Remix.run Logo
▲ 1718627440 an hour ago

Yep, that's what I was trying to convey as well. There also seems to be RCAS, but it sounds like a newly invented system. https://www.dlr.de/en/kn/research-transfer/projects/next-gen...

▲iggldiggl an hour ago | parent [-]

And as of now, I suppose that RCAS (or RCAS-like systems) is best suited for (especially minor) single track branch lines that don't currently have a full-scale signalling system already up-and-running, but instead still rely on "Timetable & Train Order" and similar systems.

Single track means that at least outside of stations, collisions can be reliably identified without much danger of false positives (and for station areas you can just institute a blanket speed limit to compensate for the gap in RCAS coverage, which might not even be any lower than the speed limit required for traversing diverging/spring-operated/hand-operated points there anyway), and no already existing full-scale signalling system means that RCAS actually provides a significant safety benefit and is therefore likely worthwhile from a cost-benefit-analysis point of view, too, if you're actually regularly operating multiple trains simultaneously on that kind of infrastructure.

Whereas on multi-track mainline railways avoiding false positives is much harder and normally you should already have proper signalling and train protection systems in place anyway, so the additional safety benefits of RCAS would be much more marginal.

▲ricardobeat 35 minutes ago | parent [-]

[dead]