In December 2020, High Dependable Intelligent Urban Rail Engineering Research Center (hereinafter referred to as "HDI Center"), jointly established by CASCO and Zhengzhou Metro, and constructed by CASCO (Zhengzhou) Co., Ltd. was officially unveiled in Zhengzhou. This is the second smart urban rail transit research platform founded by CASCO after the establishment of "Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Driverless Train Control of Urban Guided Transport " in 2017.

Located in the west area of CASCO office building in Zhengzhou High-tech Zone, HDI Center covers a total area of 1,500 square meters. It boasts the advantages of large scale and complete integration in the field of urban rail transit signaling train control, covering four functions of technology development, platform testing, talent construction and achievement transformation. HCERC adopts the research mode of "production, study, research and practice", relies on the excellent resources of all parties, takes high confidence technology as the breakthrough point, and carries out collaborative innovation research on smart urban rail transit. At present, Zhengzhou metro projects have adopted a number of new technology research and application methods that have achieved initial results.

Many media reported the establishment of the laboratory

Research on Domestic Password Application

In order to strengthen information security of train-ground wireless communication, CASCO and Zhengzhou Metro pioneered the application of domestic encryption technology in urban rail transit signaling system. In November 2020, Zhengzhou Metro Line 14, equipped with domestic encryption technology signaling system, was put into operation and became the first metro line in China that utilized domestic encryption technology.

Communication Network Exhibition Area

"Four Smarts" of Fully Automatic Operation

Fully automatic operation indicates the development direction of smart metro, and is the key research field of Engineering Research Center. Its key function "four smarts" can not only greatly improve the efficiency of metro operation and management, but also ensure safer, more efficient, more convenient and more comfortable travel experience for the general public.

Smart iCC

By utilizing digital twin technology, the operation process of Zhengzhou Metro Line 5 and the dispatching command scenario of the control center are completely reproduced in the form of physical object and simulation. Meanwhile, by combining the new technologies of fully automatic operation and smart urban rail transit, more than 100 scenarios such as normal operation, fault handling and emergency response can be tested.

Smart Depot

Smart depot monitoring system can automatically create a shunting plan according to daily business demand, and realize full-automatic control of shunting in the depot without manual intervention, which can greatly improve operation efficiency.

Smart Station

Based on intelligent perception of passenger flow and passenger behavior, and intelligent linkage with station equipment, more efficient information interaction and autonomous service for passengers are activated. For example, in the event of an emergency, the train operation mode is automatically re-planned to update information for the passengers on the platform and the train in time, unlock gate access to the station to effectively evacuate passengers, and improve safety and efficiency.

Smart Operation and Maintenance

It can put in place a whole life cycle health assessment of equipment, locate equipment faults in real time and predict potential equipment risks in advance; meanwhile, it can provide decision support for operation and maintenance by mining the rules of massive historical data. At present, Zhengzhou Metro has completed the initial construction of  intelligent operation and maintenance pilot system platform of metro network, and has enforced pilot application in Zhengzhou Metro Line 2 and Line 5.

Application of 5G Technology

In order to solve the problem of limited transmission of massive on-board data generated by train operation due to bandwidth, HDI Center has carried out the application research of "5G + CBTC rail transit signaling system", and successfully completed the laboratory and field test verification. This technology will be applied in Zhengzhou Metro Line 5 for the first time, and it will also be the first time that 5G technology will be applied in rail transit signaling system, which will greatly improve timeliness of data transmission.

Interior of the Laboratory

Exclusive Signaling System of Urban Railway

In order to meet the development needs of commuter-oriented, high-speed and large volume rail transit in Zhengzhou downtown area and surrounding cities, the engineering research center has actively carried out the research on the new system and new standard of urban railway, and has successfully built first dedicated train control signaling system (STCS) in the industry with the characteristics of public transportation and network operation, which can effectively meet the development needs of different levels of rail transit integration, and help to build a "four network integration" rail transit network, and promote the development of metropolitan integration.

Recent years have witnessed further development and upgrading of urban rail transit technology, where an era of smart urban rail transit is coming in full pace. In 2020, CASCO won the bid of two fully automatic operation lines in Zhengzhou: Zhengzhou Metro Line 17 (Zhengzhou section), and Zhengzhou Metro Line 10,  of which Line 17 will be the first driverless line in Zhengzhou. The establishment of HDI Center will not only inject unlimited kinetic energy into the fully automatic operation of Zhengzhou metro, but also have a far-reaching impact on the exploration of smart urban rail construction in Central China.