Enhancing throughput of existing Railway Network using information and Communication Technologies

Dr.Ashok Jhunjhunwala
Dept. of Electrical Engg., IIT Madras, Chennai 600 036, Email: ashok@tenet.res.in

P.R.Goundan
South Central Railway, Chennai

(to be presented at INAE Seminar on "National Connectivity Vision: Surface Transportation and Communication" 19-20 January 2001)

1.

Abstract

One of the most visible and felt impacts of the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in India has been in the area of booking of railway tickets. It is widely recognized that use of ICT can make similar impact in various aspects of service management in railways, be it tracking of movement of goods, control of wagons, control and better provisioning of amenities to passengers and timely delivery of information to passengers. It is also recognised that ICT could be innovatively used to improve decision making and management at various levels in railways, resulting in lowering of costs and better and faster handling of trains as they enter a station. What is not as well recognised is the impact that ICT could have in enhancing the throughput on the existing Railway Network. The objective of a railway network is to move people and goods from one part of the country to another in a quick but safe manner. While Indian Railway network is indeed large, reaching almost all parts of the country, the total carrying capacity of railways is grossly inadequate considering the requirement of the large Indian population. Further, this capacity has increased very slowly over the last fifty years with the growth falling way behind the growth of population as well as that of Indian economy. The increasing load has largely been borne by road transport. Recognizing that the rail transport, is far more energy efficient as compared to the road transport, the country requires accelerated growth of total carrying capacity of Indian Railways. The carrying capacity of Indian Railways could be increased by either increasing the number of rail tracks or increasing the throughput, or number of trains, that can be carried on existing tracks. It is in the latter that ICT and change in signalling practices can play a significant role. We estimate that it is possible to enhance throughput on existing tracks by a factor of 5 without any compromise on safety, though in practice, an enhancement factor of 3 may be realizable in the short run. In this paper, we take a brief look at some of the schemes and techniques that can make this possible. Each of these schemes have been studied in some detail and actually tested on experimental basis on some parts of Indian Railways. Most of the throughput enhancement estimates proposed are therefore not merely theoretical conjectures, but are based on the preliminary results of these experiments. 2. Line Capacity A railway network consist stations and railway lines joining the stations. Most railway lines in India have dual tracks with train travelling in one direction on each track. The inter-station distance in Indian Railways is typically small averaging about 6 to 8 kms. The stations are of two types railway junctions where lines from multiple direction (more than two) meet at a station and ordinary railway stations with railway

lines only in two directions. A railway junction is typically encountered every 100 to 150 kms and joins railway lines which typically have 15 to 20 ordinary stations. There are a variety of trains that run on this huge Indian railway network. These include superfast and express passenger trains (stopping only at major stations), local passenger trains (short distance trains stopping at most stations), ordinary passenger trains (stopping at most stations) as well as goods trains (normally slow to medium speed and stopping at very few stations). A significant number of these trains just pass-through most intermediate stations. The trains do not have freedom of motion and are constrained to move on a track in one direction. The signalling system is designed to provide a fail-safe movement of trains. In the so-called "Space Interval System" used in India today, a definite interval of space (also called Block distance) between trains moving on the same track, is maintained at all times. For this purpose, the track is divided into sections (called block section) and only one train is allowed to be in one section at a time. The maximum number of trains that can move on one track in a day (defined as Line Capacity) is limited by the largest block section distance and the time that a train takes to transit this. Most of the time, two neighbouring stations are the boundaries of a block section. The transit time in a block therefore include time for operation of signalling on the block (also called block operation time), time to cross all the signals while approaching a station (also called approach time), actual running time in a block station and a clearing time equivalent to time taken to travel a distance equal to the train-length (to ensure that the full train crosses a block). In other words, the transit time or occupancy time in minutes for block as shown in fig 1 is given as tr= top + tv + tapp + trb + tc (1) where tr= time taken by a train to cross a block section (occupancy time in minutes), top = operating time or the time taken for taking decision and operating signals to permit the train to move tv = visibility time or the time for the driver to perceive the signal and respond trb = actual running time in a block section tc = clearing time or train length travel time

The maximum line capacity, defined as the maximum number of trains which could run in each direction within 24 hours, would therefore be given as C = [(24 hrs x 60 min/hr)/tr] R (2) where C= Line capacity (number of trains) and R = efficiency factor The line capacity can thus be enhanced by decreasing tr or by increasing R. Information processing and communication technology can play a major role in achieving these.

