The objective of a railway signalling system is to provide a safe and efficient passage of trains. Railway signalling systems are designed as failsafe to avoid the emittance of erroneous signals to trains due to equipment failure [1]. At a time of signal failure, trains have to be operated using manual signals in accordance with established rules and regulations. These manual operations carry a much higher risk, entail unnecessary delays and need to be avoided as much as possible. Therefore safety, reliability and ease of maintaining a railway signalling system is of paramount importance for the safe and efficient operation of trains [2]. According to an analysis by the signal department of train delays caused by signal failures in year 2017, there were approximately seven signal breakdowns per day causing an average delay of 43 minutes a day. This calls to question the reliability of the existing system and highlights the need for either the introduction of a new system or an upgrade of the available system. This paper therefore presents a summary of the innovative research undertaken to design, construct and implement a signalling system for the Sri Lanka Railways.

Jayasundara, J.I.D. (2018). An innovative approach to railway signalling in Sri Lanka: appraisal of technical and economic rationale [Extended Abstract]. In T.L. Gunaruwan (Ed.), Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Research for Transport and Logistics Industry 2018 (pp. 123-128). Sri Lanka Society of Transport and Logistics.