Automatic Railway gate control and parameter monitoring

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this project is to provide cost effective safety measures at level
crossings in railways. This project is a part of a complete system for monitoring the
operation of an LC gate without manning it. It basically collects data and performs
actions (i.e opening and closing of gate) on the basis of certain parameters which are
monitored using electronic equipments fitted at the unmanned LC gate. Manning an
LC gate is a really costly affair as it not only involves the salary for the employee but
also future benefits like PF etc, while in the case of such efficient methods the only
costs involved are maintenance costs. It works on the data provided by the GPS
system on the loco, which sends out latitude and longitudinal coordinates which are
compared at the LC gate and the necessary warnings are given out and after ensuring
that no vehicle is obstructing the path the gate is closed and the driver on the loco is
informed. In this way the LC gate is closed before the train arrives and safety of
vehicular traffic is ensured.

The fundamental process in our system is obtaining train location using GPS
technology and transmitting the data to the control unit for data processing and
information analysis. Real- time positioning information received by the server is
made meaningful and extremely useful for the end user. The availability of this
information allows the Train Controller to take accurate decisions as for the train
location. Positioning data along with train speed helps the administration to identify
the possible safety issues and react to them effectively using the communication
methods provided by the system.

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SL NO TOPIC PAGE NO

1 INTRODUCTION 3
2 CASE STUDY – INDIAN RAILWAYS 6

3 FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS 8

3.1 TYPES OF LEVEL CROSSING 9
3.2 CURRENTLY AVAILABLE LC PROTECTION SYSTEMS 10
3.2.1 CROSSING WARNING SIGNAL 10
3.2.2 MECHANICAL CROSSING BARRIER 11

4 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM 12

4.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM 14
4.2 MAIN COMPONENTS OF THE SYSTEM
4.2.1 RF TRANSCEIVER
4.2.2 PIR SENSORS 19

5 FUTURE TRENDS 20
6 RECOMMENDATION 22
7 CONCLUSION 23

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Indian Railways has more than 64015 km of track and 6909 stations. It has the
world's 4th largest railway network. The railway traverse the length and breadth of
the country carry over 20 million passengers and 2 million tons of freight daily. It is

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one of the world's largest commercial utility employer with more than 1.6 million
employees. Given the size of operation, eliminating accidents is an unrealistic goal
and at best they can only minimize the accident rate. Human error is the primary
cause leading to 83pc of all train accidents in India. While accident rates are low-0.55
accidents per km, the absolute no. of people killed is high because of the large no. of
people making use of the network.
While strengthening and modernization of railways infrastructure is in progress much
of the network still uses old signaling methods. Lack of funds is a major constraint for
speedy modernization of the network. Now India also has the 3rd largest road
network in the world as a result there are a lot of places where the rail track comes in
the way of road traffic. In these places we use level crossings. A level crossing is a
crossing on one level without recourse to a bridge or tunnel of a railway line by a
road or path. There is a risk of serious collisions at level crossings and may result in
multiple fatalities.
A clear example of the line of fatalities that can occur in a level crossing mishap is
given by the Nagpur Level crossing disaster which was an accident that occured on 3
Feb 2005 where 55 people died. The accident happened on an isolated, unmanned
level crossing, when a wedding party of 70 people was being transported to the
ceremony on a trailer being towed by a tractor. The crossing had no attendant or
barriers. The locomotive struck the trailer and stopped just after the crossing, the
crumpled trailer still underneath it.
Taking such incidents into account it is extremely important to introduce safety
measures in unmanned level crossings. The problems faced in installing safety
measures are:
*cost involved in manning an unmanned LC gate.
*eliminating human error which are major cause of accidents.

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*providing efficient interlocking methods which are foolproof and cost effective as
the present interlocking methods are quite costly.

Taking all these factors into consideration this project aims at introducing an efficient
system which controls the operation of the LC gate without human involvement and
thereby reducing the chance of accidents due to human error and providing a cost
effective method to provide safety at unmanned level crossings.

