EN 50617-1:2024

Railway applications - Technical parameters of train detection systems for the interoperability of the trans-European railway system - Part 1: Track circuits

Publication date:   Feb 4, 2022

Scope

This document specifies the technical parameters of track circuits associated with the interference current emissions limits for RST in the context of interoperability defined in the form of Frequency Management in ERA/ERTMS/033281 v4.0. The limits for compatibility between rolling stock and track circuits addressed in this document allow provision for known interference phenomena linked to traction power supply including associated protection (over voltage, short-circuit current and basic transient effects like in-rush current and power cut-off), and other known sources of interference.
This document is intended to be used to assess compliance of track circuits and other forms of train detection systems using the rails as part of their detection principles, in the context of the European Directive on the interoperability of the trans-European railway system and the associated technical specification for interoperability relating to the control-command and signalling track-side subsystems.
The document describes technical parameters to consider for achieving the compatibility of the track circuit with the emissions limits defined in the frequency management for rolling stock (ERA/ERTMS/033281 v4.0). These parameters are structured and allocated according to their basic references as follows:
- technical track circuit parameters;
- train based parameters;
- track based parameters;
- environmental and other parameters including EMC.
Each parameter is defined by a short general description, the definition of the requirement, the relation to other standards and a procedure to show the fulfilment of the requirement as far as necessary. An overview of the safety relevance of each parameter is given - in the context of this document - in a separate table.
This document is applicable to track circuits on all lines, including non-electrified lines. However, for track circuits intended to be installed only on non-electrified lines, some parameters can be disapplied.