Researchers team up on navigation data system

Research designed to help reduce train delays and increase passenger safety is under way at the University of Birmingham.

The aim is to be able to pinpoint the accurate location of a moving train, as well as the condition of the track it’s running on.

The UK Quantum Technology

Hub Sensors and Timing and the University of Birmingham’s Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) are working together on the project. Trials will also be carried out at Long Marston, using trains fitted with sensors, to gain a better understanding of the factors involved.

It’s planned that a standalone system able to capture highly accurate measurements without relying on Global Navigation Satellite Systems could be developed.

“The system we are developing will have gravity map-matching capabilities, allowing engineers to understand what is happening underneath the track as well as the train’s movement,” said Professor Clive Roberts, BCRRE Director and Co-Investigator for the Navigation work package at the Quantum Technology Hub.

“The quantum sensors will provide highly accurate measurements that will help to detect the rate of change of the track and, subsequently, any deteriorations which might lead to faults.”

Professor Costas Constantinou, Communication Electrodynamics Chairman and Director of Research and Knowledge Transfer at the University of Birmingham’s College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, said: “Our dependence on GPS can leave navigation systems vulnerable to spoofing or, more frequently, loss of positioning due to weak network signals - a particular challenge when trains are moving through tunnels, for example.”