INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER-1: AXLE COUNTER SYSTEM - INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

ISSUES IN CONVENTIONAL TRACK CIRCUITING

a) Insulation Joints
(i) Presently Civil Engg dept uses Continuous Welded Rails to improve riding. DC
track circuits require Insulated Rail Joints (IRJ) and AFTC also require IRJ at point
zones and IRJ requires cutting of rails but it is not desirable to cut the long welded
rails.
(ii) Though in place of IRJ now a days glued joint s are used, glued joints requires
welding work on its both side so Insertion/replacement of glued joints becomes
time consuming and laborious job for Engg department .
(i) In yards having single or double slip points, the ‘Track Circuit Bonding’ becomes
much complicated involving large number of IRJ /glued joints.
(ii) Many track circuit failures are caused due to rail fracture, failure of welding,
accumulation of iron filings at centre place of insulation joint.
b) Concrete Sleepers
(i) Both DC track circuit & AFTC require wooden / concrete sleepers. But at some
places like iron girder bridges it is not feasible to provide such type of sleepers.
(ii) Where Concrete Sleepers are provided High level of maintenance of track circuit is
required to maintain ‘Insulation of Sleepers’ in good condition i.e.: pads / Liners.
c) Ballast Maintenance
(i) Low Ballast resistance affects the working of track circuit and it is difficult to
maintain high ballast resistance at Jn. Station’s / Terminal’s platform lines. Low
ballast resistance results in failure of track circuit which causes heavy detention to
trains at such busy stations.
(ii) Improper drainage arrangement by Engg. Dept leads water stagnation in track
which results in track circuit failure.

Axle Counter is one of the train detection devices used to detect the presence of a train
on the specified portion of the track. This specified portion of the track can be ‘Platform lines’/
‘Main lines’/ ‘Loop lines’ of station yard or ‘Point’s Zone’ area or ‘Block Section’.

Axle counters were developed as a substitute for track circuits. Initially axle counters
were imported from Germany to gain experience and to evaluate their suitability for adoption on
Indian Railways. Having gained acceptability for introduction on a wide scale on Indian
Railways, it was considered to take up indigenous development of axle counters, so it was
taken up by RDSO in collaboration with lIT, Delhi and DOE.

Initially ‘Single Entry/Exit’ (RDSO Mark-I) model was introduced in Indian Railways after
performing extensive laboratory and field trials under various conditions. Then on the base of
field feedback, two more models of axle counters known as ‘Single Entry/Exit’ (RDSO Mark-II)
axle counter and ‘Multi Entry/Exit’ axle counter were emerged. After doing extensive laboratory
and field trials under various conditions these designs were finalised and also commercialised
through private sector as well as public sector.

New axle counter developed by RDSO is known as “UNIVERSAL AXLE COUNTER”. It

is universal system up to 4 ‘Entry / Exit’ ends of axle counter section on Straight Track or Points
Zone portion. Numbers of ‘Entry/ Exit’ ends are easily convertible at site as per the required
application.

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AXLE COUNTER SYSTEM-INTRODUCTION
1.2 ADVANTAGES
The advantages of Axle counter over a conventional track circuit are that
(a) It does not require wooden sleepers (where concrete sleepers are not available)
except for ‘short length’ track circuits which is used to suppress the ‘counts’ due to
movement of insulated trolleys.
(b) An axle counter system can cover a very long section up to 15-20 Kms compared to
750 mts of maximum length of conventional track circuit.
(c) Axle counter working does not get affected by climatic changes like flooding of track.
(d) It does not require IRJ/Glued joints, thus, rails can be continuously welded. This
reduces track maintenance cost, low wear and tear of tracks and vehicles. And also it
increases traveling comfort.
(e) Efficiency and safe working of axle counters does not depend upon various track
parameters such as length, ballast condition, drainage, stray voltage and currents,
track feed voltage and track lead cables, poor maintenance of track etc which are
highly susceptible for track circuit working.
(f) Ordinary ‘24 V Line relay’ in case of Alcatel axle counter and ‘60 V Line relay’ (K-50) in
case of Siemens axle counter are used as a ‘TPR’. The axle counter has inherent
characteristic of slow to pick up and therefore, the use of QSPA-1 relay as the first track
repeater in RE area is not needed.
(g) The maintenance effort is less compared to the conventional track circuits. Due to
extensive Jumpering / bonding in point zone track circuit the trouble shooting is difficult
thereby prolonging the failure time.

