Operation and control in electric transportation systems

The advantages of computer aided systems are now widely recognised in the railway industry. Computers, ranging from the mainframe to the microcomputer, are now being used in every field of activity relating to railways, from the initial techno-economic planning and feasibility studies to the ultimate operation of the railway network. The thesis contains some of the papers covering the use and potential of computers for management functions in railways presented at the 1 st International Conference on Computer Aided Design, Manufacture and Operation in the Railway and other Advances Mass Transit Systems. These papers cover such diverse management functions as planning and design of networks, financial systems, traffis forecasting, maintance of train and track, train scheduling and operational aspects. South African examples are including system control and data acquisition for traction power supply systems. All three control centres are built up on the same concept using a second computer as a hot standby. In the event of a total breakdown of a control centre the possibility of operating the region of the remote emergency control centre is realized. The three emergency centres are single computer installations in a separate building.