AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL

by Fausto Montanari (Illustration), Nikolay Ivanov (Animation)

It is the Automatic Train Control equipment, ATC, which enables the Shinkansen with its maximum speed of 285 km/h to offer as many as 365 services per day. For the Shinkansen driver, unlike a conventional local train driver, it is difficult to confirm ground signals, and there is a possibility of overlooking them. To prevent such incidents, ATC has a function to display a signal of the maximum speed limit in the train car and automatically slow down when needed. Such a function makes it possible to maintain a safe distance from the train that run ahead and, even when it becomes necessary to make an emergency stop, a collision never occurs.