Rail operations
The term railway operation , formerly operating service or railway operations service , includes all activities that are related to the implementation of train operations on a railway. In the broadest sense, it is about everything that has to do with the “rolling wheel”.
Since the merger and privatization of the Deutsche Bundesbahn and the Deutsche Reichsbahn to form the Deutsche Bahn AG, the word “-dienst” has been avoided because it reminds one of an authority. The term “operations service” therefore became “rail operations”.
Activities (selection)
- Railway operation at the operating points , previously defined as " transport service at the operating points"; this includes running the train , shunting , operating the interlockings , setting and securing the routes and routes
- Accompanying trains , formerly called train driving service , this includes the tasks of the train driver and train attendant , train driver and conductor and
- Shunting , in particular the work that occurs when "forming" (assembling) and breaking up the trains, when preparing freight wagons for loading and unloading, and when delivering and collecting passenger and freight wagons to and from the workshops and parking facilities.
staff
It can assign tasks to other, suitable employees (e.g. gatekeepers, train detectors, train preparers, shunting attendants, shunters, train conductors, local supervision).
Previously, this and other so-called dispositive (flexibly deployable) personnel fell under the term company railroader .
Regular operation
Railway vehicles are tracked on the rails . You cannot leave the set route or even swerve suddenly, such as road vehicles. This is why a large number of regulations (in particular train service and signaling regulations ) regulate when and under what conditions trains or shunting departments may run without collisions, driveways or other dangerous events (previously: railway accidents ). For this purpose, the driver receives precisely defined orders and information via signals . Comprehensive control and safety technology in the interlockings and outdoor facilities excludes signals from each other that would lead to dangerous movement. Corresponding technology on the locomotives can stop journeys against signals by means of emergency braking , provided that vehicles and routes are equipped with it (e.g. with train control technology ). The control mode is when all technical facilities of the railway infrastructure and rolling stock work and rail vehicles are usually moved by. If there is a need to deviate from normal operation, this is referred to as a malfunction . This is the case when:
- technical facilities are disrupted (their functions must be replaced by other measures to ensure the same safety for further journeys),
- Train or shunting runs have not been completed properly,
- a dangerous event has occurred or
- other irregularities were noticed on the routes or on vehicles.
For these deviations from normal operations, there are precisely defined courses of action to which all operating railroaders involved (see above) are bound. Oral or written information, orders or commands are then transmitted via line telephone or train radio .
Further parts of the company
- Train conveyance ; this includes the provision of the locomotives , the locomotive personnel with the technical preparatory and final work on the locomotives as well as the transport of the trains
- Safety technology , this means the maintenance and troubleshooting of safety systems
- Maintenance and troubleshooting on contact line systems
- Vehicle inspection and maintenance , including technical vehicle service
