Rail

April 4, 2018

How the Parallel Use of GPS and Galileo Benefits Railway Applications

This article focuses on the research project Galileo Online: GO! – which with support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (grant number 50NA1510) designs and develops a reliable and high-precision receiver for multi-constellation and dual-frequency GNSS whose suitability and capabilities are tested in railway applications. Project results showcase the advantages of GPS and Galileo if used simultaneously in railway applications.

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By Inside GNSS
June 19, 2017

Septentrio Honors KU Leuven Ecochallenge Team for Innovative Use of High Precision GNSS Positioning

The KU Leuven Ecochallenge team. Photo source: Septentrio.

Septentrio recently awarded the KU Leuven Ecochallenge team – the winners of the Galileo Masters (Flanders Challenge) of the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) – a special prize of an AsteRx-m UAS receiver for their proposal to use high-precision, high-reliability Galileo receivers to modernize inland waterway transport by introducing autonomous technology for the vessels.

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By Inside GNSS
April 1, 2017

GNSS for ERTMS Train Localization

Demo Test in Italy on Cagliari – Decimomannu line – February 24, 2017. From left: Josef Doppelbauer (Executive director of ERA – European Union Agency for Rail), Maurizio Gentile (Chief Executive Officer of RFI – Rete Ferroviaria Italiana), Jean-Pierre Loubinoux (Director General of UIC – the worldwide professional association representing the railway sector and promoting rail transport), Carlo des Dorides (Executive director of GSA).

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By Inside GNSS
Federal Railroad Administration Announces Status Updates to GPS-Aided Collision Avoidance System
August 24, 2016

Federal Railroad Administration Announces Status Updates to GPS-Aided Collision Avoidance System

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week released a status update that calls for railroads to roll out Positive Train Control (PTC) technologies, which incorporates GNSS technology, as soon as possible. The update also underscores the Obama administration’s calls to provide more funding to assist commuter railroads in implementing PTC.

PTC uses GNSS, but mostly GPS, to prevent train-to-train collisions, high-speed derailments, and the unauthorized movement of trains into work zones.

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By Inside GNSS
Up in the AIRR
March 28, 2016

Up in the AIRR

Anyone who has sat through several iterations of a slide presentation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a better way to do things.

As speakers flip through an exhaustively vetted series of PowerPoint slides, squeezing out a new bullet point or two from one version to the next six months later, watching paint dry seems like a more productive — and briefer — use of one’s time. The agency sometimes brings a whole new meaning to the concept of geological time.

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By Dee Ann Divis
RAIL accidents NTSB.jpg
January 14, 2016

GPS-Aided Positive Train Control Goes Back on Transportation Safety Board’s Most Wanted List for 2016

NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart

Once again, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended GPS-aided positive train control (PTC) as one of its “most wanted” transportation safety improvements in 2016. But the agency, which has been advocating for PTC for more than 45 years, appears to be fighting an uphill battle against Congress and the railroad industry.

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By Inside GNSS
Positive Train Control Postponed
November 17, 2015

Positive Train Control Postponed

When the President signed a three-week extension — until Friday (November 20, 2015) — of federal transportation funding, he also gave railroads another three years to install positive train control or PTC on their locomotives and rail networks.

Rail operators now have until 2018 to upgrade their systems — plus another two years to actually get them working.

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By Inside GNSS
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