CE 307

Railway Engineering and Airport

Planning
Signalling & Interlocking

Dr. Indrajit Ghosh

Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Signalling

 Purpose
 Primarily to control and regulate movement of
trains
 Safely and efficiently
 Enable maximum utilization of tracks
 Medium of communication
 Station master/controller
 Drivers
Signalling
 Objectives of signalling
 To regulate movement of trains so that they run
safely at maximum permissible speed
 To maintain safe and minimum distance between
trains running on the same line in the same
direction
 To ensure safety between two trains crossing or
approaching each other
 To regulate arrival and departure of trains from
station yards
 To ensure safety to cross traffic at level crossing
Types of Signals
 Detonators
 Audible signals
 Used during cloudy and foggy weather
 When red or green signals are not visible
 Contain explosive materials
 Fixed to rails by means of clips
 Placed approximately 400 m ahead of a signal
 Once driver passes over detonator
 These get exploded
 Driver becomes alert and looks for signal
Types of Signals

 Hand signals
 Visible signal
 Signals given with help of red or green flag or
lamp at night
 If flags are not available, signalling may be done
using bare arms during the day
 Used by guards, station masters, cabin man, gang
man, key man, point man, or any other authorized
man
Types of Signals

 Fixed signals
 Semaphore type or stop signals
 Used in station yards
 Word was first used by a Greek historian
 Sema means Sign
 Phore means To bear
 Consists of a movable arm pivoted on a
vertical post
 Using spindle
Types of Signals
 Semaphore type or Stop Signal
 Consists of the following:
 Movable arm
 Spectacle, holding two colour glasses
 Lamp for night indication
 Crank rod, cam, lever and counter weights
 Signal post
 Chain and pulley
 Wire to cabin
 Operated by hand levers/buttons in a central
cabin
Types of Signals

 Semaphore type or
Stop Signals
- Two aspect signal

7.5 m
Classification of Signals

 Semaphore Type or Stop Signals

 In normal position it shows STOP i.e. arm
remains horizontal
 Under signal failure also, it turns to STOP
 Red coloured side of arm with a white vertical
band
 It is white in colour at the back with black vertical
band
 These are placed on the left hand side of the
direction of movement
Types of Signals

 Semaphore type or Stop Signals

 Signal Indications
 ‘ON’ Position
 Horizontal arm
indicating stop or
danger
 During night time
RED light will be
seen
 Back side shows
white light
Types of Signals

 Semaphore type or Stop Signals

 Signal Indications
 ‘OFF’ Position
 Arm is lowered at
an angle of 45o
 During night time
GREEN light will
be seen
 Back side shows no
light
Types of Signals

 Semaphore Type or Stop Signal

 Lower Quadrant Signal
 Uses lower quadrant
 Works with only two aspects, namely horizontal and
inclined downwards (ON / Red, OFF/Green)
Types of Signals

 Semaphore Type or Stop Signal

 Upper Quadrant Signal
 Used on high density routes in order to provide
drivers with further information
 MAUQ (Multi-aspect Upper Quadrant signalling)
 It has three aspects, namely horizontal, inclined at
45o upwards, and vertical upright
Types of Signals

 Semaphore Type or Stop Signal

 Upper Quadrant Signal
Types of Signals

 Semaphore Type or Stop Signal

 Upper Quadrant Signal

Position Aspects of Position of Colour Indication

signal arm during night
1 ON-Stop Horizontal Red Stop dead
2 OFF- 45o upwards Yellow Proceed with
Caution caution and be
prepared to stop at
next signal
3 OFF- 90o upwards Green Proceed at
Proceed maximum permitted
speed
Types of Signals
 Warner/Distant Signal - Permissible signal
 Provides warning
 Arm of a warner signal is fish-tailed
 Black band is in the form of a V
 In unison with outer edge
 It is painted yellow
 It exhibits yellow or amber light at night
 Instead of red
 Separate installations
 Placed in the same post of semaphore
 Below it
Types of Signals

 Warner Signal
 Indications when installed separately
 Warner arm horizontal means ON position i.e.
PROCEED WITH CAUTION AND BE PREAPRED
TO STOP AT NEXT SIGNAL
 Yellow light
 Warner arm inclined means OFF position i.e.
PROCEED
 Green light
Signals - Classification

 Warner Signal
Signalling
Types of Signals
 Warner Signal
 In Combination with Semaphore Signal
 Both arms horizontal means ON position i.e. STOP
DEAD (neither approaching section nor next block
section is clear)
 Semaphore arm lowered and Warner arm
horizontal i.e. PROCEED WITH CAUTION AND BE
PREPARED TO STOP AT THE NEXT STOP
SIGNAL (section is clear up to the station but next
block section is not clear)
 Driver curtails the speed, brings train to stop at station
 Both arms lowered means OFF position i.e.
PROCEED WITH CONFIDENCE (both station line
and block section are clear)
Types of Signals
 Colour Light Signals
 Semaphore signals are being replaced by
colour aspect signals on electrified tracks
 Used for heavy traffic, urban and sub-urban tracks
 High intensity colour beam focused at eye
level of driver is used for day as well as night
indication
 Light indication is same as semaphore
 Green for Proceed
 Yellow for Proceed with caution
 Red for Stop
Types of Signals

