A method of railroad track control includes partitioning a physical track block into a plurality of virtual track blocks, the physical track block defined by first and second insulated joints disposed at corresponding first and second ends of a length of railroad track. The presence of an electrical circuit discontinuity in one of the plurality of virtual track blocks; is detected and in response a corresponding virtual track block position code indicating the presence of the discontinuity in the one of the plurality of virtual track blocks is generated.

A switch locking system and method of an authorized locomotive for safely traversing a switch in a railway including sending a lock command from a computer onboard the authorized locomotive to a switch controller associated with the switch; determining if a lock confirmation from the switch controller is received by the computer onboard the authorized locomotive; and safely traversing the switch upon receipt of the lock confirmation. The switch locking system and method may include sending an unlock command from a computer onboard the authorized locomotive to a switch controller after the train clears the switch.

A method of railroad track control includes partitioning a physical track block into a plurality of virtual track blocks, the physical track block defined by first and second insulated joints disposed at corresponding first and second ends of a length of railroad track. The presence of an electrical circuit discontinuity in one of the plurality of virtual track blocks; is detected and in response a corresponding virtual track block position code indicating the presence of the discontinuity in the one of the plurality of virtual track blocks is generated.

A method of railroad track control includes partitioning a physical track block into a plurality of virtual track blocks, the physical track block defined by first and second insulated joints disposed at corresponding first and second ends of a length of railroad track. The presence of an electrical circuit discontinuity in one of the plurality of virtual track blocks; is detected and in response a corresponding virtual track block position code indicating the presence of the discontinuity in the one of the plurality of virtual track blocks is generated.

One embodiment of the present invention is a train control system which is a device executing an exclusive control between trains for each of a plurality of sections dividing up a track, wherein said train control system comprises: an on-ground device which manages whether each of the trains has a right to advance into each of the sections; and, an on-board device which is mounted on the trains, said trains comprising an on-board branch device, and with respect to one of the sections to which the on-ground device has given a certain train the right to advance, if said section is a branch section, which is a section that includes a branch, and when a branch direction of the train in said branch section and a branch direction of the on-board branch device coincide, said on-board device self-determines whether it is possible to advance into said branch section.

A method of railroad track control includes partitioning a physical track block into a plurality of virtual track blocks, the physical track block defined by first and second insulated joints disposed at corresponding first and second ends of a length of railroad track. The presence of an electrical circuit discontinuity in one of the plurality of virtual track blocks; is detected and in response a corresponding virtual track block position code indicating the presence of the discontinuity in the one of the plurality of virtual track blocks is generated.

A method of railroad track control includes partitioning a physical track block into a plurality of virtual track blocks, the physical track block defined by first and second insulated joints disposed at corresponding first and second ends of a length of railroad track. The presence of an electrical circuit discontinuity in one of the plurality of virtual track blocks; is detected and in response a corresponding virtual track block position code indicating the presence of the discontinuity in the one of the plurality of virtual track blocks is generated.

The invention discloses a switch control method, device and controller. The method includes the following steps: an on-board device acquiring a switch state and determining a target resource permission to be requested according to the switch state; the on-board device sending a first resource request including the target resource permission to a switch; obtaining a resource state of the switch, and assigning a resource permission on the switch according to the resource state and the target resource permission; and controlling the switch according to a result of the resource permission assignment.

The invention discloses a switch control method, device and controller. The method includes the following steps: an on-board device acquiring a switch state and determining a target resource permission to be requested according to the switch state; the on-board device sending a first resource request including the target resource permission to a switch; obtaining a resource state of the switch, and assigning a resource permission on the switch according to the resource state and the target resource permission; and controlling the switch according to a result of the resource permission assignment.

A vehicle management system communicates with monitor devices coupled with a path control device at an intersection between route segments. The path control device switches positions to connect different combinations of the route segments. The system receives signals from the monitor devices to determine which of the route segments are coupled with each other and receives an authority signal from a travel authority system that indicates which of the route segments that the vehicle is authorized to travel. The system directs the vehicle through the path control device responsive to a combination of: (a) receipt of the authority signal and (b) receipt of at least one of the monitor signals or failure to receive one or more of the monitor signals.