Traffic Control, Centralized

a system for controlling the movement of trains on railroad block sections from a single control point using’remote-control devices.

Centralized traffic control is a combination of automatic block signaling on sectors with centrally controlled points and signals of stations on the sector; it uses remote-control equipment and signaling devices for local control of points and signals at the stations, central dispatching equipment, a control console with an illuminated indicator, and equipment for automatic recording of the movement of trains (railroad traffic recording apparatus). All operations in receiving and dispatching trains at stations of the sectors are performed by the train dispatcher at the control point, and the trains are tracked over the sectors automatically by the signals of the semaphores they pass.

Centralized traffic control is widespread on single-track lines; it makes possible an increase of 25-30 percent in their traffic capacity and a decrease in the number of workers (50-60 per hundred km of track).