Safety risk to railway wagons due to operator error in an automatic system

The study calculates the probability of error by an operator of an automatic marshalling system (ASR). The reliability of a two-person operator team was also calculated. The research utilized, among others, the TESEO method.

1. INTRODUCTION
A marshalling or shunting station is an element of railway line infrastructure designed to carry out the process of processing an arriving train and forming a departing train containing the appropriate wagons. The marshalling hump is the heart and purpose of this station, determining the efficiency of its operation. A marshalling hump can only perform its functions correctly if the marshalling process is properly organized with optimal use of available technical resources and their availability.
The marshalling process can be divided into two functional areas. The first is sorting wagons onto appropriate destination (directional) tracks, the second is the safe speed control (bringing in and bringing up) of groups of wagons – cuts – to the correct position on the directional track. Tracks and switches on the marshalling hump are essential basic infrastructure for carrying out the marshalling process. On average, about 4,500,000 wagons are marshalled annually through marshalling humps on PKP.
The negative consequences of marshalling can be evidenced by the scale of losses incurred as a result of wagon collisions and cargo damage caused by gravity marshalling systems. (…)

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