 Colour Light Signals

 Provided with lenses and hoods
 Make visible during clear day
 May be 2 aspects (GR), 3 aspects (GYR) or 4
aspects (YGYR)
 In India, 3 and 4 aspects are common
Types of Signals
 Colour Aspect Stop Signal
Types of Signals

 Colour Aspect Stop Signal

 Three Colour Aspect Signal
 Uses three aspect i.e. STOP (Red) or Danger,
CAUTION (Yellow) and PROCEED (Green)
 More common
Types of Signals

 Colour Aspect Stop Signal

Types of Signals
 Colour Aspect Stop Signal
 Four Colour Aspect Signal
 It shows four lights YELLOW, GREEN, YELLOW
and RED
 Red means STOP or Danger
 Yellow means WARNING i.e. pass the signal
cautiously and be prepared to stop at next signal
 Two YELLOWS means next signal is likely to be
yellow. So proceed and pass the next signal with
caution
 GREEN means pass the signal at full speed, next
signal is likely to be green
Types of Signals

 Four Colour Aspect Signal

Types of Signals
 Colour Aspect Stop Signal
 Four Colour Aspect Signal
 Gives more elaborate/advance information about
the track
 Difference between semaphore and colour
light signallling
 Semaphore indicates PROCEED only when a train
is due
 Otherwise it always shows STOP
 Automatic signals always indicate PROCEED
(Green light)
 Unless the section is blocked
Classification of Signals

 According to the positions

 Warner When train
passes through a
 Outer station without
stopping, drive
 Home comes across
these signal in
 Starter this sequence

 Advance starter
 Routing signal
 Repeater signal
Classification of Signals
 Warner
 First signal for a driver approaching a station
 Outer
 Indication of entry of train from block to station
yard
 Home
 Provided at door of station before starting of
switches
 Starter
 Indication whether train can leave station yard
Classification of Signals
 Advance starter
 Indication for train having left station and is no more a
responsibility for station master
 Routing
 Group of semaphore signals placed at facing points of
one or a number of turnouts
 Repeater/Co-acting
 Additional signal in case of curves or other
obstructions (overbridge between signals)
 Drivers would be unable to see home signal
 At a reasonable distance
 Repeats the operation of home signal
Classification of Signals

 Reception and Departure Signals

Interlocking

 To prevent human errors, levers are

interlocked such that only one point in a
particular route can remain open at one time
and signal for that point can only be operated
 Interlocking
Interlocking
 Principles of interlocking
 Interlocking between a point and its
corresponding signal
 No contradictory signal can be used at the
same time
 No loose wagons can enter the line after the
points are set and signals lowered
 The track for which the points are set and
signals lowered, should be clear of obstruction
Methods of interlocking
 Key interlocking
 Set the points
 Locking for main/loop line
 Taking out of keys with no chance of error
 Level frame operating the signals can be only
operated by subject key
 Panel interlocking
 Interlocking between point and signal is done
electronically from a central location
 Operating switches for various functions are
mounted on a panel on which layout of yard is
drawn
Interlocking
 Methods of interlocking
 Centralized Train Control (CTC)
 Operation of all the points and signals of various
stations of a section is centralized at one place
 Control is in the hand of a single official called CTC
operator/Dispatcher
 Takes over the work of a number of station
masters of individual stations
 Operates points and signals electronically through
remote control
 Distance covered by each CTC panel is 120 km on
either side
 Entire section is depicted on a panel
Interlocking
 Methods of interlocking
 Centralized Train Control (CTC)
 CTC panel
 Illuminated track diagram
 Relative positions of signals, points and track
circuits together with their reference numbers
 Thumb switches below track diagram
 Points + Signals + Direction of train
Methods of interlocking
 Automatic Warning System (or Automatic
Train Control system)
 Practiced in US, Japan, Switzerland
 Has already been introduced in India on some
sections of ERs and CRs
 Device which triggers automatic application of
brakes
 If signal is in the danger position
 Driver fails to apply brakes
 One part this system is installed on track
 Other is activated when signal is red
Interlocking
 Methods of interlocking
 Automatic Warning System
 But if no action is taken by the driver for 3-4
seconds
 Emergency brakes are automatically applied
 Train is brought to stop
Interlocking
 Methods of interlocking
 Automatic Warning System
 Not active when signal is green
 Engine passes over track device, nothing happens
 If signal is red
 A red lamp is lighted as soon as locomotive passes
over it
 Alarm bell starts ringing
 If driver presses the acknowledgement button and
applied brake
 Alarm stops
 No further action is taken by AWS