Seibu Railway conducts demonstration tests of wireless train control (CBTC) on the Tamagawa Line. To be used as a basis for automatic operation and countermeasures against unopened railroad crossings.

Seibu Railway announced on January 18 that it will conduct a demonstration experiment of the Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) system on the Seibu Tamagawa Line in early FY2024, with preparatory work to begin in January 2023.

CBTC replaces the current signaling system (ATS), which constantly supplements the position and speed of each train by radio to maintain a more accurate safety distance between the preceding and following trains.

Conventional ATS systems are designed to divide the track into fixed sections and install signals and other equipment to prevent the following train from entering the section when a train is already in the section (fixed blockage type). CBTC, on the other hand, maintains a safe distance between the train ahead and behind regardless of the location of existing signals and allows dynamic control of running speed (moving blockage type).

Therefore, when a train makes an emergency stop due to overspeeding, for example, the distance between cars can be reduced to the extent that it is safe to do so under CBTC, enabling more efficient train operation. However, in the demonstration test to be conducted by Seibu Railway in 2024, ATS and CBTC will be used together, but not immediately interchanged. Seibu Railways will “decide on the next-generation signaling system” based on the results of the demonstration tests and the trends of other railroad companies, and aims to introduce the system on all its lines in the 2030s.

The company cited three points for introducing CBTC, the first of which is to avoid human error. Under the current system, emergency braking is automatically applied when ATS detects excessive speed, but CBTC automatically controls the speed based on the distance from the train ahead and the speed limit, thereby eliminating human error.

In addition, the system eliminates the need for signals and ground facilities along the tracks that were previously installed at each blocked section, thereby reducing maintenance costs and enabling smarter railroad operations.

Third, from the user’s point of view, CBTC is expected to serve as a basis for future automatic operation and as a countermeasure against so-called unopened level crossings. The ability to more precisely control the timing of crossing sounds for each train will lead to optimization of the blocking time.

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