Automatic Train Protection (ATP) in
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
refers to either of two implementations of a train protection system installed in some
trainA train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport freight or passengers from one place to another. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway....
s in order to help prevent collisions through a driver's failure to observe a signal or speed restriction. Note that ATP can also refer to automatic train protection systems in general, as implemented in other parts of Europe and elsewhere.
This system uses a target speed indication and audible warnings to warn the train driver if they are likely to exceed a speed profile that will cause the train to pass a red
signalA signal is a mechanical or electrical device erected beside a railway line to pass information relating to the state of the line ahead to train drivers/engineers. The driver interprets the signal's indication and acts accordingly...
or exceed a speed restriction.
Automatic Train Protection (ATP) in
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
refers to either of two implementations of a train protection system installed in some
trainA train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport freight or passengers from one place to another. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway....
s in order to help prevent collisions through a driver's failure to observe a signal or speed restriction. Note that ATP can also refer to automatic train protection systems in general, as implemented in other parts of Europe and elsewhere.
Overview
This system uses a target speed indication and audible warnings to warn the train driver if they are likely to exceed a speed profile that will cause the train to pass a red
signalA signal is a mechanical or electrical device erected beside a railway line to pass information relating to the state of the line ahead to train drivers/engineers. The driver interprets the signal's indication and acts accordingly...
or exceed a speed restriction. The system will apply the brakes if the driver fails to respond to these warnings. The system takes into account the speed and position of the train relative to the end of its 'movement authority' in issuing the warnings and applying the brakes.
By the 1980s microprocessors had developed sufficiently for British Rail to carry out pilot trials on existing European 'off the shelf' ATP – fitting part of the
Great Western Main LineThe Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads station in Bristol...
with the TBL1 system from ACEC and the
Chiltern Main LineThe Chiltern Main Line is an intercity regional and commuter main line railway in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system. It links London and Birmingham on a 106 mile route which runs via North West London, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire...
route with SELCAB a derivative of the German LZB system from Alcatel and GEC.
In the early 1990s, following the
Clapham Junction rail crashThe Clapham Junction rail crash was a serious railway accident involving two collisions between three commuter trains at 08:10 on the morning of Monday, 12 December 1988....
in December 1988, and two other fatal accidents in early 1989 caused by
SPADsSignal passed at danger , in British railway terminology, describes an event where a train has run beyond its allocated signal block without authority, as indicated by a lineside signal showing danger...
,
British RailBritish Railways , which later traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the British railway system from the nationalisation of the 'Big Four' British railway companies in 1948 until privatisation in stages from 1994 to 1997...
was keen to implement the ATP system across the entire British railway system. However, the cost (estimated at over £1bn) was balked at by the
ConservativeThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
government, whose priority was the privatization of the railways.
All of
First Great WesternFirst Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales....
's
High Speed TrainThere are three types of trains in Britain that have been traditionally viewed as high speed trains:* Advanced Passenger Train - Tilting trains which never entered into regular revenue-earning service....
s (HSTs) are now fitted with ATP, and are not allowed to carry passengers unless the system is functioning. This requirement is in response to the
Ladbroke Grove rail crashThe Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash was a rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove, London, England...
. All
Chiltern RailwaysChiltern Railways is a train operating company in England. It was formed by the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates mainline passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and Birmingham Snow Hill...
Class 165The British Rail Class 165 Turbo diesel multiple units were built by BREL at York Works from 1990–1992. These units are suburban trains, with an express version appearing later in the form of the Class 166 Turbo Express trains...
and
Class 168The Class 168 Clubman is a diesel multiple-unit train used on InterCity services between London and the Midlands.-Description:The units were built in several batches from 1997 onwards. The first batch of units was classified 168/0 under TOPS and resembled the Class 165 units previously built by...
trains are also fitted with ATP. Also all of
Heathrow ExpressHeathrow Express is an express train service from London Heathrow Airport to London Paddington station in Central London operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BAA. It was opened by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998...
Class 332The British Rail Class 332 is the type of electric multiple unit train used on the Heathrow Express between London Paddington station and Heathrow Airport. The fleet was built in 1998 by Siemens and CAF at the latter’s factory in Zaragoza, Spain...
trains and
Heathrow ConnectHeathrow Connect is a train service in London provided jointly by Heathrow Express and First Great Western, connecting Heathrow Airport with Paddington station. The service follows the same route as the Heathrow Express service but serves intermediate stations en route, thus connecting several...
