November 12, 2013 | European Rail Industry Award

European Rail Award for Excellence in Safety and Security

The innovative train collision avoidance system RCAS from the DLR Institute of Communications and Navigation was honored at an impressive ceremony in London in front of over 600 representatives of the European rail industry.

It combines a train-to-train communication system, a positioning system and a system for situation analysis and decision support. It relies only on sensors and communication technology on the train, so it can be installed at a fraction of the cost of a system that relies on trackside technology.

The prize was accepted by Dr. Thomas Strang and Dr. Andreas Lehner, both of whom have played a key role in the development of the system since 2006.

Video: The Railway Collision Avoidance System (RCAS) by DLR (engl.)
DLR's Railway Collision Avoidance System (RCAS) is a 'safety overlay' system which can be deployed on top of any existing safety infrastructure in train networks. The core idea of RCAS is to broadcast the position and intended track of trains as well as additional data like vehicle dimensions to all other trains in the area using ad-hoc train-to-train communications. This enables train drivers to have an up-to-date accurate knowledge of the traffic situation in the vicinity, and act in consequence. Computer analysis of the received information, the own position and movement vector and an electronic track map detects possible collisions, displaying an alert signal, and advising the driver of the most convenient strategy to follow in order to avoid the danger. The system is adaptive to a variety of situations like advancing trains or road vehicles or obstacles.

Video: The Railway Collision Avoidance System (RCAS) by DLR (engl.)

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Video: The Railway Collision Avoidance System (RCAS) by DLR (engl.)
DLR's Railway Collision Avoidance System (RCAS) is a 'safety overlay' system which can be deployed on top of any existing safety infrastructure in train networks. The core idea of RCAS is to broadcast the position and intended track of trains as well as additional data like vehicle dimensions to all other trains in the area using ad-hoc train-to-train communications. This enables train drivers to have an up-to-date accurate knowledge of the traffic situation in the vicinity, and act in consequence. Computer analysis of the received information, the own position and movement vector and an electronic track map detects possible collisions, displaying an alert signal, and advising the driver of the most convenient strategy to follow in order to avoid the danger. The system is adaptive to a variety of situations like advancing trains or road vehicles or obstacles.