The line capacity of a railway line between two junctions would be determined by the block having highest occupancy time or lowest line capacity. Besides, a railway junction and its associated yard contribute significantly to the throughput bottleneck of the railway network. This paper looks at both these bottlenecks and what can be done to overcome them. Section 3 deals with methods to reduce occupancy time (or increase line capacity) for block sections consisting of ordinary (non-junction) stations. Only sections with dual tracks have been considered in this paper.Section 4 looks at throughput enhancement at yards and junctions. Section 5 is a concluding section commenting on what is achievable in near and mid term. 3. Throughput Enhancement by overcoming line-capacity bottle necks.

As mentioned earlier, a train in India typically passes through 15 to 20 ordinary stations before it encounters a junction. Most of these stations are run-through stations. The line capacity for the track between two junctions is determined by block which has the highest occupancy time. A number of innovative ways can be used to increase line capacity and thus enhance throughput. This section looks at such techniques. 3.1 Intermediate blocks signalling (IBS): method to split block section and increase capacity Block section is a part of a railway track in which only one train can enter at a time. Simply by dividing a section into two by use of additional signalling, the throughput could be increased by a factor of 1.5 approximately. This method of enhancement of throughput has been known for some time. The developments in communication and processing techniques has enabled the division and operation using smaller sections. The maximum number of trains that can move in one direction (Line Capacity), is limited by the length of the largest inter-station distance (largest block section) and the time that a train takes to transit this. It is possible to place an intermediate block, thereby reduce the length of a block section, wherever the inter-station distance is large. This would allow two trains in a space where otherwise only a single train could be present. However adding station is a costly proposition both in terms of money as well as manpower. Also, this adds the load on Division Traffic Controller, who now needs to talk to more number of station-masters while despatching trains [1]. The alternatives are: a. b. Speed up the trains Split the block section into two without adding a station The speeding up of trains requires massive overhaul both in rolling stock as well as tract structure. Intermediate Block Signalling (IBS) is a method of achieving alternative (b) above and is defined in Indian Railway General Rules [2]. The IB is designed only for dual line sections between stations, where train move on one specific track in one direction. It involves splitting a block into portions, each constituting a separate block section by providing an Intermediate Block Post (IBP). The method is cost-effective, as there is no structure or requirement of manpower in between stations. As discussed earlier, the line capacity depends on the critical block section, which contributed to maximum running time. Thus the longest block section will be the critical block section. Hence, the clue to increasing the line capacity is in splitting the longest block section into two so that it is no longer the critical section. Once the longest block section is split into two, the next longest block section becomes the critical block section, and the new line capacity will depend upon the new critical block section. With further splitting, the line capacity increases and criticality of block section shifts to next largest block section. 3.1.1. Impact of IBS on line Capacity

To demonstrate the effect of IBS, a 126-KM section between Bellampalli and Kazipet junction in South Central of Indian Railways, was taken up for study. The route has 15 stations (14-block section), the longest of which was 13.56 km. Ten of the 14 block sections were split one with a manned station and 9 with IBS. The longest block length was thereby reduced to 9.04 km. The theoretical line capacity increased by 32.5% for train speed of 100 kmph assuming that the maximum operations time t op, is 3 minutes. For train speed of 50 kmph, the increase in theoretical capacity is 39.2% as shown in Table-1 [3]. Fig.2 shows the computations carried out showing percentage increase in the capacity with each introduction of IBS assuming operation time of zero minutes. A 50% enhancement of throughput was thus predicted. The eight IBS was pressed into service and the line capacity was observed. The charted capacity before the introduction of IBS on the section was 31 trains each way and this increased to 45 trains each way after IBS was introduced. The increase was therefore 45%, closely matching the predicted value. Table 1. Computation of Line Capacity increase Vs Operating Time

