Impact of overvoltages on the railway automation and remote control equipment of “Uzbekistan railways” joint stock company

Abstract

In this study, an analysis is presented of failures in railway automation and remote control equipment of
the joint stock company “Uzbekistan railways” caused by atmospheric and switching overvoltages during
the period of 2020-2024. It was determined that the largest share of failures in railway automation and
remote control equipment occurs during the thunderstorm season. Hardware failures account for 22% of
all failures in railway automation and remote control systems.
Failures in the signalling, interlocking, and blocking equipment at the signalling and communication
distances (ShCh) of “Uzbekistan railways” joint stock company are not uniformly distributed. The
highest number of failures is observed in desert and steppe areas, as well as in regions located along
major river flows. According to the Pareto diagram of failures caused by atmospheric overvoltages, the
railway automation and remote control systems belonging to Group A (70% of all failures) are electric
interlocking and numerical coded automatic block signalling system (Russian: “ЧКАБ”). It was also
identified that a significant portion of failures is associated with the surge protection devices currently
used in operation.