(h) Digital axle counters have better fault diagnostics

1.3 APPLICATIONS
Axle counters have been finding more and more uses on modern safety
signalling systems in railways.
These are being used presently for the following
(a) Monitoring of berthing tracks in station areas and yards.
(b) Monitoring of point zones in station areas and yard.
(c) Automatic Signalling systems.
(d) Block Proving by Axle Counter.
(e) Level-crossing warning system using axle counter.
(f) Intermediate Block Signalling in Double line sections.

1. 4 OVER VIEW

Axle counter consists of ‘Track Device’ mounted on the rails, trackside ‘Electronic
Equipment’ and ‘Evaluator’. Evaluator monitors the counts of track device(s)

Axle counters work on the principle of counting the number of axles of the train ‘entering’ and
‘leaving’ the specified section of the track by sensing the wheels and also it gives clear/occupied
indication.

Wheel sensing is done by track device fixed on the either side of the track section to be
monitored.

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 COMPONENTS OF AXLE COUNTER SYSTEM
It counts the number of axles entering a section of train as ‘IN COUNTS’ and the number of
axles leaving the section as ‘OUT COUNTS’.

If the IN COUNTS are equal to OUT COUNTS then section is set to ‘clear’, else it is ‘occupied’.

1.5 CLASSIFICATON
Axle counters are broadly classified as

1. Analog Axle Counters

 Single Section Axle Counters (Universal Axle Counter- UAC)
o CEL Make (Drg No. S-15602-04 & IRS: S-42/85.)
o Signal & Telecom Workshop, Byculla, Central Railway
(Drg No S-15602-04 & IRS: S-42/85.)
o Signal Workshop, Podanur-641 023, Southern Railway
(Drg No S-15602-04 & IRS: S-42/85.)
In Analog Axle Counters, incoming signals from track side equipment are
processed through Electronic circuits and all the required logics are achieved
through hardware only.

2. Digital Axle Counters

 Single Section Digital Axle Counters (SSDAC)( RDSO/SPN/177/ 2012(Ver-3)
o CEL Make. …
o ALCATEL (ELDYNE) Make
o GG TRONICS Make
 Multi Section Digital Axle Counters (MSDAC) (RDSO/SPN/176/2005 (Ver.2)
o ALCATEL (ELDYNE) Make
o SIEMENS Make. .
o CEL Make. ………………

In Digital Axle Counters the received signal data is processed through analog
circuits and Microprocessors / Microcontrollers and all the required logics are
designed through software.

1.6 COMPONENTS OF AXLE COUNTER SYSTEM

a) TRACK MOUNTINGS AND TRACK SIDE EQUIPMENT
Track mounting equipment consists of a pair of Transmitter and Receiver coils
housed in specially designed housings, which are fixed to flange/web of a rail section by
means of suitable arrangement. Each detection point has two sets of such track devices
mounted on same rail with a fixed distance (staggering) between them. The two
transmitter coils of a detection point are fed with 5 KHz (in Analog AXC) or 21 KHz / 23
KHz or 28 KHz / 30 KHz (in Digital AXC) frequencies depending upon the manufacturer.
These frequencies are fed by the ‘Track Side Electronic Equipment’ which is located
near the track side device. The output of the two Receiver coils of detection point is fed
to the ‘Track Side Electronic Equipment’ through cables.

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AXLE COUNTER SYSTEM-INTRODUCTION
For ‘wheel detection’ track device uses either ‘Amplitude Modulation’ technique
or ‘Phase Reversal Modulation’ technique accordingly their type. Generally, in case of
analog axle counters ‘Amplitude Modulation’ technique is used and in case of Digital
Axle Counters ‘Phase Reversal Modulation’ technique is favored for its advantage of not
requiring trolley suppression Track Circuit.

