A railway road crossing warning system (10) including a railway road crossing control unit (18) that may be selectively set to a primary or a secondary mode of operation is provided. In the primary mode of operation, the railway road crossing control unit is responsive to a primary activation signal (21) received from a primary activation-signal source (22), such as a positive train control (PTC) system. In the event the primary activation signal from the primary activation-signal source is not available, railway road crossing control unit (18) is set to the secondary mode of operation, where the railway road crossing control unit is responsive to one or more signals (25) received from a secondary activation-signal source (26) including a railway-vehicle sensing system (28) electrically-decoupled from a railroad track (12). Disclosed embodiments maintain operational robustness in the presence of changing weather and avoid variable electrical ballast conditions that otherwise could develop across the rails, while providing a cost-effective and reliable backup capability for a PTC-started crossing system.

A traffic control preemption system monitors an operating state of a railroad crossing, without requiring an interface with railroad crossing equipment, and communicates information to a traffic controller of an adjacent signalized roadway intersection to improve vehicular traffic flow at the railroad crossing. The traffic control preemption system is configured to make real time health assessments of preemption system functionality and provide a degree of redundancy and failsafe operation to the traffic control system.

A traffic control preemption system monitors an operating state of a railroad crossing, without requiring an interface with railroad crossing equipment, and communicates information to a traffic controller of an adjacent signalized roadway intersection to improve vehicular traffic flow at the railroad crossing. The traffic control preemption system is configured to make real time health assessments of preemption system functionality and provide a degree of redundancy and failsafe operation to the traffic control system.

A system controls a level crossing of a railway track installation. The railway track installation includes at least one track. The system includes at least two magnetometers associated with the at least one track and placed at corners of a crossing area between the at least one track and a road. The system also includes a level crossing control unit configured for receiving data from the magnetometers. Each magnetometer is arranged to detect a respective magnetic field vector of the earth's magnetic field and to send data representative of the magnetic field vector to the control unit. The control unit is configured to elaborate the data to detect changes in the magnetic field vectors due to the presence of a train in the crossing area and to control the level crossing as a function of the detected changes.

A system controls a level crossing of a railway track installation. The railway track installation includes at least one track. The system includes at least two magnetometers associated with the at least one track and placed at corners of a crossing area between the at least one track and a road. The system also includes a level crossing control unit configured for receiving data from the magnetometers. Each magnetometer is arranged to detect a respective magnetic field vector of the earth's magnetic field and to send data representative of the magnetic field vector to the control unit. The control unit is configured to elaborate the data to detect changes in the magnetic field vectors due to the presence of a train in the crossing area and to control the level crossing as a function of the detected changes.

A grade crossing control system includes a controller that receives start and end inputs corresponding to a train traversing an outer approach, determines the difference in time between the start and end inputs, and uses the difference in time to determine a delay period by which activation of a grade crossing warning system will be delayed following detection of the train by a track occupancy circuit in an inner approach in order to compensate for slow moving trains. The start and end inputs for the outer approach may be supplied in different ways including a separate track occupancy circuit for the outer approach, by train detection devices unconnected to the track at the start and end of the outer approach, or by overlapping track occupancy circuits positioned at the start of the outer and inner approaches.

To locate a shunt, the shunt includes an RF transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit an identifier of the shunt such as the configured shunt frequency. The shunt may include switches or memory locations that may be configured by an installer to correspond to the configured shunt frequency. Other embodiments employ switches or sensors influenced by jumpers installed in the shunt to configure the frequency of the shunt. A portable device receives a transmission including the identifier and displays it along with an indication of the received signal strength of the transmission, and maintenance personnel move the portable device along the track to locate the highest received signal strength, which indicates the location of the shunt. The shunt may also include a test circuit that may be configurable to generate a test frequency, determine a parameter indicative of shunt performance, and output a signal based on the parameter.

A system (200) for monitoring a railroad grade crossing (100, 250) includes an illumination device (220, 230) for illuminating a section of a railroad grade crossing (100, 250), and a control device (240) in communication with the illumination device (220, 230). The illumination device (220, 230) is configured to obtain data of the section of the railroad grade crossing (100, 250) while illuminating the section, and the control device (240) is configured to receive and evaluate the data. Further, a method (600) for monitoring a railroad grade crossing (100, 250) is provided.

A method secures a railroad crossing which allows a timely securing of the railroad crossing, and is particularly efficient and reliable. The method proceeds in such a way that sensor data relating to a rail-borne vehicle approaching the railroad crossing are detected by a track-side sensor device. The sensor data contains at least the current speed of the rail-borne vehicle. The detected sensor data are transmitted by the track-side sensor device to a stationary control device. A switch-on time is determined by the stationary control device taking into account the transmitted sensor data and route data. Upon reaching the switch-on time, the securing of the railroad crossing is initiated by the stationary control device. After the railroad crossing has been successfully secured, a travel permission that extends beyond the railroad crossing is determined by a control device of a train control system, and is transmitted to the rail-borne vehicle.

A method secures a railroad crossing which allows a timely securing of the railroad crossing, and is particularly efficient and reliable. The method proceeds in such a way that sensor data relating to a rail-borne vehicle approaching the railroad crossing are detected by a track-side sensor device. The sensor data contains at least the current speed of the rail-borne vehicle. The detected sensor data are transmitted by the track-side sensor device to a stationary control device. A switch-on time is determined by the stationary control device taking into account the transmitted sensor data and route data. Upon reaching the switch-on time, the securing of the railroad crossing is initiated by the stationary control device. After the railroad crossing has been successfully secured, a travel permission that extends beyond the railroad crossing is determined by a control device of a train control system, and is transmitted to the rail-borne vehicle.