SIGNAL+DRAHT | Issue 05/2007
Admission of rolling stock on track circuit based train detection systems
Track circuit based train detection relies on short-circuiting rail bars by train wheel sets. The circuit can get disturbed by contamination of the wheel rail contact, which is generally avoided by the cleaning properties of the trains themselves. Wheel rail contamination has extensively been assessed from the perspective of adhesion but rarely from the perspective of train detection. This article shows sense and nonsense on widely spread assumed causes of poor and good quality of train short circuit impedances. Moreover the article shows how research results are applied in the rolling stock admission strategy of ProRail in The Netherlands.