China has more than 10,000 kilometers of urban rail transit lines and more than 150,000 kilometers of railway operating mileage.
They run endlessly, forming the pulse of life in the city, and they run at high speed, supporting the largest migration in human history, and all this is inseparable from an invisible scientific and technological force - rail transit train control system, also known as signal system.
Not long ago, a set of data reproduced the market pattern in the field of signaling systems: in 2023, a total of 10 signaling companies (including consortiums) won 42 signaling system projects. Among them, CRRC Times Electric, a subsidiary of CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, has achieved remarkable results, winning a total of 5 projects, with a bid amount of more than 1.6 billion, accounting for 13.80% of the annual market share (according to the number of projects).
It is worth noting that compared with the previous three years, CRRC Times Electric will emerge in 2023 and rank fourth, among which the five lines of the bid are all new lines, becoming an enterprise with strong growth potential in the signal system market.
The mission of making up for the shortcomings in the field of CRRC signaling
The exploration and research of modern China's rail transit signaling system originated in the eighties of the last century, on the basis of the development of communication, computer, positioning and other technologies, it has roughly formed a development cycle every ten years, and has undergone several changes to improve efficiency and safety.
As a pioneer and leader in China's electrified railway equipment industry, CRRC Times Electric is committed to the independent research and development and industrialization of traction transmission and control systems. LKJ train operation monitoring system and other products are used in nearly 20,000 locomotives and more than 600 EMUs of various railway bureau group companies and local railways across the country, with a domestic market share of more than 50%, and exported to Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and selected as a "single champion product of national manufacturing industry".
In 2005, following the breakthrough of the self-developed traction system in the subway market, CRRC Times Electric was keenly aware that the next urban rail signaling system with huge market prospects was the urban rail signaling system. At that time, the domestic urban rail signaling system was almost monopolized by foreign old enterprises, with a low degree of localization and autonomy, and the core technology was in the hands of foreign companies.
As a leading vehicle enterprise in China's rail transit equipment manufacturing industry, CRRC's signal system was a short board, and most of the urban rail vehicles were supporting the signal systems of foreign manufacturers. CRRC Times Electric shoulders the mission and responsibility of revitalizing the high-end equipment industry, and is committed to making up for the shortcomings of CRRC in the urban rail signaling system, enhancing CRRC's "product +, system +" capabilities, and having greater advantages in the international market competition, providing strong support for CRRC to create a world-class enterprise.
Urban rail transit is the "main artery" of urban development, and the rail transit signal industry has broad prospects and huge market potential. After careful consideration, CRRC Times Electric made an important decision to enter the field of urban rail signaling.
Figure 1: LKJ monitoring device
Construct an autonomous urban rail signaling system with a complete spectrum
Looking at the trend of China's urban rail transit signaling system, there have been several important milestones. The Beijing Olympics are one of them.
In 2008, in order to ensure that hundreds of thousands of international friends from 204 countries and regions gather in the capital Beijing to participate in the quadrennial international event, the transportation industry, which plays a supporting role, must complete a major upgrade before the official hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Fifty-four days before the Olympic Games, the country's first WLAN-based CBTC system and the country's first renovated subway Beijing Line 2 were successfully opened, making urban rail transit complete an efficient and economical historic upgrade and entering the era of CBTC system dominance.
As the "brain" and "nervous system" of urban rail transit, the CBTC (communication-based automatic train control) signaling system can organically integrate the train commander, driver and equipment into one, realize the understanding of the line conditions and the position of the train in front, control the train speed in real time, and ensure the efficient operation of the train. It has the characteristics of high technical difficulty and large safety responsibility.
As a "rookie" in the field of urban rail signaling system, CRRC Times Electric has no other way but to catch up.
In July 2019, at the 2019 Beijing International Urban Rail Transit Exhibition, a new technology product, the fully autonomous CBTC (communication-based automatic train control) signaling system, was released to the world. This move is regarded by the industry as making up for the last shortcoming of CRRC's "going global", and the competitiveness of the international market has been further enhanced.
The CBTC signaling system model is tSafer-UC1000, which meets a number of international standards and has passed the CBTC product and interconnection function certification of the China Urban Transport Association. It is at the advanced level in the industry in terms of train control accuracy, ride comfort, energy saving, etc., and also has the ability to upgrade fully automatic unmanned driving in the future. At the same time, the system is a complete set of signaling system solutions for different urban rail transit transportation standards such as subway, light rail, intercity train, maglev, etc.
