Device for interfacing railway driver advisory system

Abstract

A train management system includes: an on-board server unit of a given train; and a railway operating centre. The railway operating centre includes: (i) a track monitoring unit which monitors locations of trains and statuses of trackside signalling equipment, and creates signalling settings to be enacted by the signalling equipment based on the current train locations and the current statuses of the trackside signalling equipment; and (ii) a timetable updating unit which updates timetables for the trains based on the current train locations. The train management system further includes a calculation module which, while the given train is running, repeatedly calculates a recommended speed profile for the given train compatible with the latest updated timetable for the given train and latest updated signals from the signalling settings. The on-board server unit displays the latest recommended speed profile as advice for the driver of the train.

1 . A train management system including:
 an on-board server unit of a given train; and   a railway operating centre which includes: (i) a track monitoring unit which monitors locations of trains and statuses of trackside signalling equipment, and creates signalling settings to be enacted by the signalling equipment based on the current train locations and the current statuses of the trackside signalling equipment; and (ii) a timetable updating unit which updates timetables for the trains based on the current train locations;   wherein the train management system further includes a calculation module which, while the given train is running, repeatedly calculates a recommended speed profile for the given train compatible with the latest updated timetable for the given train and latest updated signals from the signalling settings; and   wherein the on-board server unit displays the latest recommended speed profile as advice for the driver of the train.   
     
     
         2 . A train management system according to  claim 1 , wherein the railway operating centre further includes an interface unit which, while the given train is running, sends the latest updated timetable and the latest updated signals to the on-board server unit; and
 wherein the calculation module is a part of the on-board server unit.   
     
     
         3 . A train management system according to  claim 2 , wherein the interface unit further includes a signalling management module which checks if the signalling settings in front of the given train have changed, the interface unit sending the updated signals to the on-board server unit only when the signalling settings in front of the train have changed. 
     
     
         4 . A train management system according to  claim 1 , wherein the railway operating centre further includes an interface unit; and
 wherein the calculation module is a part of the interface unit, which sends the recommended speed profile to the on-board server unit.   
     
     
         5 . A train management system according to  claim 1 , wherein the on-board server unit also displays the latest updated timetable and the latest updated signals as advice for the driver of the train. 
     
     
         6 . A train management system according to  claim 1 , wherein the railway operating centre further includes a track description database which contains information on maximum track speeds, and the calculation module calculates the recommended speed profile for the given train compatible with the latest updated timetable and the latest updated signals but not exceeding the maximum speeds.