Follow-up protection

Follow-up protection are procedures that prevent a train on a station or line from colliding with the one in front (follow-up travel).

Before a trip into a station track or a track at a branch or transfer point , a check is made to see whether all points and track sections to be used are free. This so-called route check is carried out by a track vacancy detection system . If there is no such, the route is checked visually by the signal box staff , which can lead to accidents in the event of observation errors .

In order to secure train journeys on mainline tracks, it is now common practice on European railways to divide the route into sections. Only one train may be in such a section , known as a train sequence or block section. In addition to this procedure, which is referred to as driving in space, follow-up protection can also be ensured by driving in visual distance, driving over a period of time or driving in a moving distance.

See also

• Securing train journeys
• Counter-run protection
• Flank run

literature

• W. Fenner , P. Naumann, J. Trinckauf : Bahnsicherungstechnik , Publics Corporate Publishing 2003, ISBN 3-89578-177-0