05/01/2023 Company Presentation CONFIDENTIAL 1Company Presentation CONFIDENTIAL

Track Circuit Life CheckThe preventive track circuit maintenance solution

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• What is a track circuit?

• AC and Pulse track circuits

• How often and why does a track circuit fail?

• Maintenance actions

• The Track Circuit Life Check in one slide

• Benefits of Track Circuit Life Check

• Technical Specifications

• Customers

Agenda

What is a track circuit?

● A track circuit is an electrical device used to detect the presence of

a train onto a block section, separated by insulated/electrical joints

● Track circuit occupation:

– train wheels and axles connect running rails together

– current through the circuit reduced to zero

AC/DC Track Circuits

● AC Track Circuits:

– energized by an alternating electrical current

– separated by electrical joints

● Pulse Track Circuits:

– energized by an alternating electrical current (pulse signal)

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How often does a track circuit fail?

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● Track circuits designed to be fail safe

● Failure  section indicated as occupied service delays⇒ ⇒● Rail operators penalised by 30-70 € per delay minute

● Average failure rate is around 0.45 times per year per installation!

● High manual inspection rate required

Table1. Typical track circuit failure statistics (UK based data)

What kind of Maintenance actions can be taken?

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● Corrective Maintenance can be performed after a fault occurrence, so that the track circuit can be repaired and restored

● Preventive Maintenance can be regularly performed to monitor the health of the track circuit and increase failure detection, in order to plan a preventive action

● Predictive Maintenance can be regularly performed in order to predict when maintenance or replacement actions should be taken

Track Circuit Life Check in one slide

● On-board System for automated measuring of track circuits

● Track circuits health evaluation lab-on-wheels

● Independent of any other on-board systems

● Compatibility with all track circuits:– AC track circuits– Pulse track circuits

● Hundreds of Track Circuits measured per hour

● All key parameters measured from a measurement vehicle at

commercial operation speed

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Benefits of Track Circuit Life Check

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● Allows the switch from corrective to preventive maintenance

● Reduces response time in case of corrective maintenance

● Reduces manual inspections:

– 1 manual inspection per year OR

– manual inspection performed only in case of degradation spotted

● Flexible modular architecture, adaptable to all kind of Track Circuits

Technical Specifications

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● Measurements, signals detection and analysis:– Track short circuit current measurement at ± 5mA precision

– Track circuit currents audio frequencies measurement at ± 1Hz precision

– Transmission line compensation capacitors detection and quality evaluation

– Loops frequency detection to check functional states of transmitting loops

– Track circuits FM modulation detection for track-to-train transmission bits identification

● Radio Communications:– Full UMTS/3G data link for remote monitoring and maintenance

Technical Specifications

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● Databases– Real-time track circuits analysis during train movement

– RAW data of all track elements analysed and stored in database if further analysis is required

● Track Element Positioning:– All track elements with precision location are recorded, using either:

» GPS data coupled to Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) for sub-meter precise positioning, OR

» Longitudinal track (KP) positioning based on odometry units (Wheel sensor, Dopple radar)

● Preventive Maintenance:– Preventive maintenance based on multi-data of the same track element in time and deviation analysis

Customers

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● Eurotunnel for TVM430 / UM71 condition monitoring

● Mesea for TVM300/ TVM430 / UM71 condition monitoring

● What about YOU?

– Want to know more about this, discuss business case and receive an offer?

– Please contact us!

info@ertmssolutions.com

Thank you for your attention!

www.ertmssolutions.com