network which demands
extremely fast & efficient train control system. The manual control is slow, tedious, stressful and
doesn't involve holistic operational management. The TMS on Churchgate-Virar section
accomplishes Train Control & Information dissemination automatically. Train Management System
project envisages “On Line” operation of the existing Train Indicators at various stations and also
provision of Passenger information system in the form of Video Display Units at station entrances
for indicating train running information to the commuters [1]. The train movement data is picked up
from the stations through high-speed modems and fed to a centralized UNIX server, which
commands the train movement and triggers the passenger information system. This has increased
punctuality & efficiency of train operations, facilitated running more trains and enhanced passenger
satisfaction.

Keywords: 89S52, Reed Switch, EBISAT

I. INTRODUCTION

Earlier system of manual exchange of train movement information from to stations and to
from control office did not provide much assistance to the Controller to take timely and optimum
decision for train controlling in case of any unusual event that puts operations out of gear. Similarly,
timely information to the Assistant station Master (ASM) was also not available for ensuring correct
displays and announcements. To match high volume traffic of suburban section, there was need to
provide ‘ON LINE’ information of train movements to the various Agencies e.g. Controller, ASM
etc., who then can take timely and effective steps in case of disruption of the operation. Therefore, a
need was felt for provision of Train Management System (TMS). Countdown in Minutes for minute
to minute train arrival information to commuters and Automatic Announcements at stations from
TMS Control centre is the main aim. The project aims to provide a computerized approach in place
of manual one. The scope of the project extends to daily use of local trains for commutation[1]. Train
Management System primarily provides for —
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2. International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), ISSN 0976-
6367(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6375(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), © IAEME
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i) Automatic signal control.
ii) Automatic train stopping system for rail safety.
iii) ‘On line’ display of movements of all trains on video monitors located in control room.
iv) Provision of video display units for train arrival information to commuters with
countdown in minutes.
v) Interfacing with the announcement system for facilitating auto announcements

II. OBJECTIVE
OF SYSTEM

TMS system primarily provides for —
1. ‘ON LINE’ display of movements of all trains with Train Numbers/Rake Nos. on video
monitors as well as over view indication panel, located in control room.
2. Interfacing with the train indicator boards at various stations for minute to minute train arrival
information to commuters.
3. Provision of video display units for train running information to commuters with countdown
in minutes [2].
4. Interfacing with the announcement system for facilitating auto announcements, automatic
recording and retrieval of train movements like Automatic time stamping of the train
movements.
5. Generation of MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM reports and statistical data,
6. Compatibility of system for future expansion, to provide remote control operation of
signaling interlocking system, providing additional workstations, public display system.

III. SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE

TMS is a computer-based system located in the control office, which collects signaling status
information status of signals, points, track circuit etc. from the various station interlocking in real
time basis. It also collects train identification information like train no., rake, name of crew and
platform no. from the train originating station, where it is manually fed. The above information is
processed automatically and display regarding various train movements together with status of
signals, points, track circuits etc. made available on the controller’s video screen on selective
station/section basis. Display information is also available on a big rear view MIMIC indication
display located in front of the controller, covering the entire section of Western Railway[6].



Fig 1 TMS Architecture

3. International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), ISSN 0976-
6367(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6375(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), © IAEME
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Control office equipments shall mainly comprise of

A. Master Controller
The application servers and the associated unit forming the master control equipment shall be
located in the equipment room of the control centre. It is the main processor and heart of train
management system, controlling and supervising various activities of the entire system. To access
data from all way side station interlocking through common communication link and display status
of trains and signaling information. To furnish necessary information to rear video display panel for
display of train movements with identification, track circuits, points & signals and alarms etc. The
master controller is connected via optical fiber link with all the station signal interlocking through
REMOTE TELEMETERING UNIT called EBISAT [7]. The information/status of track circuits,
signals, points, route set etc. are transmitted from wayside stations to master
controller.

B. Operator Terminal
Section Controllers are provided with multiple wide screen high-resolution graphic color
video terminals with dedicated keyboards, mouse. From this video terminal, controller can see any
station from Churchgate to Virar for display of live train movements. Train description can also be
entered by the controller from the keyboard. Workstations have been provided with other controllers
i.e. Chief Controller, Signal Controller etc.

C. MIMIC Wall Type Display Panel
For overview of live train movements, track layout, status of points, aspect of signals, level
crossing gates etc, Rear Video Projection Screens of M/s BARCO, Belgium have been installed in
the TMS Control Room. The real time train movements on the 11 M Rear View Projection Panel are
assisting our traffic controllers in efficient management of intense suburban rail operations.