Global Positioning System

A GPS tracking unit is a device that uses the Global Positioning System to
determine the precise location of a vehicle, person, or other asset to which it is
attached and to record the position of the asset at regular intervals. The recorded
location data can be stored within the tracking unit, or it may be transmitted to a
central location data base, or internet-connected computer, using
a cellular (GPRS or SMS), radio, or satellite modem embedded in the unit. This
allows the asset's location to be displayed against a map backdrop either in real time
or when analyzing the track later, using GPS tracking software. Global Positioning
Satellite (GPS) communications systems are now in common use for sea, air and land
transport navigation applications. GPS uses communications links with number of
satellites to establish the navigation coordinates of aircraft or surface transport
receivers. GPS systems are on the whole very inexpensive. The BART system,
known as an AATCS (Advanced Automatic Train Control system) was developed by
Nippon Signal in conjunction with Hughes and Harmon of the United States. As
compared with ATCS, the advantage of using GPS for train control functions it is
more economical. However, the system does have some shortcomings, the most

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significant of which is that for certain applications it contributes error certainly

excessive for locating trains in relation to level crossings.

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 Automatic Railway gate control and parameter monitoring

CHAPTER 2

A CASE STUDY -INDIAN RAILWAYS.

Indian Railways is massive and has approximately 63,000 route kilometers of

track with 8500 stations, 17,550 manned level crossings, 21,880 unmanned level
crossings with an average of one at every 1.5 kilometers. These are various types of
level crossings such as, some are equipped with barriers, some are open crossings,
some abetting canals. Though the total number of accidents taking place on Indian
railways is on the decline, the accidents at level crossings (LCs) are also
comparatively low when compared to advanced railway systems (0.1 per million train
kilometers). However, there is a concern due to the raising trend and associated
severity of LC accidents.

The number of casualties in train accidents is essentially fortuitous and not

strictly susceptible to comparison. The position of casualties in train accidents during
the last 5 years has been as under:-

Year Killed Others Passengers Total Injured Others Passengers total

Passengers Rly. railway
Rly. Staff Staff staff

2004-2005 50 5 181 236 191 12 209 412

2005-2006 168 9 138 315 483 31 113 627

2006-2007 38 6 164 208 227 24 151 402

2007-2008 9 10 172 191 246 31 135 412

2008-2009 52 12 145 6 209 257 22 165 444

 Automatic Railway gate control and parameter monitoring

The term ‘accident’ envelopes a wide spectrum of occurrences with or without

significant impact on the system. Consequential train accidents include mishaps with
serious repercussion in terms of loss of human life or injury, damage to railway
property or interruption to rail traffic of laid down threshold levels and values. These
consequential train accidents include collisions, derailments, fire in trains, road
vehicles colliding with trains at level crossings, and certain specified types of
‘miscellaneous’ train mishaps.

The number of consequential train accidents decreased from 193 (excluding

one train accident on Konkan Railway) during 2007-2008 to 177 during 2008-2009.
The number of train accidents per million train kilometers, which is the universally
accepted safety index, also dropped from 0.22 in 2007-08 to 0.20 in 2008-2009. The
continuous reduction in the number of train accidents per million train kilometers
which has fallen from 5.5 in 1960-61 to 0.20 in 2008-09, is indicative of sustained
improvement in safety performance.

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CHAPTER 3

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS

Level crossings are certainly not homogeneous in terms of accident risk

probabilities. Some have a much greater propensity for accidents than others.
Quantified Risk Analysis (QRA) provides a suitable basis for establishing level
crossing improvement priorities. This is done by allowing a ranking of level crossings
in terms of their accident risk probability. Those crossings with high accident
probabilities would normally qualify for funding allocations, while those with low
accident probabilities would be assigned a low priority for improvement funding.
QRA results should be linked to the Level Crossing Inventory Recording System
which provides for the reporting of hazard probabilities against each level crossing.
Factors influencing the probability of accident occurrence at level crossings include:

