The most important aim at railroads is safe transportation. Losses that occurred in accidents have negative effects on both society and the state economy. Most of the accidents in railroads occurred at railroad crossings which are the intersection point of railroads and highways. Inadvertent of vehicle drivers and pedestrians and inadequate control of railroad crossings caused accidents. The motorman must see the railroad crossing before the stopping distance. Stopping distance must be minimum 700 m. However, this distance can be changed according to the road slope and speed of the train.
There are 3 types of railroad crossings:
- Without barrier and without crossing-keeper
- With barrier and with crossing keeper,
- With barrier and automatic remote controlled.
Early warning systems that used to prevent the accidents in railroad crossings, the train will be warned with an audible and visual warning is made if there is a human or vehicle on a railroad with the cameras placed on railroad crossings. The kiosk type screen (10’ Android tablet), which will be placed in the trains will show the instant visual of railroad crossing to the motorman if there is a human or a vehicle. There is a special mobile application for this process, and this application can be installed all the trains that can pass through the route. Positioning and alarm verification are performed via GPS.
Image processing techniques are used through cameras placed at railroad crossings. Therefore, it is determined whether there is an object on the rails. If there is a vehicle or pedestrian on rails in the system, the train is warned from distance of 500 Mt. / 1000 Mt. / 2000 Mt.
Early warning system at the railroad crossing consists of 1 piece of IP Camera, 1 piece of IP66 housing (including IR LED, PoE supply), an industrial PC for image processing (Arm PC), Camera images and 3G modem to transmit the data and alarm. In trains, early warning system consists of 1 piece of 10” android tablet (with kiosk mounted) and subscription of 3G for GPS positioning and alarm tracking. Mobile application is included in the system.
The advantages of this system;
- Prevent the accidents that may occur at railroad crossings,
- Prevent the pecuniary loss and intangible damages,
- Increased prestige of railway authorities and increased confidence in authority.
