INNOVATIVE METHODS OF ENSURING THE FUNCTIONAL SAFETY OF TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS.

The paper examines the specificity of the modern intelligent control systems. The Big Data technology and Data Science algorithms open up great potential in train traffic management based on hazard prevention. An example is given of high reliability and acceptable accuracy of hazardous railway infrastructure failure prediction using methods based on artificial intelligence. A great deal of attention is given to economical methods of ensuring the required levels of functional safety of train control systems. For that purpose, the efficiency of the digital twin-based method was evaluated. It is shown that, under certain conditions, this method allows significantly reducing the cost of a control system while achieving an acceptably high level of functional safety. The method of virtual second channels is based on the same principle of using information redundancy rather than hardware redundancy. The paper presents and analyses the method of virtual second channels in respect to an axle counter-based train control system. It is established that it is possible to ensure a safety integrity level of an entire control system with a virtual second channel at least as high as SIL3. The above methods ensure, on the one hand, a reduction of the amount of equipment and significantly lower cost of the systems and, on the other hand, requires the creation of additional software and substantiation of the acceptability of the achieved level of functional safety. This matter is within the competence of the developer of the control system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]