1. Rail traffic density (measured in terms of the maximum number of trains passing
the crossing within a 24 hour period);

2. Road traffic density (measured in terms of the maximum number of motor vehicles
of all types passing the crossing within a 24 hour period);

3. Presence of physical obstructions restricting the visibility of the track, warning

signs or signals to road users;

4. Absence of full width barrier protection at level crossings;

5. Absence of flashing lights and audible warning devices at level crossings;

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6. Poor road surface condition at level crossings (leading to the grounding of low
slung road vehicles);

7. Poor alignment and elevation of the road crossing the track (the road may cross the
track at an oblique angle or may approach the crossing on a steeply rising grade).

It is strongly recommended that accident probabilities should be calculated

for all official level crossings on the railway system (and possibly for the more
critical of the unofficial crossings) and that these calculations should be updated to
continuously to cater to the changes to any of the factors listed above. In addition to
accident probabilities, it would also be highly desirable to calculate the probability of
multiple fatalities and injuries resulting from accidents at individual crossings. The
probability of such outcomes is influenced by all of the above factors and also by the
level of usage of crossings by crowded road and rail passenger vehicles.

3.1. TYPES OF LEVEL CROSSING

Barriers which are operated manually tend to be closed for longer periods than
barriers which may be remotely controlled by crossing staff using electrical actuation
systems, simply because the physical act of closing barriers will require more
time than if the barriers can be activated remotely by mechanical or electrical
means. Typically, if barriers remain closed for excessive periods on crossings
carrying a high volume of road and rail traffic, the build-up of road traffic will exceed
the capacity of the crossing to safely discharge this build-up before the next train
arrival at the crossing. Road traffic build-up in this situation obeys the rules of
Queuing Theory: the longer the barrier closure, the greater the build-up and the
slower the passage of motor vehicles over the crossing once the barriers have been
raised. Queuing theory is seldom followed in Asian regions. The current norm for
grade separation is as under:

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Item Daily traffic density / Type of crossing indicated

traffic movement

1 TVU < 6,000 Unmanned Level crossing

2 6,000 less than or All unmanned level

crossings to be manned on
= TVU < 10,000
programmed basis

3 10,000 less than or = TVU Manned Level Crossings

<100,00

4 TVU greater than or Road flyover / overpass

= 100,000

3.2. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE LEVEL CROSSING PROTECTION

SYSTEMS

3.2.1 Crossing Warning Signals:

In general, these are of two types: automatic and manually operated signals.
Manually activated signals are operated by level crossing staff, on instructions
transmitted by telephone or telegraph signal from the nearest station. Automatic
warning signals need short track circuits or markers which detect trains and activate
warning indications at level crossings. These warning indications are usually flashing
lights, or sounds emitted by bells or claxons (horns), or a combination of these two. If
visibility at a crossing is a problem, then flashing lights may be increased in intensity

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 Automatic Railway gate control and parameter monitoring

and may be installed so as to suit the layout of the surrounding land and buildings.
Similarly, audible-warning devices may be increased in frequency and amplitude, to
compensate for the sound absorption qualities of the physical environments of level
crossings. From experience, the level of safety afforded by these devices on their own
is insufficient. This is particularly true in the case of level crossings accommodating
two or more tracks. If unmanned level crossings are to be contemplated in these
situations, then some form of train approach indication becomes very essential.

3.2.2. Mechanical Crossing Barriers:

Mechanical crossing barriers are operated by level crossing staff using hand
or electrically powered levers, winches or windlasses. In addition, mechanical
barriers providing complete protection of level crossings are connected to manually
operated warning signals. Combination systems of this type are widely used within
the developing countries of Asia since they may be manufactured inexpensively
within the region. By contrast ,automatic electronic crossing devices are wholly
manufactured within developed countries and must be imported at substantial
cost for installation within the developing countries of the region.

