Interoperation Plan for City Railway CBTC and CTCS-2

Objective The research is specially carried out aiming to meet the operational requirements for interoperability between city railway CBTC (communication-based train control) and railway CTCS-2 (China train control system level 2) signaling systems. Method Based on the existing architectures of CBTC and CTCS-2 signaling systems, a fusion plan for these two is proposed. Two fusion plans are compared in terms of cost investment, impact scope, renovation difficulty, and applicable range. Ultimately, the fusion plan with on-board equipment that accommodates ground equipment of both signaling systems is chosen. The ground equipment design follows the principle of ′minimizing changes to CTCS equipment while adding or modifying CBTC equipment′, and the on-board equipment design follows the principle of ′keeping ATP (automatic train protection) core equipment independent while maximizing the reuse of peripheral components′. Under the premises of ensuring system operational efficiency and compliance with CTCS-2 standards, two conversion plans are proposed, ′train conversion from CTCS-2 line to CBTC line′ and ′train conversion from CBTC line to CTCS-2 line′, aiming to achieve bidirectional interoperability between city railway CBTC and CTCS-2 systems. Result & Conclusion The research results indicate that the implementation of the chosen plan can enhance city railway transportation efficiency, optimize transportation organization and management, improve the network functionality of rail transit, and promote coordinated development between central cities and surrounding areas.