Track device in analog axle counter Track device in digital axle counter
Fig. 1.1 Fig. 1.2

b) TRANSMISSION MEDIA BETWEEN ‘TRACK SIDE EQUIPMENT’ AND

‘CENTRAL EVALUATOR’

Where ever the data processing is done at the centralised place then the
connection between ‘Trackside Equipment’ and ‘Central Evaluator’ is made using twin
twisted ‘Quad’ cables. Other media such as ‘Optic Fiber’ and ‘Wireless System’ may also
be used in place of cable by incorporating appropriate interfacing equipment at
transmitting and receiving ends.
c) CENTRAL EVALUATOR WITH VITAL OUTPUT RELAYS

The signals received from the track side electronic equipments are processed in
the central evaluator to produce suitable output in terms of picking up or dropping of
‘Vital Output’ relays.
The ‘Dips’ generated by wheels as they pass over the track devices installed at
detection points are processed at ‘Evaluator’ to generate ‘count pulses’ in a fail-safe
manner. These pulses are identified as ‘IN-COUNTS’ or ‘OUT-COUNTS’ depending on
the direction of movement of vehicles over the monitored section. These counts are
processed and give the decision to drive the vital output relays or not.

d) RESET BOX

This equipment is installed in Station Master’s room to enable resetting of axle

counter system in case of failure of system after observing ‘Prescribed Procedure’. This
unit functions in conjunction with ‘Line Verification Box’. The reset unit consists of
RESET key (which gets actuated after inserting, turning and pressing) the counter and
LED indications (red, yellow and green). ‘Green’ indication is given for track clear and
‘Red’ indication is given for occupied conditions. The yellow LED indicates co-operative
permission for resetting the axle counter.

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 TYPES OF SYSTEM

e) LINE VERIFICATION BOX

The ‘Line Verification Box’ has to be fixed outside SM’s office near monitored
track portion (when axle counter is used in station yard) for achieving co-operative
feature. Line verification box consists of a key actuated Push Button Switch with which
co-operation for Axle Counter Reset can be extended after verifying the section in case
of the Axle Counter failure. In case, numbers of line verification box are more, care has
to be taken that all the line verification box keys are of separate wards. For easier
identification, axle counter number should be painted on line verification box so that in
case of failure of axle counter, particular axle counter only be reset. This unit functions in
conjunction with Reset box.

1.7 TYPES OF SYSTEM

In Indian Railways, depending on the applications, Single section analog axle
counter systems are used up to four detection points. This single section analog axle
counter system is universal system for all single section applications.
Types of axle counter as per number of ‘Detection Points’:-
These are 1D, 2D, 3D, 4D. : Where D stands for ‘Detection Point’
a) 1 - D SYSTEM
In this system, there is a common detection point for ‘Entry’ as well as ‘Exit’ for a
section which is to be monitored. This system is useful for monitoring the berthing track
of terminal yard (For example – Mumbai CST, Nampalli station) or Long sidings with
‘dead end’.
Axles of train entering into such section are detected by the ‘detection point’
which are registered as ‘IN-COUNTS’, then this same ‘detection point’ will detect axles
going out of section which will be registered as ‘OUT-COUNTS’
Typical arrangement is used in this1D system
Only one detection unit with two channels (Four inductors) is used. See next fig.
Evaluator used for this 1D system is with minimum four channels but actual channels
provided at site are two only ‘A’ & ‘B’ so in evaluator, channel ‘A&C’ are fed in parallel
and ‘B&D’ are also fed in parallel. Because of such parallel feeding, at the time of each
‘ENTRY’ of axle, ‘evaluator’ registers two ‘IN-COUNTS’ and at the time of EXIT of each
axle, ‘evaluator’ registers two ‘OUT-COUNTS’.
Whenever ‘IN-COUNTS’ & ‘OUT-COUNTS’ are equal then only section will show
as ‘CLEAR’ else ‘OCCUPIED’

TERMINAL STATION
A B AB TPR

A/B 1-D
AXLE
C/D COUNTER

2D AXLE COUNTER IS USED FOR MONITORING SIGNAL DETECTION BY PARALLEL

CONNECTION OF 'A'' TO 'C' AND 'B'TO 'D'CHANNELS AT AXLE COUNTER LOCATION.

Fig. 1.3

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AXLE COUNTER SYSTEM-INTRODUCTION
b) 2-D SYSTEM

The principle of working of this system is similar to 1 -D System except that in this
system there are two detection points, one at each end of the monitored section. This
system is useful for providing track circuiting on berthing track.

