New Train Run Monitoring system: Getting the most out of an ERTMS level 2 Signalling system

The present Punctuality Monitoring and Reporting System (RDS) of Rail Net Denmark uses occupation of main track circuits as source for arrival and departure times on the most intensively used parts of the Danish rail network. On the rest of the network, these times are manually registered. On this basis, RDS creates and manages Delay Reports: If a train reaches a delay larger than a predefined threshold, the signalman creates a report describing cause and actions taken as well as attaching all trains affected to the report.

These manual processes allow for errors as well as they take up resources. Rail Net Denmark is currently implementing ERTMS Level 2 signalling systems on the entire long distance network and a CBTC signalling system on the Copenhagen Suburban network. It is unlikely, that the current RDS will be able to function in this environment and especially be capable of taking advantage of the additional data delivered by the new systems.

The conceptual design of a new RDS has consequently been underway since the start of the signalling program. The vision is to create an automatic system that delivers “perfect train run histories” with a cause for every time loss. The future ERTMS Traffic Management System will include a rescheduler: Every time a train leaves its path, a rescheduling is triggered and the train receives a new timetable.

As a part of this process, other trains may also be rescheduled. A concept for converting this information into the “perfect train run history” is presented in this paper as is an alternative concept without a reschedule aimed at the Copenhagen Suburban network. Compared to the present RDS, the new concepts will provide an improved knowledge of the consequences of each disruption and performance of the network, which again permits i.e. the construction of better timetables and more accurate identification of network bottlenecks leading to a better punctuality and higher network capacity.