's
Class 360/2The British Rail Class 360 electric multiple units were built by Siemens in two sub-types from 2000-2005. These units are part of the Desiro family.-Description:...
trains are fitted with this system.
ATP is given permitted speed and location information from the track via encoded
baliseA balise is an electronic beacon or transponder placed between the rails of a railway as part of an Automatic Train Protection system. The French word "balise" is used to distinguish these beacons from other kinds of beacon. - Overview :...
(s), encoded track circuit or more recently via radio.
In
TfLTransport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England...
s plans to modernise the
London UndergroundThe London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
network, all lines would be equipped with ATP, replacing the current
train stopPart of a railway signalling system, a train stop or trip stop is a train protection device that automatically stops a train if it attempts to pass a signal when the signal aspect and operating rules prohibit such movement, or if it attempts to pass at an excessive speed.- Basic operation :The...
system, a mechanical system which currently prevents
SPADsSignal passed at danger , in British railway terminology, describes an event where a train has run beyond its allocated signal block without authority, as indicated by a lineside signal showing danger...
and collisions. The
Central LineThe Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Out of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
is already equipped with ATP, installed with the modernisation of the line in 1996.
Continuous and intermittent ATP
ATP systems may be broadly grouped as continuous and intermittent. With continuous ATP, a cable is laid between the rails for the full length of the block section. The rails themselves may also be used as the cable whereby the track talks to the train. With intermittent ATP, beacons called
baliseA balise is an electronic beacon or transponder placed between the rails of a railway as part of an Automatic Train Protection system. The French word "balise" is used to distinguish these beacons from other kinds of beacon. - Overview :...
s are mounted between the rails on the approach to signals, and perhaps a few other locations.
ERTMS is an attempt to set a standard for Mainline ATP across Europe where balises, GSM-R Radio and on train equipment made by any manufacturer (who are part of the working group) work together with each other. This is achieved by carefully agreeing the functional specification of the system and the format and trnamsission methods of Data across the Air gap, both Transponder and Radio (GSM-R is the most common systen in use)
Accidents preventable by ATP
- Hines Hill train collision
The Hines Hill train collision occurred on the Eastern Goldfields Railway on 14 January 1996 at Hines Hill, Western Australia. Two trains entered a crossing loop simultaneously in opposing directions, although signals at the exit from the crossing loop were correctly showing red for...
- 1996 - driver misjudges end of crossing loop during simultaneous cross with opposing train. Two killed. Ladbroke Grove rail crashThe Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash was a rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove, London, England...
- 1999 - inexperienced driver misread complicated signals, passes red signal and causes head-on collisionA head-on collision is one where the front ends of two ships, trains, planes or vehicles hit each other, as opposed to a side-collision or rear-end collision.-Rail transport:...
. Glenbrook train disasterThe Glenbrook rail accident occurred on 2 December 1999 at 8:22 am in New South Wales, Australia, in which seven passengers were killed and 51 passengers were transported to hospital with injuries. The accident occurred when an interurban train collided with the rear wagon of the Indian Pacific...
- 1999 - too fast after Stop and Proceed. Waterfall train disasterThe Waterfall rail accident was a train accident that occurred on 31 January 2003 near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia. The train derailed killing seven people on board, including the train driver.-Incident:...
- 2003 - too fast around very sharp curve. Seven Hills-Seven hills:*the Seven hills of Rome*the Seven hills of Istanbul*the Seven hills of Moscow*the Seven hills of Seattle*the Seven hills of Tirupati, India*the Seven hills of Western Sydney*the seven hills surrounding Abergavenny, south Wales...
, Blacktown and Concord West - drivers take turnout at too high a speed, causing minor injuries to passengers. Amagasaki rail crashThe Amagasaki rail crash occurred on 25 April, 2005 at around 09:18 local time , just after the local rush hour. The Rapid Service came off the tracks on the West Japan Railway Company Fukuchiyama Line in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, near Osaka, just before Amagasaki Station on its way for...
- 2005 - Overspeed through sharp curve. 107 killed, 555 injured. Chatsworth train collisionThis article is about the 2008 Metrolink train collision in Los Angeles, for the 1887 train collision at Great Chatsworth, Illinois, see 1887 Great Chatsworth train wreck....
- 2008 - driver of commuter train passes red signal and collides head-on with freight train - 25 killed
Accidents not preventable by ATP
Clapham Junction rail crashThe Clapham Junction rail crash was a serious railway accident involving two collisions between three commuter trains at 08:10 on the morning of Monday, 12 December 1988....
