The Time Interval System

In the early days of railways, it was thought that the easiest way to increase the
train driver's stopping distance was to impose time intervals between trains. Most
railways chose something like 10 minutes as a time interval. They only allowed a
train to run at full speed 10 minutes after the previous one had left. They ran their
trains at a 10 minute "headway" as it is called.
Red, yellow and green flags were used by "policemen" to show drivers how to
proceed. A red flag was shown for the first five minutes after a train had departed.
If a train arrived after 5 minutes, a yellow caution signal was shown to the driver.
The full-speed green signal was only shown after the full 10 minutes had elapsed.
The "time interval system", in trying to use a headway to protect trains, created
some serious problems. The most serious was that it was still inherently
dangerous. Trains in those days were considerably less reliable than they are today
and often broke down between stations. It also could not be guaranteed that the
speed of the first train would be sufficient to prevent the second catching it up. The
result was a series of spectacular rear-end collisions caused, in each case, because
the driver believed he had a 10 minute gap ahead of him and had little or no
warning if there was an erosion of that 10 minutes. Even if the time was reduced
so much that he could see the train in front, he often did not have enough braking
capacity to avoid a collision.

Line Capacity
Another serious problem, from the railways' point of view, was line capacity. Even if
they could rely upon all trains not to make unscheduled stops and to travel at the
same speed, the 10 minute time interval restricted the number of trains which
could run per hour (in this case 6) over a given line. As they needed to run more
trains, they gradually began to reduce the time between trains. As they reduced
the time, or "headway", the number of trains per hour increased. At the same time
too, the number of accidents increased. Eventually, they had to do something. The
answer was fixed signalling.

Fixed Signalling
Even with the time interval system, the basic rule of signalling was to divide the
track into sections and ensure that only one train was allowed in one section at one
time. This is still good today. Each section (or block as it is often called) is
protected by a fixed signal placed at its entrance for display to the driver of an
approaching train. If the section is clear, e.g. there is no train in it, the signal will
show a "Proceed" indication. For many years in Britain it was usually a raised
semaphore arm. There are a few of these left around the country but nowadays it
is usually a green light or "aspect", as the railways call it. If, however, the section
is occupied by a train, the signal will show a "Stop" indication, usually a red aspect.

The next train will be made to wait until the train in front has cleared the section.
This is the basis upon which all signalling systems are designed and operated.
Mechanical signals first appeared in the UK in 1841 and a signal box with levers
controlling remote signals and points in 1860. Originally, the passage of each train
through a section was tracked visually by the signalman. When the train had
cleared his section, the signalman told the signal box on the approach side that his
section was now clear and that he could, if required, "accept" another train. The
messages between signal boxes were transmitted by a system of bell codes using
the electric telegraph.
Compulsory use of the electric "block telegraph" to pass messages and signal
interlocking, where points and signals were mechanically prevented from allowing
conflicting movements to be set up, was introduced in the UK following the
Regulation of Railways Act of 1889.

Distant Signals
The basic stop/go signal used to protect each section of the line was OK as long as
the driver of an approaching train was able to see the signal in time to stop. This
was rarely the case, so a system of "distant" signals was provided in many
locations.
Distant signals were placed in such a position that the driver could stop in time if
the next stop signal was at danger. Positioning depended on the visibility,
curvature, maximum permitted line speed and a calculation of the train's ability to
stop. In the UK, freight trains with reduced braking capacity (unfitted or partially
fitted freights) were only allowed to run at restricted top speeds to allow for signal
braking distances.
Originally, distant signals were semaphores, like the stop signals mentioned above.
They showed a green light at night if their related stop signal was also green (or
clear) and yellow if the stop signal was at red. The red-yellow-green pattern was
adopted for colour light signals and eventually used to provide a more spohisticated
form of train control.

Interlocking
Another safety feature introduced in the mid-19th Century was mechanical
interlocking of points and signals. The purpose was to prevent the route for a train
being set up and its protecting signal cleared if there was already another,
conflicting route set up and the protecting signal for that route cleared. The
interlocking was performed by a series of mechanically interacting rods connected
to the signal operating levers in the signal box. The arrangement of the rods
physically prevented conflicting moves being set up. As the systems developed,
some larger signal cabins at complex junctions had huge frames of interlocking

levers, which gave the name "lever frame" to the row of operating levers in a signal
box.
Eventually, by the time signal levers were being replaced by small (miniature)
levers or push buttons, mechanical interlocking frames were superseded by relay
interlockings. Electro-magnetic relays were used in series to ensure the safety of
route setting at junctions. Complex "control tables" were drawn up to design the
way in which these relays would interact and to ensure safety and integrity.

Blocks

Fig. 1: Schematic of signal block section. When a block is unoccupied, the signal
protecting it will show green. If a block is occupied, the signal protecting it will
show red.
Railways are provided with signalling primarily to ensure that there is always
enough space between trains to allow one to stop before it hits the one in front.
This is achieved by dividing each track into sections or "blocks". Each block is
protected by a signal placed at its entrance. If the block is occupied by a train, the
signal will display a red "aspect" as we call it, to tell the train to stop. If the section
is clear, the signal can show a green or "proceed" aspect.
The simplified diagram above shows the basic principle of the block. The block
occupied by Train 1 is protected by the red signal at the entrance to the block. The
block behind is clear of trains and a green signal will allow Train 2 to enter this
block. This enforces the basic rule or railway signalling that says only one train is
allowed onto one block at any one time.