S. No.

Top (minutes)

Speed 100 kmph ----------------------Increase in Capacity 50.6 42.75 36.9 32.5 28.1 26.3 24 22

Speed 50 kmph Increase in capacity % 50.6 45.9 42.3 39.2 36.6 34.3 32.2 30.4

1 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3.2 Signaling Techniques providing better information to drives Hitherto, a driver obtains signalling information from the train controller by means of visual signals located at the tracks. A study was conducted on the amount of signalling information conveyed by different signals and their impact on throughput. Direct transfer of signalling information in drivers cabin (by means of radio) is proposed to enhance the throughput by a factor of about 2 [2]. In operations of trains, the following are of paramount importance, a. b. c. d. The quantum (amount) of information exchanged with the drivers, The location at which the information is exchanged, The time at which the information is exchanged, The quality of information exchanged. These considerations are becoming more and more important as the block section length are reduced and becoming equal to station lengths. Providing better information to drivers at appropriate time could cut down the approach time tapp and thus enhance throughput. As a train approaches a station, the trains could do one of the following: a. Run-through the station on main line : this is to be best done at full speed (close to 100 kmph), b. Run-through the station on the loop line : this is done at a reduced sped (today 15 kmph due to loop), but needs to be examined for higher speed,

c. Stop at the first - stop signal (at entrance of station), d. Stop on the main line, e. Stop on the loop line. To achieve the above operations, Railway Signalling over a period of time evolved in respects of aspects, indications and location of signals [4]. The merits/demerits of various signalling schemes were so far understood only on qualitative terms. We have used an Information theoretic approach to compute the average information content or Entropy of each signal encountered by a train driver. The entropy H of any signal is defined as

H=

(3)

Where pi = probability of occurrence of ith event. Based on the above concept, the entropy Vs distance for various signalling schemes used by Indian Railways was compiled and presented in Reference 5. Here, we present a specific example of how introduction of a second distant signal has improved the approach time tapp in equation (1) and contributed to improvement of capacity. 3.2.1 Introduction of second distant signal - an example The entropy of two signaling schemes, namely one with single distant signal and the other with a second distant signal, presented to the driver approaching a station is shown in Fig.3 and Fig.4. As can be seen, the build up of average information content i.e entropy as the driver approaches the station is superior in the case of second distant signaling scheme. Ref [4] also introduces concept of Entropy Distance Product Ratio (EDP ratio) to compare the effectiveness of different signaling schemes. A signaling scheme is considered better if its EDP ratio is higher. The EDP ratio for single distant and second distant signalling schemes have been found to be 0.32 and 0.67 respectively [5]. 3.2.2 Methodology to measure the effectiveness of second distant signals in train operation We describe here both qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the effectiveness of second distant signal. The following methods were used and is described in reference [6], a. b. c. d. e. f. Opinion poll among the drivers Comparison of Entropy presented to drivers (EDP ratio) Measurement of approach speed at Home signal (as a measure of drivers confidence) Frequency distribution of hours of run in control section Cumulative distribution of train hours in a control section Line capacity Vs Transit time in a section

We summarise the important results as under: a. The information presented to drivers at the approach have improved in the case of second distant signalling scheme. From figs 3 and 4, it can be concluded that at every point in the approach the information content is more in the case of second distant signal. This contributes to confidence level of a driver and reduce the ambiguity in his/her mind. Actual opinion poll survey confirms this [6]. b. To test the effect of improved confidence level in real terms, an experiment was conducted at Karavadi station in Vijayawada division. In this experiment, the speed of trains just after the Home signal was measured using two adjoining track circuits and data logger. From timings of track relays operation and the length of track circuit, the speeds of trains were calculated. Experiment shows that the average increase in speed of the approaching trains was from 72 kmph to 85 kmph, which represents 18% increase in approach speed. c. In table 2, the result of study on the dynamic speeds of and electric goods trains are shown. The dynamic speed has been steadily increasing in the year 97 and 98 (second distant signalling was introduced in 1997) as compared to 96. The dynamic increase is 50% from 1996 to 1998. Table 2 - Analysis of Dynamic Speed of Electric Goods train on SC Division. S. No Month SC Division 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. January August September October November December Dynamic Speed of Goods 96 -30 29.2 29 31 30 97* -34.3 34.2 34.9 35.2 36.9 98* 43.3 43.76 43.75 43.5 --% increase 96-97 -13.4 17.1 20.3 13.5 23 96-98 -45.8 49.8 50 ---

