A Preliminary Investigation of Railway Signaling Methods by Computer Simulation Studies.

The article focuses on a study carried out in cooperation with British Rail to analyze the problems of railway signaling. British Rail are currently investigating continuous track-to-train communication, in parallel with this, studies are required of the use to which this may be put in connection with control of railway traffic. The traffic flow within a railway network is not amenable to analysis using classical mathematical methods because of the complexity of the network, the number of traffic types, and the random nature of the inevitable traffic disturbances that will occur. In considering the introduction of new signaling regimes and strategies of control of train speed and acceleration, the objectives that may be achieved has been classified under the broad headings outlined in the article. In the case of electrified lines, power demand peaks may be similarly minimized over the area covered by any given supply entry, by scheduling the actual times of acceleration and retardation of trains.