British Railways Board

Michael S Birkin

A communication system for a railway train has a proving circuit for proving conditions of the railway track ahead of the train. The proving circuit comprises a transponder associated with at least one rail of the track to form a rail circuit therewith. The response of the transponder to an interrogater on the train is dependent upon the condition of the rail circuit.

Train communication system

The control system is of the kind in which vehicle passage is controlled by a token, and is particularly suitable for single track railways. According to the invention, such a system is electronic, and a central control and each vehicle in use in the system is provided with electronic transmitting and receiving equipment, by which an exclusive electronic token, or the like, is transmitted between the control and a designated vehicle, the arrangement being such that, only if the electronic token is issued to a vehicle, by simultaneous operation by the controller and vehicle operator, will that vehicle be authorized to proceed, said electronic token being withdrawn by the central control once the restricted section to which it relates has been traversed by said vehicle.

Control system for controlling the passage of vehicles

This invention relates to a vehicle control system in which a vehicle travels along a fixed trackway, the trackway having one or more divergent portions at which it divides into two or more alternative routes. A plurality of transponders or beacons are positioned adjacent the trackside in advance of each of the divergent portions to pass information to control equipment on the vehicle relating to the running characteristics of one of the alternative routes. A directional radio transmitter is positioned adjacent the divergent portions to transmit information to a receiver linked to the control equipment carried by the vehicle to enable the control equipment to identify the particular transponder or beacon relating to the route to be followed at the divergent portion and to act upon the appropriate information passed from that transponder or beacon.

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Attenborough, United Kingdom

Michael S Birkin