Metro train systems play a vital role in the functioning of modern cities, helping people get to work, visit family and maintain active social lives. Many urban metro systems in Europe were designed many years ago. While trains themselves are designed to last decades, their onboard systems must be regularly updated. The electrification of everything has driven the need for innovative equipment that enables modern capabilities like precise location monitoring and improved onboard systems.
This equipment needs to be kept safe and operational. It is protected by enclosures that help ensure safety from hazards both natural and manmade. nVent makes enclosures for onboard train applications that ensure critical protection for these essential systems and meet stringent safety standards.
What Does Modernized Rail Signaling Look Like?
Safety is paramount when running a metro system—importantly, system operators must ensure that trains keep a safe distance from one another. This gives them time to stop and avoid potential collisions. For decades, metro operators used a fixed block system to keep track of trains. In fixed block signaling, metro systems are divided into blocks, and only one train can occupy each block. Signals on the tracks indicate whether a block of track is available for a train to enter.
Modern communications-based train control allows metro systems to utilize a moving block concept, where digital technology is used instead of analog signals to track the positions of trains. This maintains a dynamic safe buffer distance between each train based on current speed and braking patterns, allowing the intervals between trains to shrink from three minutes to less than one minute.
Moving block systems are critical for both safety and scalability of metro systems. As a result, improved connectivity is a key goal of many transit retrofitting projects. When metro operators can track and communicate with every train in a system in real time, they can safely reduce the buffer times between trains. This boosts the capacity of the entire system. Increased connectivity also provides an added level of safety because control centers can watch for unexpected train movement instead of relying on individual operators to follow signaling systems and report unexpected circumstances.
Critical Protection of Essential Equipment
To effectively monitor metro systems, trains need to be outfitted with sensitive communications equipment. Damage to this equipment could result in the entire metro system shutting down because operators would no longer be able to see the location of trains or communicate with that train.
For operation in mobile environments, electronic systems require a physical construction capable of withstanding extreme conditions in harsh environments. nVent cabinets, cases and subracks are designed to protect the electronics they house with high levels of mechanical stability and resistance to shock and vibration. With nVent reliably protecting these electronic systems, metro operators can focus on how to best serve their customers instead of worrying about essential equipment continuing to perform.
Connected Systems are the Future of Rail
In addition to location monitoring systems, improving onboard systems on trains can ease the implementation of more advanced features like high-speed WiFi for passengers. Better passenger information systems can also help people better plan their commutes. A 4G LTE or 5G network can provide the necessary bandwidth for both critical systems and infotainment requirements.
Many metro systems are already becoming completely autonomous, meaning that all trains are controlled from a central location instead of requiring an onboard operator. The autonomous train technology market is expected to grow exponentially in the next several years. As the industry shifts to autonomous operation, engineers need to protect equipment from inherent risks like heat and electromagnetic interference.
nVent has the solutions to protect important equipment and keep people safe and will be a critical player in this autonomous future. As the world continues to electrify, the need to protect electrical systems—and the people who work with them—will continue to grow.
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