A method and system are for estimating forces in rails of a railway line which are due to the temperatures of the rails. Values of the electrical resistance of one rail of a railway track section are calculated. Based on the calculated values of the electrical resistance for the rail, corresponding values of the temperature of the rail can be estimated, and based on the estimated values of the temperature of the rail, estimated values of forces acting in the rail due to the temperature values can be estimated.

A method and system are for estimating forces in rails of a railway line which are due to the temperatures of the rails. Values of the electrical resistance of one rail of a railway track section are calculated. Based on the calculated values of the electrical resistance for the rail, corresponding values of the temperature of the rail can be estimated, and based on the estimated values of the temperature of the rail, estimated values of forces acting in the rail due to the temperature values can be estimated.

Systems and methods for examining a route inject one or more electrical examination signals into a conductive route from onboard a vehicle system traveling along the route, detect one or more electrical characteristics of the route based on the one or more electrical examination signals, apply a filter to the one or more electrical characteristics, and detect a break in conductivity of the route responsive to the one or more electrical characteristics decreasing by more than a designated drop threshold for a time period within a designated drop time period. Feature vectors may be determined for the electrical characteristics and compared to one or more patterns in order to distinguish between breaks in the conductivity of the route and other causes for changes in the electrical characteristics.

Systems and methods for examining a route inject one or more electrical examination signals into a conductive route from onboard a vehicle system traveling along the route, detect one or more electrical characteristics of the route based on the one or more electrical examination signals, apply a filter to the one or more electrical characteristics, and detect a break in conductivity of the route responsive to the one or more electrical characteristics decreasing by more than a designated drop threshold for a time period within a designated drop time period. Feature vectors may be determined for the electrical characteristics and compared to one or more patterns in order to distinguish between breaks in the conductivity of the route and other causes for changes in the electrical characteristics.

A ground equipment for a transport system includes a track for a land transport vehicle; an external power supply device including a plurality of power supply segments arranged sequentially along the track, the plurality of power supply segments forming an external power supply zone, at least one end segment being situated in vicinity to one end of the external power supply zone adjacent to a zone with no external power supply, to be traveled with an onboard power supply device, a communication antenna being associated with the or each external power supply segments; and a controller adapted to power on the end segment and adapted to send, using an antenna associated with that end segment, a signal indicating the end of a zone with an external power supply in response to a presence signal of the land transport vehicle received by said antenna.

A purpose of the invention is to provide a rail breakage detection device mountable also on a vehicle. The invention is directed to a rail breakage detection device that receives: transmission-device state information indicating whether a rail signal transmission device that sends a rail signal is normal; reception-device state information indicating whether a rail signal reception device that receives a voltage induced by the rail signal is normal; and reception state information indicating whether a voltage induced by the rail signal reception device is received, and the rail breakage detection device performs rail breakage detection on the basis of the transmission-device state information, the reception-device state information, and the reception state information.

A purpose of the invention is to provide a rail breakage detection device mountable also on a vehicle. The invention is directed to a rail breakage detection device that receives: transmission-device state information indicating whether a rail signal transmission device that sends a rail signal is normal; reception-device state information indicating whether a rail signal reception device that receives a voltage induced by the rail signal is normal; and reception state information indicating whether a voltage induced by the rail signal reception device is received, and the rail breakage detection device performs rail breakage detection on the basis of the transmission-device state information, the reception-device state information, and the reception state information.

An electric rail system includes a current collector mounted for movement along at least one rail of the electric rail system and a monitoring system for detecting a condition indicative of a problem with the rail system or the current collector. The monitoring system includes a detector having one or more of: a camera configured to record images of a portion of the rail system in front of or behind the current collector, at least one vibration sensor on at least one slip contact of the current collector, an optical spark sensor configured to detect sparks in a contact region between the slip contact and the at least one rail, and at least one distance sensor configured to detect a distance between the at least one distance sensor and the at least one rail.

An electric rail system includes a current collector mounted for movement along at least one rail of the electric rail system and a monitoring system for detecting a condition indicative of a problem with the rail system or the current collector. The monitoring system includes a detector having one or more of: a camera configured to record images of a portion of the rail system in front of or behind the current collector, at least one vibration sensor on at least one slip contact of the current collector, an optical spark sensor configured to detect sparks in a contact region between the slip contact and the at least one rail, and at least one distance sensor configured to detect a distance between the at least one distance sensor and the at least one rail.

According to another aspect a system is provided for detecting a track signal leakage of a track signal on at least one railway track, a track signal being a signal transmitted via the rails of a railway track to detect the presence of a railway vehicle and/or transmit a provide information to a railway vehicle, the at least one railway track comprising at least two adjacent track sections being isolated against each other, the system comprising: a controller according to an embodiment disclosed herein; at least one transmitter for emitting a test signal via a first track section, the at least one transmitter being connected to the controller; and a plurality of receivers for receiving the test signal via one or more track sections, wherein each receiver is associated to at least one track section.