d. The punctuality of trains running on the section have considerably improved [6].

All these point out that the approach second time 'tapp' in equation (1) above, has decreased due to better information to drivers through second distant signals. Such changes in signalling schemes can contribute to increase in capacity by 30%. Additional aspects like double green/flashing green can further improve that Entropy/EDP ratio and the resolution. 3.3 Block working through axle countermeans to reduce operating leading to increased capacity and safety Train control today requires "proving of last vehicle" on a track before the track is freed for movement of the next train. Use of axle-counter block-proving automatic arrival is proposed, reducing the operating time of signals and thus enhancing throughput. A gain by a factor of 1.4 in throughput is likely using the axle-counters. There are approximately 7000 railway stations in India. More than 95% of these stations use block working to control movement of trains between stations. The type of block instrument depends on whether it is single track working or dual track working. The type and number of block sections on Indian Railways in given in Table-3.

Space interval system or block working used in Indian Railways ensures the basic safety of train movements between stations. This is achieved through block instruments. At every station there are two block instruments connected to stations on either side through overhead wire or underground cables as shown in Fig.5. Table 3. Type of Block Instruments S.No. Type of Block instrument No. of block sections

1. 2. 3.

Double like Single line token type Single line token type

1841 3557 1119

The purpose of block working through Block Instruments is to establish one train at a time in the Block section. Certain sequence of operations for sending and receiving trains are imposed through block instruments. However proving complete arrival of tain (ensuring thar rear of the train has arrived at the station) still rests with station master. This is achieved through observing last vehicle board by station master. Due to this the present procedure stipulates that a block section between stations is jointly controlled by the two station masters at the two sides. This joint control of block section results in delays and hence reduction in capacity of the nerwork. As block sections become shorter to enhance capacity, the operating time will become predominant in determining the capacity. This is shown in Fig. 6. For occupancy time of 6 minutes (excluding operating time), a reduction of one minute in operating time from 2.0 minutes to 1.0 minute will result in 14% increase in capacity. Axle counter based block working is described in reference [7]. The reduction in operating time is due to the fact that as soon as the train clears the Block Section, the same is proved by the axle counters and the Station Master need not wait for the train to further travel and verification of the last vehicle board. Measurements with axle counter based Block Working have shown that there is a potential to increase the capacity by 40%.

