Level crossing safety remains one of the highest priority areas of improvement targeted by railway infrastructure operators. A particular challenge lies in providing cost-effective solutions in remote, low density traffic sections of the network. SAT-LX is a satellite-based advisory warning system to improve safety in these areas. Rail safety is being continuously improved by implementing automatic barrier systems or removing level crossings altogether on high-speed busy sections of line. Though costly, the benefits from making these improvements are clear. More challenging is the improving safety on remote sections of line that do not have sufficient rail traffic to justify expenditure on existing solutions, even though up to 80% of level crossing accidents occur at these locations in some countries. Deployment of safety measures is often hampered by lack of communications and power supply, further increasing the level of investment needed.
Solution Overview
The SAT-LX solution is a low-cost advisory warning system that can be easily deployed to remote level crossing sites to provide road users timely information about approaching trains. It can be combined with existing level crossing solutions or take advantage of technological advances being made on the network (for example centralised train management systems) to provide a complete solution for improving safety in rural locations.
The system maintains an up-to-date database of train position and calculates the time of arrival of the trains at the level crossings supported on the system.
Solution Benefits
- Designed to improve safety at remote or rural level crossings with no active protection
- Up-to-date, reliable information to level crossing users
- No reliance on trackside power or communications supply
- Easily installable and maintainable
- Remote equipment health-checks reduce need for scheduled inspection or servicing
- Built on proven technology
- Failsafe mode in event of power or equipment failure
- Options to support emergency telephone and object detection
