Communications-based train control

"CBTC" redirects here. For other uses, see CBTC (disambiguation).
An underground station with two tracks in Madrid. A blue and white subway train is entering the station on the left.
CBTC deployment in Madrid Metro, Spain
An elevated station in Sao Paolo has a design like a cable-stayed bridge.
Santo Amaro station on Line 5 of the partially CBTC-enabled São Paulo Metro
Automated track-bound traffic
Automatic train operation
Lists of automated train systems
Related topics

Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accurately than with traditional signaling systems. This can make railway traffic management safer and more efficient. Rapid transit system (and other railway systems) are able to reduce headways while maintaining or even improving safety.

A CBTC system is a "continuous, automatic train control system utilizing high-resolution train location determination, independent from track circuits; continuous, high-capacity, bidirectional train-to-wayside data communications; and trainborne and wayside processors capable of implementing automatic train protection (ATP) functions, as well as optional automatic train operation (ATO) and automatic train supervision (ATS) functions," as defined in the IEEE 1474 standard.[1]

  1. ^ 1474.1–1999 – IEEE Standard for Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) Performance and Functional Requirements.[1] (Accessed at January 14, 2019).