If the train driver is "asleep
From time to time, a train driver has disregarded the "Stop" signal and put himself and his passengers in great danger. Now SBB has improved safety in the driver's cab of the locomotive. An app makes it possible.
1500 train drivers have been using the new warning app every day since mid-August. SBB is convinced that this could have prevented train collisions like the one in Rafz ZH last February. The train driver disregarded the "Stop" signal and was injured. This was also the case in Granges-Marnand VD a good two years ago. On that occasion, the train driver was killed and several people were injured.
This should no longer happen. Because: If a train driver sets his train in motion in the station despite the "red signal", the app in the driver's cab intervenes. Within seconds, a warning with a "STOP" sign appears on the iPad. What's more, an "annoying" sound sounds the alarm.
How does the new system work technically? The motion sensor in the iPad detects whether it is moving. In this way, when the train approaches the station, the app checks whether the journey has been cleared in the train number system. If not, the train driver is alerted to the situation with a message, as mentioned above.
The warning app in the driver's cab works via the normal Swisscom network. There are practically no more dead spots in all SBB stations, says Haller. According to him, false warnings from the new system amount to around 0.6 percent per day.
No braking
The app only warns and does not intervene in the braking of the locomotive, as Haller emphasizes. He also mentions another restriction: the warning app is only designed for use in the station, it does not work on the open track.