A D

B C
Fig. 1.2

A B D C

AB TPR CD TPR

C/D
2-D
AXLE
A/B COUNTER

Fig: 1.4
c) 3-D SYSTEM

In this system, there are three detection points. The principle of working of this
system is similar to 2-D System. This system is useful for providing track circuitry on
points, crossing and siding.

A D
E

B C

EF TPR
E
F
A B D C

AB TPR CD TPR

3-D
AXLE
COUNTER

Fig: 1.5

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 TYPES OF SYSTEM
d) 4-D SYSTEM

In this system, there are four detection points. The principle of working of this
system is similar to 2-D system. This system is useful for providing track circuiting on
branch lines, sidings and points and crossing.

The design of 4-D system is such that it can be converted into 2-D system and 3-
D system and vice-versa.

A D
E

H
B C

EF TPR
E
F
A B D C

AB TPR H CD TPR
G

GH TPR

4-D
AXLE
COUNTER

Fig. 1.6

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AXLE COUNTER SYSTEM-INTRODUCTION
1.8 RESETTING
Resetting of axle counter system is required to be done, in case of failure of
system but after observing prescribed procedure. Analog and Digital axle counters have
been introduced on a large scale on Indian Railways. Resetting is an integral part of
these axle counter systems. Depending on the application of axle counter, different types
of reset procedures are followed by the railways.
1.8.1 DIRECT HARD RESET
Direct Hard Reset shall not be provided normally. Such a reset will directly reset
the axle counter to show clear indication without any physical verification/ co-operation/
piloting.
1.8.2 CONDITIONAL HARD RESET
In Conditional Hard Reset, the reset is activated on reset box after physical
verification of a failed axle counter section from site using line verification box. So it is
called co-operation reset. The axle counter will show clear after application of the
conditional hard reset.
1.8.3 PREPARATORY RESET
In preparatory reset, after initiating reset, axle counter continues to show
‘OCCUPATION’ status until a fresh ‘IN’ & ‘OUT’ counts are registered. When
‘IN-COUNTS’ & ‘OUT-COUNTS’ tally with each other for first one ‘PILOT TRAIN’
movement in the section, resetting of axle counter takes place for restoring normal
working or else failure continues.

1.8.4 MODIFIED PREPARATORY RESET

Modified Preparatory Reset is in use in some railways –SWR, SR, NWR where in Pilot
train is dispatched on signals prior to count balancing. If Count balancing fails, then signal for
subsequent trains is not cleared.

1.8.5 SUPERVISORY RESET / AUTO RESET

Supervisory track sections (STS’s) have been made using the detection points of track
sections for automatically resetting the track sections. If any track section fails and its
corresponding supervisory track section is clear, it will automatically reset the failed track
section. (Please see annexure 8)

Sl.No. Axle counter Track Section Type of Reset

1 Points Zone Conditional Hard Reset

2 Loop line and Sidings Conditional Hard Reset

3 Main line Preparatory Reset

4 Section between Advance Preparatory Reset

starter and IBS

5 Auto section Preparatory Reset / Supervisory Reset

6 Block Instrument and BPAC Preparatory Reset

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 TROLLEY SUPPRESSION
1.9 TROLLEY SUPPRESSION

Need: Push trolleys may be put on track randomly and may pass at ‘detection points’
and may be taken out of axle counter track section randomly causing track ‘OCCUPATION’
indication and failure of signals. These push trolley wheels should not get detected for counting
purpose and are to be suppressed.

HOW ACHIEVED: -

 In Amplitude modulation it is achieved by providing a small track Circuit (whose length

depends on Train speed) is used to distinguish a ‘Normal Train’ axle from a ‘Push Trolley’
axle. As these ‘Push Trolleys’ axles are insulated hence track circuit will not get short so
‘pulse’ is not generated when a wheel passes. But for ‘Normal Train’ movement ‘Track
Relay’ drops, which enables normal generation of ‘pulses’.

 In Phase Reversal Modulation technique such arrangements are not required, as the
system will take care of validation of generated pulses caused by passage of wheel over the
track device, depending upon the phase shift of the pulse. (This phase shift of the pulse may
be normally 160° to 180° for a train wheel and it may be approximately 100° to 120° for a
push trolley wheel.)
Details may be seen in concerned chapters.

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