Fig 2. MIMIC Wall Display

Any yard layout changes occurring can be carried out with ease through software requiring no
expensive and time-consuming hardware modifications. (fig.2.)

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IV. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION DETAIL















Fig 3 Block Diagram of the Station Controller

Microcontroller 89S52
It is the heart of the system which controls its overall working. It polls the input signals from the reed
switches placed on tracks[1]. These input signals status are checked and accordingly seven segment
display, buzzer and IR transmitter are activated or deactivated. It scans the input and polls status of
sensors and if any sensor is open for particular time fail safe system is implemented. It acts as power
supply controller for engines by remotely controlling their motion via RF.

MAX 232 Interface

The MAX232 is a dual driver/receiver that includes a capacitive voltage generator to supply
EIA-232 voltage levels from a single 5-V supply. Each receiver converts EIA-232 inputs to 5-V
TTL/CMOS levels. These receivers have a typical threshold of 1.3 V and a typical hysteresis of 0.5
V, and can accept ±30-V inputs. Each driver converts TTL/CMOS input levels into EIA-232 levels.

Reed Switch
The reed switch is an electrical switch operated by an applied magnetic field. It consists of a pair of
contacts on ferrous metal reeds in a hermetically sealed glass envelope. The contacts may be
normally open, closing when a magnetic field is present, or normally closed and opening when a
magnetic field is applied. The reed relay is a type of relay, in which a reed switch is mounted inside a
coil [4]. The reed switch contains two magnetisable and electrically conductive metal reeds which
have end portions separated by a small gap when the switch is open. The reeds are hermetically
sealed in opposite ends of a tubular glass envelope.
It is placed in track. It is made active close by placing magnet close to it. A magnetic field causes the
contacts to pull together, thus completing an electrical circuit. When engine fitted with magnet
passes the reed switch the new magnetic field causes reed switch to go open giving an interrupt to
microcontroller.

RF Transmitter
A 434 MHz ASK transmitter is used to transmit pulses to engine that decided engine’s speed using
whip antenna to increase transmitting range.

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NAND Gate Control
Two NAND gates are employed to control the IR Transmitters for both track sections respectively.
When control input to NAND gate is high, 35KHz pulses are delivered to IR transmitter enabling
train to stop when it arrives in line of sight of IR transmitter. IR Transmitter consists array of four IR
LEDs driven by transistor amplifier.

V. SYSTEM
WORKING

The Western Railway consist of NODE Sub System- which has a Sun Ultra computer
running Node software and other associated equipments like Serial Port Server, Digital Audio Switch
, Hub and Router. All are connected with the Track circuit using optical fiber link.
Every length of track in a signaled area is split up into logical sections called 'track sections'
or ‘blocks’ . For example, on the western line, each track section is about 150m long. 'Absolute
block' refers to a system where the track is considered to consist of a series of sections, such that
when one train is occupying a section of track no other train is allowed to enter that section. This is
the most widely used system for ordinary train routes. In this case, a signal is placed at the start of
each track section to indicate whether the section ahead is 'occupied' or 'clear'. The signal will not
allow a train to enter the section unless it is 'clear'. Another example is track section containing a set
of points. About 1 to 5m of track going into and out of a set of points might be one track section.
This section would therefore need to be 'clear' for the points to be changed[3].
For the state of the track sections (clear or occupied) to be used to prevent or allow signals
and points to operate, the state must be detected electrically. This is done using 'track circuits'. The
requirement of the track circuit is that an electrical relay (electrically controlled switch) be on if the
track section is clear, or off if the section is occupied. This relay allows other electrical interlocking
systems to 'know' whether that track section is occupied. To allow the relay to be turned on requires a
power supply. Essentially, the circuit works by applying a voltage across the two rails in a track
section. This voltage powers the relay. If a train enters the section, the wheels and axles make an
electrical connection between the two rails and the voltage drops to near zero, turning off the relay.
The relay will not turn on again until the last axle of the train has left the section regardless of the
train length. Obviously, this system will only work when wooden sleepers are used, as metal sleepers
would also make an electrical connection between the two rails, preventing the circuit from working.



