ADVANCE PREEMPTION

For many years, many highway traffic signals located adjacent to highway-rail grade crossings (HRGC) with active warning systems have been interconnected. This interconnection is intended to preempt the normal operation of a traffic signal when a train approaches the HRGC, so that vehicles stopped on the tracks can receive a green signal to clear them. The application and operation of this interconnection has existed in many forms and been known by many names; there have also been wide variations in the electrical configurations utilized. In most cases, railroads and highway departments maintained their respective portion of these circuits independently, and often referred to the same functions differently. This paper, in light of a serious HRGC accident in Illinois, aims to aid in the understanding of preemption failures and ensure greater reliability in preemption sequences to help prevent future HRGC accidents.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Full conference available on CD-ROM. Listed on the CD-ROM index of titles as: Highways and Railway Signal Coordination at Challenging Intersections.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association

  10003 Derekwood Lane, Suite 210
  Lanham, MD  United States  20706
• Authors:
  • Campbell, R M
• Conference:
  • 1998 AREMA Track and Structures Conference
  • Location: Chicago, Illinois
  • Date: 1998-9-14 to 1998-9-16
• Publication Date: 1998

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 10p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Highway transportation; Railroad crashes; Railroad grade crossings; Railroad signals; Railroad transportation; Traffic control devices; Traffic signal control systems
• Geographic Terms: Illinois
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00796025
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 18 2000 12:00AM