COTS controllers with CENELEC SIL 4 certification will form the central focus at Stand 26-2 in Hall D. These safety systems have been installed in countless rail projects around the world. Their open architecture allows operators, system integrators and rolling stock manufacturers to benefit from a high level of flexibility in terms of the choice of supplier, the long-term availability of components and maximum safety.
"COTS is already widely used as a forward-looking and competitive solution in European rail networks. The SIL4 certification in accordance with CENELEC, offers many advantages in terms of standardization and flexibility as well as great cost reduction potential," says Sedat Sezgün, Group Vice President Business Segment Rail at HIMA. "We are looking back at many successful rail projects operating COTS technology in middle and eastern Europe, for example in Serbia, Russia, Poland, and Hungary.
For instance, the company Signalling & Control from Serbia has used COTS components from HIMA to create its own electronic interlocking solution. This has proven effective in multiple projects for Železnice Srbije (Serbian Railways), where scalability and pre-certification were decisive. Certified COTS products provide a cost-effective and time-saving solution, which is especially important for smaller companies. In Russia, the rail company AT TRANS created an interlocking solution based on HIMA’s HIMatrix controllers, which not only maximize safety, but also optimize train scheduling. The HIMA technology is directly linked to axle counters so they can track the location of trains in real time. In addition to performing all relevant safety functions, the controllers convey valuable information to the company’s logistics man¬agement software. This enables AT TRANS to plan its trains much more efficiently.
COTS: Superior safety and profitability for rail sector
HIMA has been one of the first manufacturers to offer SIL4-standard controllers compliant with CENELEC. Today they are used by 50 partners in over 30 countries. The controllers are part of the “Smart Safety Platform” which is the first comprehensive solution in the world to combine safety and security. The hardware and software components in the platform are uniformly tailored to each other. HIMA's COTS controllers make it possible to realize safety solutions for signals, level crossings and rolling stock cost-effectively, easily and quickly. Another benefit of the platform is the extremely high level of security – a crucial factor at a time when the digitization of the rail industry is gaining pace around the world.
Irrespective of whether a controller is central or decentralized, redundant or not, the COTS components from HIMA guarantee reliable and continuous operation for safety-critical railway applications such as electronic signaling technology, level crossings, sensor-monitored door opening systems, electronically controlled slide and wheel slip protection, safety controllers, remote control, safe train movement and much more.