3.4 Better method of train control can improve the efficiency factor R

In the present method of train control, the command and control is centralised and the opeations is de-centralised at the stations [1]. The information exchange between the control centre and stations is only through telephones as there is no visual link between the two. This reduces the efficiency factor `R'. Provision of a visual link between them and improvement suggested in the subsequent para can considerably improve the efficiency factor `R'. 3.4.1 Bi-directional signalling: While a significant part of Indian Railway network has two tracks (dual track) with one way oparation of each track, often in some section or the other, only a single track is operatioal due to maintenance or operational reasons. The two-way operation on a one-way track requires virtually manual signalling to ensure safety. This significantly brings down the train throughput. Further, it is often found that traffic in one direction during certain hours exceeds the traffic in the other, resulting in severe congestion on one track and sparse use of the other track. In conventional dual track, a fast train can overtake a slow train only when it is stationary at stations. In bi-directional signalling, precedence of fast train can take place while both trains are in motion on different tracks in the same direction. This concept of `in-motion precedence' will render considerable flexibility in the planning and movement of trains. A sample study conducted on Secunderabad Division of South Central Railway shows that out of average 46 trains detained for precedence per day on double line in one control section 25 of them (50%) could have been passed on the other line which was free. The study further shows that the detentions for precedence range from 22 minutes to 50 minutes which could be considerably reduced by precendence in motion. Two-way bi-directional signalling on dual track is proposed to use both the tracks in either direction at any time This could increase throughput very significantly. A very conservative approach with prime consideration given to safety so as to overcome the mindset opposed to such two-way signalling, itself gives a throughput enhancement of factor of 1.3. 4. Overcoming bottlenecks at junctions and yards Major bottlenecks in train throuhgput occur at alarge junctions and yards. A large amount of train movement in and out of multiple platforms and to and from yards, results in slow down, and a significant wait for almost all trains at such junctions. This requires strict discipline and correct planning of their movemnets in a yard. Delays in such nodes can have cascading effect and cause congestion in the network on eiher side of the node (yard). Even if a passenger train has been running to schedule till the approach of the major yard (node), it is often detained at the entry of the yard causing considerable dissatisfaction amongst the passengers. Of course, the major casuality is the net throughput or the number of trains that can be handled in a day. Secundrabad junction yard is a case in study. It handles 10 inlet/outlet lines in 5 directions. The signalling functions were controlled by 3 cabins using lever frames. About 65 passenger trains were handled per day in the yard during 1997. Total number of movements were approximately 800. Due to exchange of private number and operation of large lever frame, the route setting time was approximately 3 minutes. The total number of routes were 300 owing to limitations in

electromechanical signalling. As a result, the fluidity of the yard was low and most of the incoming trains had to wait at the approach signals. 4.1 Improvement to fluidity of yard Most movements in a yard consists of multiple individual moves. Exploitation of yard topology can result in parallel moves. One often has to wait for a move to complete before next is ordered. One of the important parameters in yard operation is the operating time (top). It is the time taken to decide, set up route and carry out a movement on a route in a yard. It consists of the following components a. Time taken to plan a move based on Input messages (tp) b. Time taken to set up route and operting signals (to) c. Time taken for the train to travel on the route including waiting time for availability of route (tm) Obviously top = tp + to + tm In the yard, with mutiple cabins, coordination amongst the cabins is a costly exercise in terms of time. A typical value of route setting time (to) as 3 minutes. Fluidity of the yard can be improved by reducing the operating time top. A number of methods can be used to reduce top. 4.1.1 Centralised operation can reduce operating time (to) The centralisation enables birds eye view of the entire yard at single location. This helps the operating staff to plan movements faster and more systematically. During January 1998, the entire operation of Secundrabad yard was centralised using Route Relay Interlocking. The average time for setting a route (to) was reduced from 180 seconds to less than 30 seconds. 4.1.2 Methods to reduce movement time (tm) We now look a the ways and means to reduce the movement time (tm) while introducing centralisation. The actual movement or occupancy time of a routes tm depends on the length of the route, the speed, length of composition and waiting time for the availability of the route. Normally the speeds in yard is below 15 kmph. Obviously, coming with shorter routes by suitably exploiting the topology and additional shunt signals would help. Also, exploitation of alternate routes can facilitate parallel moves. Thus, designing of yard network so as to have multiple routes permit parallel moves [8]. A multi-pronged strategy towards this was adopted in the Secundrabad yard to reduce the movement time tm. These are a. Alternate routing b. Shifting of Isolation

