On December 15, CASCO completed the signaling system renovation for the North Ring Freight Railway and Ganquanbei-Zhongjiacun Railway of China Railway Xi'an Group Co., Ltd. The successful commissioning demonstrates CASCO’s extraordinary strength in signaling system renovation and project delivery.

The CTC3.0 upgrade for the North Ring Freight Railway 

promotes the connection between Xi'an Guojigang Railway Station and the world

The North Ring Freight Railway is the busiest freight line in Xi'an Railway Group. Xi'an Guojigang Railway Station is the departure station and return destination of the China Railway Express (Xi'an), as well as the largest international logistics hub in Northwest China. The large station yard can accommodate as many as 176 sets of switches, featuring frequent shunting operations.

Xi'an Guojigang Railway Station  Source: CR Xi’an News

This signaling system renovation project involves upgrading of TDCS system of five stations, namely, Xingzhe, Changtiao, Changling, Xiaojiacun and Xi'an Guojigang to CTC3.0 system as well as the remote control terminal and supporting facilities of surrounding stations. With functions such as intelligent operation, safety control, traffic indication board system, train route pre-setting, and automatic shunting operation, the CTC3.0 system provided by CASCO can greatly reduce the workload of traffic commanders and ensure traffic safety, providing a strong guarantee for the operation of the North Ring Freight Railway with high traffic density.

CASCO promoted the renovation task on a “case-by-case” basis, and especially customized a unique renovation plan for the mega station, Xi'an Guojigang. In order to meet the special business needs of the station, CASCO’s technical team and product group continuously optimized the system functions to ensure the implementation of every function in detail. In addition, the team also equipped the station with a 65-inch enhanced display screen, which perfectly fits the 40-lane layout and greatly improves the experience of the train staff.

Station refurbishment construction

During the construction, CASCO made comprehensive arrangements and active coordination to respond to the severe epidemic situation and ensured the delivery of equipment on schedule. The front-line team of the project fully grasped the needs of the client, actively communicated with the communication and signal service department to formulate construction scheme, and carefully organized project implementation. Such efforts laid a solid foundation to ensure the opening of the line on schedule, increased the transport capacity of the North Ring Freight Railway, accelerated the construction of the China Railway Express (Xi'an) hub, and promoted the development of Shaanxi's export-oriented economy.

The TDCS3.0 upgrade of Ganquanbei-Zhongjiacun Railway 

improves the capacity of the passenger and freight railway

The Ganquanbei-Zhongjiacun Railway extends from Ganquanbei Station to Zhongjiacun Station in Shaanxi Province, with a length of 227 km and 22 stations. It is a passenger and freight trunk line running through Northern Shaanxi and Central Shaanxi, and is also an important channel for transporting Shaanxi’s coal southward. Every year, more than 20 million tons of coal are carried away via this line to all parts of the country. Therefore, it plays an important role in stabilizing the economic market and maintaining national energy security.

In recent years, the increase of the traffic density and transportation capacity of the Ganquanbei-Zhongjiacun Railway requires urgent upgrade of the basic equipment of the line. This has been listed as a key project for delivery in 2022 by CR Xi'an Group. CASCO provided the TDCS3.0 system and relevant server equipment for the project, and upgraded the software in the dispatching center of CR Xi'an Group to improve the performance of the signaling system and enhance the transportation efficiency.

Equipment installation and commissioning

On December 15, with the successful commissioning of the signaling system of the Zhangjiachuan Station, the upgrading of 6502 electrical centralized control system to computer interlocking control system at the 9 stations of the Ganquanbei-Zhongjiacun Railway was completed, and the new TDCS3.0 system was officially launched and applied. CASCO now shoulders the mission of escorting the line for safe operation to further release the transportation capacity of the Ganquanbei-Zhongjiacun Railway and to contribute to the regional economy of Shaanxi Province.