System for the control of the progression of several railway trains in a network

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention aims to provide a system for the management of a railway network which, while being of relatively simple construction particularly with regard to the track equipment, has improved safety with respect to existing systems.
Its object is therefore a system for the control of the progression of several railway trains in a railway network, each train being equipped with an on-board device for detecting the position of the train with respect to the track and with transmit-receive means communicating with a central station, the central station comprising a means of instantaneous storage of the relative positions of all of the trains in the railway network, a means of storage of the itineraries of each train, the characteristics the network related to the speed range, and of the performance of the rolling stock in service.
The central station constitutes an organizing unit of the system and comprises a means of transmission at regular time intervals of messages containing the identification numbers of the trains in circulation, which are authorized to follow their route, taking account of position information received from these trains by the central station and of speed range parameters contained in the means of storage.
The device on board each train constitutes an execution unit of the system and comprises a means of recognition of the identification number of the train with which it is associated and a means of controlling the stopping of the train in the absence of the identification number in the message which it receives from the central station.
The system according to the invention enables each of the trains to be followed by a quasi-continuous control of excess speed and a control of the deceleration before any stopping point.
When a train reaches a speed limit or does not adopt a sufficient deceleration in order to guarantee a stopping point, the system according to the invention applies service braking until its speed is brought within the authorized limits