Internet of Things (IoT)-Based Apparatus and Method for Rail Crossing Alerting of Static or Dynamic Rail Track Intrusions

This paper deals with Physical Safety and Security at rail crossings. There are about 150,000 public railroad grade crossings in the U.S. Unfortunately, approximately 2,000 accidents occur every year in the U.S., resulting not only in many injuries, but also in over 200 deaths annually. The predicament is that for various reasons, people, cars, and trucks find themselves on the rail tracks of an oncoming train at a railroad crossing. The system discussed in this paper provides a relatively inexpensive Internet of Things (IoT)-based capability that can be used to alert a rail operator that there is an obstruction on the tracks, and/or possibly to interwork with (but not replace) a Positive Train Control (PTC) system thus attempting to automatically stop an incoming train. In fact, IoT is now being deployed in railroads for a variety of applications. A brief description of cybersecurity issues related to IoT deployment is also included.