Keywords: communication based train control, automatic train operation system, genetic algorithms, simplex-flexible optimization techniques, PID regulators, trajectory planning, Matlab, Simulink.

This paper presents the development and modelling of an automatic train operation (ATO) subsystem, with the aim of managing the railway vehicle motion taking into account the operating, safety and comfort requirements. The proposed solution computes the service and signalling speed profiles, manages their tracking, the service stopping at stations and the opening and closing of doors. The chosen operating scenario is the communication based train control (CBTC) system, which is based on moving block signalling rather than the fixed block signals. The proposed ATO implements the maximum degree of automation, which does not implies the presence of a machinist. The mechanical model of a simplified metropolitan vehicle has been developed using the Matlab-Simulink^TM environment. In particular a short railway composition of four coaches has been modelled. The control logic is based on PID techniques, whose parameter tuning has been optimized by means of flexible simplex and genetic algorithms. The performance of the system have been verified, especially during the tracking of the speed reference (service/signalling speed profiles) and even during the stopping at the stations.

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