The Fuxing EMU will shine again-it will realize the self-driving function of 350 kilometers per hour for the first time in the world. On January 2, 2019, Lu Dongfu, general manager of China Railway Corporation, revealed this at the ongoing work conference of China Railway Corporation. At present, the automatic driving technology of high-speed rail with a speed of 300-350 kilometers per hour is still blank in the world. China Railway Corporation is organizing research and will be applied for the first time in Beijing-Zhang high-speed rail.         

Using ATO equipment instead of driver driving has become a reality

Science and Technology Daily learned from the Chinese Academy of Railway Sciences that at present, high-speed trains are driven by drivers under the protection of the Chinese Train Control System (CTCS).

"The driver of the high-speed train manually controls the start, acceleration, deceleration and stop of the train according to the traffic dispatching order, the signal display ahead and the line condition." Experts from the Academy of Iron Sciences said that the operation is completed by the driver and the safety is guaranteed by ATP. As long as the driver does not hit the line, ATP does not act.

ATP is a train overspeed protection equipment. Its primary task is to monitor the speed of the train in real time, and automatically control the braking system of the train according to the limit conditions of the train operation, so as to realize the train overspeed protection.

"With the development of technology, it has become a reality to use ATO (Train Operation) equipment to replace driver driving. In the subway, a lot of ATO systems have been applied." The aforementioned experts from the Academy of Railway Sciences revealed that China Railway Corporation has also opened ATO on the two 200-kilometer-per-hour intercity railways in the Pearl River Delta, Guanhui and Fozhao. This is also the first time in the world that ATO has been adopted on railways operating at a speed of 200 km/h.

After adopting ATO, the driver only needs to press a start button

ATO is actually a large system, including the ground equipment installed in the station, the on-board equipment installed on the EMU, and the communication system that transmits information between these devices.

"After ATO is adopted, the driver can realize the functions of automatic departure from the station, automatic operation between stations, automatic adjustment of operation time according to plan, accurate parking at the station, automatic opening of the door after parking, etc. by pressing a start button." Iron Academy experts said.

The workflow of ATO is like this. "After the ground dispatching center has worked out the driving plan, it will send the plan to ATO's ground equipment through the ground data transmission network, which will then send the plan to ATO's on-board equipment on the EMU through the railway mobile communication network." Experts from the Academy of Railway Sciences said that after ATO on-board equipment receives the plan, it calculates the control speed curve that controls the operation of the EMU according to the current location of the EMU, instead of the driver automatically controlling the acceleration, operation, deceleration, parking, and opening of the EMU. Wait.

Experts particularly stressed that all operations of ATO are carried out under the supervision of ATP system, and driving safety is fully guaranteed by ATP. Because ATO control ensures the consistency of driving operation, eliminates the difference caused by different driver levels, accurately drives according to the operation plan, and effectively improves the transportation capacity.

Domestic CTCS3 ATO Train Control System Passed 186397km Strict Test

Compared with the subway with a speed of 80 kilometers per hour and a distance of several kilometers between stations, the high-speed rail with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour runs faster and the distance between stations is usually tens of kilometers. "Therefore, the types of information content that ATO of high-speed trains needs to obtain, the coverage of information obtained, and the processing logic of information are more numerous and complex. Therefore, more complete system solutions, more reliable application technologies, and more in-depth research and testing are needed." China Railway Academy experts said.

It is reported that in the process of developing CTCS3 ATO train control system, according to the operation characteristics of high-speed railway and facing the demand of intelligent railway construction, the Institute of Railway Sciences has improved its usability and intelligence.

From June to September 2018, China Railway Corporation organized the CTCS3 ATO train control system test of Beijing-Shenyang comprehensive test section. "In the 94-day test with a cumulative mileage of 186397 kilometers, the automatic driving equipment developed by the Institute of Railway Science has been stable in operation and accurate in vehicle control. It has successfully passed all the test items and will soon be put into trial operation in the first batch of high-speed rail lines." Iron Academy experts revealed. At the working meeting on the 2nd, Lu Dongfu emphasized that the adoption of ATO on high-speed trains is an important symbol of high-speed railway intelligence, and it is of great significance to maintain the international advanced level of my country's high-speed railway train control technology. The automatic driving function of 350 kilometers per hour has become another major landmark achievement of my country's high-speed rail independent innovation.