The Track Circuit

Nowadays for signalling purposes, trains are monitored automatically by means of
"track circuits". Track circuits were first tried in the US in the 1890s and soon
afterwards appeared in Britain. London Underground was the first large-scale user
of them in 1904-6.

Low voltage currents applied to the rails cause the signal, via a series of relays
(originally) or electronics (more recently) to show a "proceed" aspect. The current
flow will be interrupted by the presence of the wheels of a train. Such interruption
will cause the signal protecting that section to show a "stop" command. Any other
cause of current interruption will also cause a "stop" signal to show. Such a system
means that a failure gives a red aspect - a stop signal. The system is sometimes
referred to as "fail safe" or "vital". A "proceed" signal will only be displayed if the
current does flow. Most European main lines with moderate or heavy traffic are
equipped with colour light signals operated automatically or semi-automatically by
track circuits.

Track Circuit - Block Unoccupied

Fig. 2: This diagram shows how the track circuit is applied to a section or block of
track. A low voltage from a battery is applied to one of the running rails in the
block and returned via the other. A relay at the entrance to the section detects the
voltage and energises to connect a separate supply to the green lamp of the signal.

Track Circuit - Block Occupied

Fig. 3: When a train enters the block (above), the leading wheelset short circuits
the current, which causes the relay to de-energise and drop the contact so that the
signal lamp supply circuit now activates the red signal lamp. The system is "failsafe", or "vital" as it is sometimes called, because any break in the circuit will cause
a danger signal to be displayed.
The above is a simplified description of the track circuit. The reality is somewhat
more complex. A block section is normally separated electrically from its
neighbouring sections by insulated joints in the rails. However, more recent
installations use electronics to allow jointless track circuits. Also, some areas have
additional circuits which allow the signals to be manually held at red from a signal
box or control centre, even if the section is clear. These are known as semiautomatic signals. Even more complexity is required at junctions.

Multi-Aspect Signals
The basic, two-aspect, red/green signal is fine for lower speed operation but for
anything over about 50 km/h the driver of a train needs a warning of a red signal
ahead to give him room to stop. In the UK, this led to the idea of caution signals
(originally called "distant" signals when they were mechanically operated
semaphore arms) placed far enough back from the signal protecting the entrance to
the block to give the driver a warning and a safe braking distance in which to stop.
When this was developed for track circuited signalling, the caution signal was
provided a block further back from the stop signal. Each signal would now show a
red, yellow or green aspect - a multi-aspect signal.

Fig. 4: Schematic of 3-aspect signalled route showing the additional yellow aspect
provided to allow earlier warnings and thus higher speed operation.
This diagram (Fig. 4) shows a line with 3-aspect signals. The block occupied by
Train 1 is protected by the red signal at the entrance to the block. The block behind
is clear of trains but a yellow signal provides advanced warning of the red aspect
ahead. This block provides the safe braking distance for Train 2. The next block in
rear is also clear of trains and shows a green signal. The driver of Train 2 sees the
green signal and knows he has at least two clear blocks ahead of him and can
maintain the maximum allowed speed over this line until he sees the yellow.

Four-Aspect Signalling
The multi-aspect signalling commonly used in the UK today is a 4-aspect system. It
works similarly to the 3-aspect system except that two warnings are provided
before a red signal, a double yellow and a single yellow. This has two purposes.
First, it provides early warnings of a red signal for higher speed trains or it can
allow better track occupancy by shortening the length of the blocks. The high
speed trains have advanced warning of red signals while the slower speed trains
can run closer together at 50 km/h or so under "double yellows".

Fig. 5: Schematic of 4-aspect signalled route showing the double-yellow aspect.

This diagram (click for full size view) shows four-aspect signals with (in the upper
diagram) a high speed train with three clear blocks ahead of it and (lower diagram)
a slower train with two clear blocks ahead of it. The lower speed trains can run
closer together so more trains can be operated over a given section of line.

A Safe Braking Distance

The foregoing description of signalling has so far only looked at the concept of
warning or enforcement of restrictive signal indications. It has not yet taken into
account braking distance or headway. First, there is the problem of braking
distances. As we have already seen, a train cannot stop dead. An Inter City train
travelling at 100 mph (160 km/hr) will take more than a mile to stop. Even for a
signalling system with enforcement (ATP) like the London Underground, as
described so far there is a risk that a train could pass a stop signal, then be stopped
by the ATP enforcement system and still hit the train in front. This situation could
occur if the train in front was standing just ahead of the signal protecting it. The
problem has long been recognised and can be overcome by the provision of a space
for the train to stop in, an "overlap".

The Overlap
In its simplest form, the "overlap" is a distance allowed for the train to stop in
should it pass a signal showing a stop aspect. It is provided by positioning the
signal some way before the entrance to the section it is protecting.

On BR, because it is impossible to calculate all the various braking distances of

different types of trains and because it is impossible to predict when a driver might
react to a stop signal, a fixed value of 200 yards (185 metres) is used. On metros
which use ATP systems, the distance is calculated by a precise formula based on
the known braking capacity of the metro train, the gradient at the location
concerned, the maximum possible speed of the trains using that section, an
allowance for the sighting of the signal by the driver and a small margin. The result
of the calculation is called the "safe braking distance". The overlap incorporates
this safe braking distance. For more details see The Overlap on our Metro
Signalling Page.