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CHAPTER 4

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM

In GPS based wireless protection system both Loco and gate units will be
provided with dual wireless communication system which provides a reliable
communication system. The Loco unit identifies the level crossing zone appropriately
and informs the gate unit (either manned or unmanned), the current status of the train
so that the gate control system can be activated. The gate control system or the data
reception section will go through a series of parameter monitoring procedures. The
major components of the gate controlling system are:

1. R F Transciever

2. Microcontroller (PIC)

3. PIR sensors

4. Alarm circuitry

5. Warning signal circuitry

6. Motor circuitry(server motor or stepper motor)

All the components are connected to the microcontroller. The microcontroller will be
programmed in such a way that when the RF transceiver receives signal, the
microcontroller will perform a certain set of functions. First of all the alarm circuitry
will be activated to give the primary warning to the road vehicles. Then the PIR
sensors will be activated to check whether any vehicles have been trapped in between
the gates. PIR sensors are highly sensitive array of IR LEDs. If any vehicles are
detected in between then certain will be allotted for them before the gate gets closed.

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Otherwise the motor circuitry will be activated for the gate closure along with the
secondary signal warning system to give the road vehicles the final warning. All these
are timed operations and must be programmed by giving specific delays using the in-
built timers in the microcontroller. When the train gets passed the particular level
cross another signal will be received using RF transceiver and the microcontroller
will again activate the motor circuitry for reverse operation and the gate gets opened
for the road vehicles. All the registers and timers will be reset to the initial condition
after these operations.

The PIR sensors specified above can be replaced by simple IR sensors at 4 corners of
the level cross to reduce the cost factor. It can also be realized using a pair of
ultrasonic sensors. All of these will be having a feedback so that any objection
detected will result in a delay of gate closure and a warning signal to the train through
RF transceiver. This signal will inform the driver of the train to reduce the speed
below 15km/hr.

This automatic controlling system can be implemented in manned level cross also by
expanding it by including gate interlocking and signaling. It will demand more
complexity because of the track circuitry and axle counter circuitry for signaling and
interlocking.

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4.1. BLOCK DIAGRAM

RF Level cross
transceiver

TRAIN PIR sensors

GPS AND RF

Level cross
RF
transceiver

MOTOR

MICRO PIR
CONT
RF ROLLER ALARM
TRANCIEVER

WARNING

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4.2. MAIN COMPONENTS OF THE SYSTEM

4.2.1 RF TRANSCEIVER

RF transceivers are electronic devices that receive and demodulate radio frequency
(RF) signals, and then modulate and transmit new signals. They are used in many
different video, voice and data applications. RF transceivers consist of an antenna to
receive transmitted signals and a tuner to separate a specific signal from all of the
other signals that the antenna receives. Detectors or demodulators extract information
that was encoded before transmission. Radio techniques are used to limit localized

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interference and noise. To transmit a new signal, oscillators create sine waves which
are encoded and broadcast as radio signals.

Selecting RF transceivers requires an understanding of modulation methods and radio

techniques. Amplitude modulation (AM) causes the baseband signal to vary the
amplitude or height of the carrier wave to create the desired information content.
Frequency modulation (FM) causes the instantaneous frequency of a sine wave
carrier to depart from the center frequency by an amount proportional to the
instantaneous value of the modulating signal. On-off key (OOK), the simplest form of
modulation, consists of turning the signal on or off. Amplitude shift key (ASK)
transmits data by varying the amplitude of the transmitted signal. Frequency shift key
(FSK) is a digital modulation scheme using two or more output frequencies. Phase
shift key (PSK) is a digital modulation scheme in which the phase of the transmitted
signal is varied in accordance with the baseband data signal. In terms of radio
techniques, some RF transceivers use direct-sequence spread spectrum. Others use
frequency-hopping spread spectrum.

