Good afternoon, dear guests and subscribers of my channel!
By my first education, I am a railway worker, specializing in automation, telemechanics and communications in railway transport.
In this article I would like to tell you that in reality - all rail lines on railway lines between stations are energized.
The power supply of the electric locomotive (locomotive) is carried out through the high-voltage contact network of the overhead transmission line (overhead power lines) or through the contact rail (metro), and current flows along the rails to signal the driver of the rolling stock about the free / occupied section of the railway tracks and to monitor the state of the integrity of the rail lines along their entire length, about which further and I'll tell you.
Why is this done?
Have you ever wondered why no one steals rails and hands them over for scrap? It's simple, if you start to unscrew or cut off the rail, the electrical circuit begins to change the resistance and in the future it opens, about which the dispatcher is immediately informed by the automation and the brigade of railway workers together with the police will be right there in the place of the electrical break chains.
The second is that railway traffic lights and rail lines are interconnected by signals that are encoded in a special way. The tracks between stations are divided into sections and each section is separated by a traffic light (in the language of railway workers - block plots). A locomotive or carriage with a steel wheel pair, passing a certain block section, closes the electrical circuit and in this section the red light comes on, and on the previous yellow light, then green (picture above).
Thus, the driver of a train traveling in the same direction, at the signal of a traffic light, understands where the train in front is located.
If you remember - in childhood there was a bike that a metal object can be used to close the rails... It really is. Any conductive object that closes both opposite rails - closes the circuit like a wheelset of a rolling stock and an automation system and alarm system perceives this shunting as a signal of a busy path - at this interval, a red light comes on, as if there is a train.
But, such actions are fraught with very large fines, since the dispatcher always has up-to-date information about the presence or absence of a train on a given section.
Of course, the potential difference of the track circuit is small and the low voltage applied to the rails is due to the inadmissibility of harming either humans or animals.
That's all, and I hope the article was interesting to you!
Thanks for attention!
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