The new train control system ATACS by using ADS technologies

Present train control is performed in the following manner. Train location is detected by wayside signaling facilities, and according to train location, train control signals are indicated to prevent collisions between trains. However, this control way requires an enormous number of facilities. That means large acquisition and maintenance costs. Recent remarkable progress in the field of information technology makes possible a new train control system where train itself detects its location and communicates with other trains through radio transmission. Therefore, we have been developing the new train control system called "ATACS (Advanced Train Administration and Communications System)". ATACS is the new train control system using information technology and ADS technology. In the present signaling system, trains are controlled in a uniform way by the ground system. In ATACS, each train controls its own brake system autonomously by using its own train location and the location of the preceding train which is transmitted from the preceding train through the ground system. In this paper, we describe ATACS and its ADS technology.