Important specifications for RF transceivers include data rate, sensitivity, output

power, communication interface, operating frequency, measurement resolution, and
maximum transmission distance. Data rate is the number of bits per second that can
be transmitted. Sensitivity is the minimum input signal required. Communication
interface is the method used to output data to computers. General-purpose interface
bus (GPIB) is the most common parallel interface. Universal serial bus (USB), RS232
and RS485 are common serial interfaces. Operating frequency is the range of signals
that can be broadcast and received. Measurement resolution is the minimum digital
resolution. Maximum transmission distance is the largest distance by which the
transmitter and receiver can be separated. Additional considerations when

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selecting RF transceivers include power source, supply voltage, supply current,

transmitter inputs, receiver inputs, and RF connector types.

4.2.2 PIR SENSOR

A Passive Infrared sensor (PIR sensor) is an electronic device that measures infrared
(IR) light radiating from objects in its field of view. PIR sensors are often used in the
construction of PIR-based motion detectors. Apparent motion is detected when an
infrared source with one temperature, such as a human, passes in front of an infrared
source with another temperature, such as a wall.

All objects above absolute zero emit energy and is in reference to what is known as
black body radiation. It is usually infrared radiation that is invisible to the human eye
but can be detected by electronic devices designed for such a purpose. The term
passive in this instance means that the PIR device does not emit an infrared beam but
merely passively accepts incoming infrared radiation. “Infra” meaning below our
ability to detect it visually, and “Red” because this color represents the lowest energy
level that our eyes can sense before it becomes invisible. Thus, infrared means below
the energy level of the color red, and applies to many sources of invisible energy.

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Infrared radiation enters through the front of the sensor, known as the sensor face. At
the core of a PIR sensor is a solid state sensor or set of sensors, made from an
approximately 1/4 inch square of natural or artificial pyroelectric materials, usually in
the form of a thin film, out of gallium nitride (GaN), caesium nitrate (CsNO3),
polyvinyl fluorides, derivatives of phenylpyrazine, and cobalt phthalocyanine. (See
pyroelectric crystals.) Lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) is a crystal exhibiting both
piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties.

The sensor is often manufactured as part of an integrated circuit and may consist of
one (1), two (2) or four (4) 'pixels' of equal areas of the pyroelectric material. Pairs of
the sensor pixels may be wired as opposite inputs to a differential amplifier. In such a
configuration, the PIR measurements cancel each other so that the average
temperature of the field of view is removed from the electrical signal; an increase of
IR energy across the entire sensor is self-cancelling and will not trigger the device.
This allows the device to resist false indications of change in the event of being
exposed to flashes of light or field-wide illumination. (Continuous bright light could
still saturate the sensor materials and render the sensor unable to register further
information.) At the same time, this differential arrangement minimizes common-
mode interference, allowing the device to resist triggering due to nearby electric
fields. However, a differential pair of sensors cannot measure temperature in that
configuration and therefore this configuration is specialized for motion detectors.

In a PIR-based motion detector (usually called a PID, for Passive Infrared Detector),
the PIR sensor is typically mounted on a printed circuit board containing the
necessary electronics required to interpret the signals from the pyroelectric sensor
chip. The complete assembly is contained within a housing mounted in a location
where the sensor can view the area to be monitored. Infrared energy is able to reach

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 Automatic Railway gate control and parameter monitoring

the pyroelectric sensor through the window because the plastic used is transparent to
infrared radiation (but only translucent to visible light). This plastic sheet also
prevents the intrusion of dust and/or insects from obscuring the sensor's field of view,
and in the case of insects, from generating false alarms.

The PID can be thought of as a kind of infrared camera that remembers the amount of
infrared energy focused on its surface. Once power is applied to the PID, the
electronics in the PID shortly settle into a quiescent state and energize a small relay.
This relay controls a set of electrical contacts that are usually connected to the
detection input of a burglar alarm control panel. If the amount of infrared energy
focused on the pyroelectric sensor changes within a configured time period, the
device will switch the state of the alarm relay.

PIDs can have more than one internal sensing element so that, with the appropriate
electronics and Fresnel lens, it can detect direction. Left to right, right to left, up or
down and provide an appropriate output signal.

