Computers for Railways

Our age is called the age of automation. Indeed, automation is increasingly applied to various branches of industry and research. Automatic control of production processes by means of computing machines has prepared the way for the application of computing technique to railroad transport.

Automation has had a notable impact in a wide range of highly visible industries beyond manufacturing. Once-ubiquitous telephone operators have been replaced largely by automated telephone switchboards and answering machines. Automated teller machines have reduced the need for bank visits to obtain cash and carry out transactions. The widespread impact of industrial automation raises social issues, among them its impact on employment.

The sphere of application of computing machines in general and their application to railroad transport in particular is practically unlimited. Each year the traffic volume on our railway grows. It is necessary within a very short period of time to prepare hundreds of traffic schedules, to determine intensity of railway traffic, and register goods. So, nowadays computers are being widely used to control the transportation process.

The general structure of the automated system of railway control is considered as a large system including a number of smaller subsystems. Electronic computers are now most widely used to automate marshalling yards operations. Under the automatic system developed in our country the sorting of trains in some marshalling yards has been computerized. To facilitate the sorting of trains the computers may be installed directly at the yards themselves.

High accuracy of calculations is needed at the Computer Centre. That is why before the beginning of a working day each computer is carefully examined and its units are regulated. When examined, the computer units are ready for operation.

We are continuously getting nearer to the all-machine age. Planning the operations of trains is not the only field of computers application on railways. Electronic computers are being introduced into other branches of railway engineering as well. Paying wages, tickets reservation, designing locomotives and cars, controlling processes at works and factories producing machinery are but a few examples.

The automated system called ‘Express’, which in intended for booking railway tickets has been developed. Passengers do not wait for a ticket to a train. With the aid of a computer, the booking clerk serves up to five people per minute.

The electronic brains in the present form have freed man from a great number of calculations. But now specialists are working on designing new, better and quicker electronic computers. Their wide use on transport will turn our railways into the most reliable and efficient means of communication.