Balise

This article deals with the balise in the context of the railway, for the navigation mark see there.

Eurobalise

Balises (from French baliser , abbaken), seldom also referred to with the German term beacon or simply information point , are technical facilities on the railway track that store railway operational information and transfer it to rail vehicles that pass the location of the balise.

functionality

Vehicles need suitable antennas in order to be able to pick up the information that the balise holds ready. Balises function as transponders . They are often laid twice in order to recognize the direction of travel and to guarantee that the information is reliably transmitted. Since a balise can only transmit a limited amount of data, several balises can be installed one after the other or combined into groups in complex operational situations. As a rule, balises are yellow on the outside and mounted on sleepers in the middle of the track . Depending on the required power supply ( battery or external), balises are referred to as active or passive.

Passive balise

As a rule, this balise contains an unchangeable, permanently programmed data content. It doesn't need a fixed power supply. Rather, it receives the energy required to transmit the data through the antenna of the vehicle passing it.

Active balise

The active balise (switchable balise) has no permanently programmed data content. It conveys a changing operating situation, e.g. B. the position of a signal . To do this, it needs a cable connection that transmits the data content to the balise, and a power supply. Switchable balises are mainly used for train control based on the ETCS Level 1 system .

Systems that use balises

In addition to the systems that are based on Eurobalises (see list there ), there are also other train control systems whose trackside transmission device is called a balise. These include, for example:

• ASFA
• ATC , in Norway and Sweden
• EBICAB
• GW ATP
• KVB
• TBL
• ATO system CRV & AVV in the SŽDC network (so-called information point MIB 6 )
• Door control systems such as Tracklink III

literature

• Hans Leister: ETCS and digital technology for interlockings . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 8–9 / 2017, pp. 417–422.

Web links

Commons : Balise  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ivo Myslivec, Bozetech Šula: Automatic train control and ETCS at Czech Railways . In: signal + wire . tape 91 , no. 10 . Tetzlaff Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1999, ISSN  0037-4997 , p. 20-23 .
2. ↑ Leister, p. 419.
3. ↑ Leister, p. 419.
4. ↑ Leister, p. 419.
5. ↑ Sella Controls - Track Link Solutions . (English, sellacontrols.com [accessed March 24, 2018]).