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CHAPTER 5

FUTURE TRENDS

Our system can be incorporated to design and implement innovative Passenger

Information Systems (PIS) based on real time information of train positions. LED-
Display panels put up at railway stations can display arrival departure time of each
train enabling the public user to make informed decisions on their journeys. Route
number, destination of the arriving vehicle and waiting time can be displayed with
real time information. With accurate forecasting of train arrival-departure at stations,
Railway Department can improve the loyal customer base and also attract new
passengers to railway transport service by winning their trust and reducing user
uncertainty of using public transport facilities. The user experience can be further
enhanced by introducing information Kiosks which can provide information to
travelers in an intuitive and interactive manner to make informed decisions on
selecting train routes and departure time. The interactive kiosk can be used to obtain
travel information such as alternate routes to specified destination, route details on the
railway map and latest information on train schedules etc. As a marketing strategy,
information regarding the particular city, culture and commercial activities can also
be provided to the user through the kiosk. Another extension of the PIS system is
delivering real time train information to handheld devices such as mobile phones and
PDAs. With the increasing interest on mobile applications, access to latest train
schedule information via mobile connection can be influential for improving
customer base of the railway service. Easy to use mobile applications can be designed
and implemented to enable train commuters to easily subscribe to our service and
obtain latest train schedule information via mobile devices.

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The use of GSM over RF significantly improves the feasibility and availability of our
system. Despite the high mobile penetration and number of mobile telecom service
providers (GSM) covering the island, RF usage and the range is poor in many
available transmitters. Thus, selection of GSM over RF data communication is
feasible and enables island wide service provisioning. A current project of installing
GSM-Railways is on the implementing stage. It is a joint venture done by NOKIA
and INDIAN RAILWAYS. Then the GSM network will be available all over india
wherever there is a railway track. The competition between the GSM service
providers has also lead to high quality GSM services at fair rates. The central control
system includes a server for handling and processing all the position information
received from train locators via the GSM network. It may be used to transmit the
information via massages in mobile phones.

Also a central base station can be implemented so that it can route the data received to
different gates and thereby controlling all the railway stations around a major
junction. It will be working basically as a server to route the data.

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CHAPTER 6

RECOMMENDATIONS

There is currently considerable research and practical action being taken by the
industry to better safety at level crossings and to implement additional controls and
upgrades to improve level crossing safety performance. The risk at level crossings is
dominated by fatality risk, rather than major or minor injuries. With over 38000 level
crossings and complex nature of road traffic, India ranks better than many advanced
countries in safety at level crossings. The Railways are persistently following the
steps to reduce unmanned level crossing accidents. The safety measures it has been
implemented in manned level cross is almost 100 percent. The only reason of
occurring accidents still are the undisciplined mannerism of people. But in unmanned
level crossings the situation is different. Currently there is no existing system to
provide safety. Even though our proposal is not a full proved system according to the
concern of railways, we will be able to provide safety to a large extent. It has been
experienced that manning of unmanned level crossings is not an ideal solution and a
foolproof arrangement. Because manning a level cross will result in a life long
payment of the employee. Also these level crosses will be having a very less vehicle
traffic to get manned. With proliferation of more manned level crossings in certain
sections, slow down of train operation is also apprehended. The policy of manning
unmanned level crossings is therefore not much enhanced and full proof automatic
management systems will pave the way for a much cheaper and effective way of
ensuring safety.

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CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSION

The existing signaling and controlling systems of railway gates are dominated by
electrical and mechanical equipments which include large number of relays,axle
counters,track circuits,mechanical levers etc. It has been estimated that the expense of
implementing such a control and signaling network around a railway station is more
than 1crore. The present trend is to replace all these systems by electronic equipments
which are comparatively much cheaper. Our project is also aiding to this present
trend. Although the safety ensured by electronic systems has a lot of loop holes, a
keen and detailed research will revolutionize the field.

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