Figure 2: CBTC on-board cabinet and DMI display
In October 2020, at the 2020 Beijing International Urban Rail Transit Exhibition, the autonomous FAO (Fully Automatic Operation System) signaling system was released for the first time. On the basis of the CBTC signal system, the mainstream signal system of urban rail, the signal system has added more than 20 functions, including train sleep wake-up, dynamic and static self-inspection, obstacle/derailment protection, remote reset, etc., and can also realize fully automatic operation, the train can be free from the restrictions of the driver and passengers, and flexibly adjust the departure distance according to the transportation needs to achieve 7×24 hours of uninterrupted transportation services.
"Improving the ability of energy saving and consumption reduction through integrated control is the most obvious advantage and feature of CRRC FAO signaling system. "Through the use of big data and intelligent technology, the design of deep interconnection has increased the turnback interval of the vehicle system by 30%, the inbound and outbound interval by 50%, and the precise parking has reached 99.999%, which is more intelligent, efficient, safe and reliable.
Up to now, CRRC Times Electric has established an urban rail signaling system with a complete pedigree and completely independent intellectual property rights. Among them, Changsha Line 4, Wuxi Line 4, Changsha Line 2 upgrade, Changsha Line 2 West Extension Phase II, Guiyang S1, Ningci City Line adopt fully independent CBTC signal system, Ningbo Line 8, Hefei Line 6/7 adopt fully independent FAO signal system, 17 lines of urban rail signal integration projects, with a cumulative mileage of nearly 500Km.
In the field of urban rail, the "non-inductive" transformation of the signal system has always attracted much attention, which reflects the embodiment of the comprehensive strength of an enterprise.
On May 31, 2022, the upgrading and reconstruction project of Changsha Rail Transit Line 2 implemented by CRRC Times Electric officially started. The project is based on the general trend of intelligent urban rail, through technology empowerment, so that the old line glows with new kinetic energy, with new technology functions such as interconnection, intelligent operation and maintenance, intelligent scheduling, etc., which can shorten the operation interval and greatly improve the operation and maintenance efficiency.
Figure 3: Construction site of Changsha Metro Line 2 reconstruction project
Work together to create an integrated solution for rail transit and ground
There is a deep-seated logic behind the latecomer catching up and overtaking and becoming more and more courageous - relying on the platform of "National Engineering Laboratory for Safety and Operation and Maintenance Guarantee of Urban Rail Transit Signal System" and "Hunan Engineering Research Center for Rail Transit Signal System", it focuses on cutting-edge technologies such as automatic operation system, vehicle-to-vehicle communication system, and high-speed maglev operation control system, and accelerates the industrialization of scientific research achievements.
For example, with the development of urban rail transit vehicles in the direction of more intelligent and autonomous. CRRC Times Electric completed the development of the tSafer-UC4000 vehicle-vehicle communication intelligent signal system in 2022, and obtained the independent third-party safety certification of core equipment in March 2023.
The vehicle communication intelligent signal system meets the requirements of GoA4 automation level, and its core equipment (ATP and OC) has passed the most stringent international SIL4 safety certification, and the system integrates active obstacle perception equipment, which can provide all-round protection for the safe operation of the train.
With the train as the center, CRRC Times Electric will also deeply integrate the on-board signal system with the vehicle electrical and environmental perception system, complete the development of the train autonomous operation control system (TACS1.0), and realize the autonomous transformation of the train operation mode from automation to independent application for resources, independent interval protection, and independent operation adjustment, and become a safer, more efficient, flexible and economical smart urban rail control system.
Figure 4: TACS 2.0 is a dynamic marshalling train control system based on autonomous operation
On March 22 this year, the 4th Science and Technology Festival of CRRC Zhuzhou Institute opened, based on the release of the dynamic marshalling train control system (TACS2.0) based on autonomous operation, using the advantages of multi-system integration, responding to industry technology trends and the needs of owners, solving the pain points such as the mismatch between transportation organization and passenger flow, high energy consumption per capita kilometer, and passenger travel experience to be improved.
Among them, in terms of intelligent integration, the speed of train travel has been increased by more than 5%, in terms of green and low-carbon, intelligent dispatching and dynamic marshalling transportation have saved energy by more than 20%, and in terms of travel-friendliness, passenger waiting time has been reduced by more than 40%.
In response to the "green and intelligent" development goal of a transportation power, we will help open a new chapter in the high-quality development of "green and smart urban rail". CRRC Times Electric has a number of multi-standard, a variety of engineering conditions in the opening experience and performance, with strong product research and development, engineering implementation and delivery and operation support capabilities, can be competent for a variety of standards (point, CBTC, FAO, TACS, etc.) and engineering conditions (domestic and foreign, new construction, extension line, transformation, interconnection, short construction period, etc.) of the project, is fully implementing CRRC "system +" and "product +" Strategy, cooperate with CRRC's major OEMs to create an integrated solution for rail transit and ground.
Source: CRRC Times Electric
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