- 1988 -
wrong-side failureA wrong side failure describes a failure condition in a piece of railway signalling equipment that results in an unsafe state.A typical example would be a signal showing a 'proceed' aspect when it should be showing a 'stop' or 'danger' aspect, resulting in a "false clear"...
- both signal and balise would have shown false green lights. 35 killed, 100 plus injured.
Cowan rail crashThe Cowan rail accident occurred on 6 May 1990 when a special passenger train hauled by steam locomotive #3801 was rammed by a following CityRail V set InterCity service while attempting to climb the steep gradient from the Hawkesbury River to Cowan, New South Wales, Australia.- Overview :The crash...
- 1990 -
wrong-side failureA wrong side failure describes a failure condition in a piece of railway signalling equipment that results in an unsafe state.A typical example would be a signal showing a 'proceed' aspect when it should be showing a 'stop' or 'danger' aspect, resulting in a "false clear"...
- caused by sand on the rails. Clementi train collision - 1993 - oil spillage on track, may have interfered with normal ATP operation on the 12 trains that arrived at
Clementi MRT StationClementi MRT Station ' is an above-ground MRT station in the west of Singapore. It is part of the East West Line.One of the older MRT stations in Singapore, Clementi MRT station was opened in 1988. The station is painted light blue, and with recent renovations a lift has been added for the benefit...
in the early morning since the oil have came into contact with the ATP power system fixed into the rails. The ATP system in question is continuous ATP, which is still used on the
North South MRT LineThe North South MRT Line was the first Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore. The line is currently 44 km long with 25 stations, and is operated by SMRT Corporation...
and the
East West MRT LineThe East West MRT Line was the second Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore to be built. The line is currently 49.2 km long with 31 stations, and operated by SMRT Corporation...
. 156 injuries, no deaths. Bruehl train disaster - 2000 - too fast through turnout during
single-line workingOn a double track railway, single-line working refers to the practice of using one track out of two, usually when one of the tracks is out of use for maintenance or because of damage or some obstruction.- Circumstances :...
and degraded operations.
Accidents reducible by ATP
In the
Gare de Lyon train accidentThe Gare de Lyon rail accident happened on June 27 1988 when a commuter train inbound to the Gare de Lyon station in Paris crashed into a stationary train killing 56 people.-The disaster:...
in Paris in 1988, a brake failure was the prime cause of the accident. However a more modern ATP system, if fitted, might have reduced the intensity of the collision in two ways:
-
- Firstly, the on board ATP equipment may have detected the excessive speed of the train sooner than the driver did.
- Secondly, the ATP system presumably would have applied a secondary backup brake system, even though this might have "risked" flat wheels. Apparently, the driver failed to apply or forgot the existence of this secondary brake.
See also
- Automatic Warning System
The Automatic Warning System is a form of limited cab signalling and train protection system introduced in 1956 in the United Kingdom to help train drivers observe and obey signals. It was based on a 1930 system developed by Alfred Ernest Hudd and marketed as the "Strowger-Hudd" system...
- Train Protection & Warning System
- Train protection system
- Train warning system
Train Warning System may refer to:* Train Warning System * Train Warning System...
- an Indian system
- Automatische treinbeïnvloeding
Automatische TreinBeïnvloeding or ATB is a Dutch train protection system developed in the 1950s. Its installation was spurred by the Harmelen train disaster of 1962....
(ATB) – a Dutch system which would have prevented the Harmelen train disasterThe Harmelen train disaster was the worst railway accident in the history of The Netherlands. Harmelen, near Woerden, is the location of a railway junction where a branch to Amsterdam leaves the Rotterdam to Utrecht line...
.
- EBICAB
EBICAB is a train protection originally developed in Sweden. It uses pairs of balises mounted on the sleepers.----EBICAB is a signaling system with semicontinuous speed supervision, using a wayside to train punctual transmission using wayside transponders...
- European Train Control System
The European Train Control System is a signalling, control andtrain protection system designed to replace the many incompatible safety systems currently used by European railways, especially on high-speed lines.- History :...
(ETCS)
- Anti-Collision Device
Konkan Railway Corporation is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways . It operates the Konkan Railways, a subsidiary zone of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is at Belapur in Navi Mumbai. KRC had been making losses since it opened in the 1990s prompting many to consider it merging with its...
- List of rail accidents:
- Rail accidents pre-1950
- Rail accidents 1950–1999
- Rail accidents 2000–present