c. Short shunt facility d. Increase in the number of routes e. Provision of calling-on signal at home signal and starters signal position Alternate routing : Hitherto in railway signaling, one singal one route was followed. However, in major yards, where multiple paths to the same destination is available, one signal one destination implying alternate routes to destination should be the norm. Hence we have used this concept in Secundrabad yard, for improving the yard fluidity. Shifting of Isolation : Exploitation of yard topology, to provide isolated non-overlapping routes can provide for parallel moves thus reducing tm. Short Shunt Facility : This can quicken shunting moves. However, this needs additional shunt signals. Increase in number of routes : Additonal shunt signals and calling on signals were introduced to provide additional routes. As a result the routes were increased from 300 to 526. Provision of calling-on signal at home signals and starters Signal position : To decrease the route time to during failure of track circuits, a calling-on signal was introduced at starters signal position. The result of introduction of these techniques and the benefits accrued are quantified in table 4. Table 4: Changes introduced at Secundrabad junction and its impact on train movements. S. No. 1. 2. 3. Improvement No. of routes Route setting time seconds Trains handled per day Platforms Platform works Decentralised Operation 300 180 seconds 65 (passenger train) 10 ( 7 BG + 3 MG) Was not be possible without suspending operation of a large number of Centralised Operation with improved signaling 526 < 30 seconds 75 (Passenger train)

4. 5.

10 (7 BG + 3 MG) Could be carried out without impacting capacity; work on two platforms could be carried out simultaneously

trains 6. Total number of movements recorded Detention of reception trains at Home Signal 800 1188 (27.11.99)

7.

Not available but most of trains were detained

84.85% trains not detained 6.5% trains received on calling 5.1% trains 0 to 3 minutes detained 3.4% trains 3-10 minutes detained Better punctuality.

5. Conclusion It is possible to significantly increase the traffic handling capacity of Indian railways without increasing the number of railway tracks or increasing the speed of the trains. The capacity bottleneck occurs either at critical block sections and is determined by the train occupancy time of the largest block section. This can be reduced by a factor of about 1.5 by simply dividing critical sections into two by introduction of IBS. Providing better information to drivers by suitable communication system could enhance the throughput by a factor of 2. Similarly introducing the axle counters could enhance throughput by a factor of about 1.4. Introducing two-way signalling would give a conservative throughput enhancement by a factor of 1.3. The second major bottleneck in railway throughput is the movement of trains at junctions and yards. Several schemes are suggested which could enhance the throughput by a factor of 1.5 or even more. The use of ICT and changes in signaling practices could therefore enhance the throughput of existing tracks by a factor of 5 without enhancing train speed and without any compromise on safety. It should be possible to enhance throughput by a factor of three fairly quickly and further enhancement would require careful planning. To conclude, ICT offers us an opportunity to significantly enhance throughput on existing tracks. This option is a far less expensive as compared to laying of new tracks. It can enable Indian Railways to increase the carrying capacity and offer far better (both quantitavely and qualititavely) services to meet the growing needs of the country. References

1. P.R.Goundan, A.Jhunjhunwala, "Rail Transport Telematics for Improved Train Operations and Safety" National Conference on Communications (NCC98), IISC., Bangalore 2. Government of India, "General Rules for Indian Railways (1976) with subsidiary Rules and Special Instructions of South Central Railway" Definition 1.02 (32) 3. P.R.Goundan, A.Jhunjhunwala, "Intermediate Block Signalling (IBS) A Cost Effective Method to increase Throughput of Railways" IEEE-Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC) 98, Ottawa, Canada, May 98 4. S.A.Srinivasan, "Basic Concepts in Signal engineering", Asia Publishing House, Bombay 5. P.R.Goundan, A.Jhunjhunwala, "Evaluation of relative merits/demerits of different signalling schemes used at a Railway station for an approaching train in Indian Railways today", Paper under review by IEEE Transactions on vehicular Technology 6. P.R.Goundan "Impact of Second Distant Signal on Train Operations", Signalling and Telecommunication Strategies for improving Safety and Capacity in the new millennium, IRSTE Seminar Nov.2000, New Delhi 7. P.R.Goundan, Ashok Jhunjhuwala, "Axle Counter Based Block Signalling for Safe and Efficient Train Operations", IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC)-99, FALL, Amsterdam, Sept99 8. P.R.Goundan, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, "Information Technology Based Solutions For Traffic Congestion Problems at Station Yards of Railway Network", National Communications Conference NCC99, IIT Kharagpur, India