Signalling

Interlocking 4.0: safe rail operations for increased capacity and reliability

Intelligent and effective interlocking for train protection

Onvia Lock range at a glance

  • One solution addressing any customer’s needs
  • ERTMS and CBTC ready
  • Cybersecurity embedded
  • Cloud-ready interlocking

With railway systems becoming ever more complex, railway operators and maintainers need an interlocking system that they can count on to guarantee the performance of the system. The Alstom Onvia Lock™ interlocking family offers flexible, user-friendly and cost-effective solutions, contributing to a more robust railway system as well as increased availability for sustainable travel and freight transport options.

Interlockings for tomorrow’s capacity increase 

An interlocking system authorises train movement and ensures safety conditions are met. It operates points, signals and level crossings and checks rail sections are free, establishes routes and prevents conflicts.  

In Alstom’s digital interlocking the technology transmits train control information digitally, via the IP network, providing enhanced coverage. Signals and points can be controlled at much greater distances, enabling capacity and processing speed, fewer cables and the possibility for data and digital analysis-driven maintenance. 

With more than 3,000 installations in over 35 countries, Alstom’s interlocking range, Onvia Lock, ensures integration with the most varied and complex infrastructures. These high-availability platforms are certified to Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 4, are redundant and require only minimum line possession during commissioning.

Direct interfacing

The principal and innovative feature of Alstom’s latest interlocking solution is the direct interfacing with trackside objects such as point machines and signals. This removes the need for intermediate relays, meaning that less ground infrastructure (20%) and cabling is required, generating a lower footprint, and consequently saving on maintenance costs.

Flexibility and ease of implementation 

While each installation is tailored to the customer’s specific needs, Alstom modular interlocking architecture, with standardised interfaces and maintenance and configuration tools, guarantees easy application to a host of different railway systems, whether new or existing, low density regional or high-speed mainline corridors, or to adapt to a future variation in network traffic. It can interface with existing trackside objects without modification, and it is compatible to signalling principles in any country. With this adaptability, project implementation times are much lower than other options available on the market. 

Seamless integration with ERTMS and CBTC systems 

Thanks to network-based architecture, Alstom interlocking makes for simplified interfaces with advanced train supervision and train control systems such as mainline ERTMS and urban CBTC. In addition to efficient maintenance systems that map out the status of objects along the line. When an anomaly occurs, an alert is sent to the nearest maintenance staff member indicating the part affected and the action required. All of this ensures faster troubleshooting and enhanced availability. 

  • 35
    country networks modernised
  • >3,000
    installations worldwide
  • #1
    World-first computer-based interlocking
  • 30
    years of worldwide return on experience