Fig 4 Track Circuit

Then each section is separated from the next using isolating fish-plates. These are usually
made of Nylon or Teflon. This is essential so that track detection for each section is separate from
the next. While the track section is clear (no train), the two rails in the section are isolated from each
other. The current from the supply runs through the resistor, along the rail called the positive rail, and
to one side of the relay coil. The other side of the relay coil is connected to earth, completing the

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circuit. Thus, when no train is on the track, the relay is turned on. When a train is in the section
whether it be one axle or one hundred axles, the current flows from the power supply, through the
resistor and to one end of the positive rail. From this point, the most conductive path to earth is
through the axle(s) and to the earth rail. Negligible current flows through the relay and so the relay is
turned off. The following diagram shows the two different current paths - one in green when the
track section is clear, the other in red when the track section is occupied.


Fig 5 Track Circuit Showing Current Path

The purpose of the ballast resistor is to limit the amount of current flowing when the section
is occupied. Without the resistor, the circuit becomes almost a dead short across the supply and the
supply would fail. The resistor is usually a high power variable resistor. The reason we use variable
resistors is so that the resistance can be set high enough to keep current flow low, but low enough to
allow enough current for the relay to turn on. Each track section has its own ballast resistor and relay
[4]. The power supply is used by more than one track circuit - the positive connects many ballast
resistors and the negative connects to the continuous earth rail, and to each relay.

VI. FLOWCHART
OF THE SYSTEM





















Fig 6 Station Controller Flowchart

7. International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), ISSN 0976-
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Fig 7 Station Controller Flowchart Cont



Fig 8 Train Controller Flowchart

8. International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), ISSN 0976-
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VII. IMPLEMENTATION AND RESULTS





The various states of the indicators in the GUI are as indicated above. An initialization run is
carried out to ensure system synchronization. Once synchronized, the GUI indicates the location of
the train in one of the six segments of the track. The corresponding indicator changes from red to
green whenever the train passes over one of the six reed switches. Also the GUI signals are
synchronized to switch simultaneously with the actual signals. Thus the GUI provides an overview
of the entire train system. Moreover an emergency button is provided to switch off and restart the
entire system in case of unexpected circumstances.

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VIII. CONCLUSION

The “TRAIN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM” aims to automate operation of railway signaling
and train monitoring. It shows two track sections of a line to demonstrate – Automatic Signaling,
Automatic Train Stopping System, Announcement, Expected In Minutes, Train Monitoring on PC.
The train movement control is achieved using wireless remote control. One more important feature is
the ‘fail safe’ system and ‘centralized power control’ that enables emergency ‘Shut Down’ during
danger or unavoidable circumstances. Thus the "TRAIN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM "acts as a
BRIDGE between railway system and customers.

IX. FUTURE
SCOPE

We use wireless control for train movement. The current system uses wired medium to relay
status of signals to monitoring unit. This can be made wireless by removing all the complexities of
wiring as well as enabling the use of the wired medium for optimized communication purpose. The
wireless system can also be efficiently used to control the speed of the trains. The flexibility of this
project provides the scope to use the system in similar track-based systems like the metro. Also the
entire system is automated requiring little or no human input. This would make it possible to
implement a complete automated train system in the near future with the driver simply supervising
the train’s movements. This would greatly increase the efficiency of the entire train system. The
implementation of wireless TRAIN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM can one day revolutionaries the
Western Railways to Wireless Western Railways (WWR).

X. REFERENCES

[1]. Western Railway Train Management System manual.
[2]. “A Train Control System in Model Based Real Time System Design” IEEE 2003.
[3]. Indian Railways, India, Operating Manual, 1987
[4]. Indian Railways, India, Train Management System Document
[5]. S. C. Saxena and S. P. Arora, 'A Textbook of Railway Engineering',2000
[6]. ERTMS/ETCS-Class 1.GSM-R Interfaces:Class 1 Requirements. Subset-093 V.2.3.0.
[7]. Tianhua Xu, Shu Li and Tao Tang. Reliability Analysis of Data Communication Subsystem
in Train Control System.Journal Of BEIJING JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY.31.NO.5,october,
2007.
[8]. www.railway-technical.com

[9]. Kamlesh Kumar Singh, “Broadband Internet in Trains”, International Journal of Computer
Engineering & Technology (IJCET), Volume 4, Issue 3, 2013, pp. 519 - 530, ISSN Print:
0976 – 6367, ISSN Online: 0976 – 6375.
[10]. N. Sivakumar, Dr. P. Sivaraman, N. Tamilselvan and Dr. R. Sevukan, “Digital Content
Management System: A Conceptual Framework”, International Journal of Computer
Engineering & Technology (IJCET), Volume 2, Issue 2, 2011, pp. 16 - 24, ISSN Print:
0976 – 6367, ISSN Online: 0976 – 6375.