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A time distance diagram is a very important
tool for making timetables.

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Planning departments make
hundreds of them every year.

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On a time distance diagram, you see the headways
of the trains on a rail section.

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On one axis you see the distance.

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On the other axis you see the time.

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The line represents the movement of the train over time.

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We use a vertical line on the graph to depict
that the train has temporarily stopped moving.

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While this can be anywhere on the track,
in a regular situation, this will be at a station.

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The speed difference between kinds of trains is
the most defining feature for the capacity of a rail track.

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On separate tracks, a faster interstate train covers
more distance in less time than a slower, local train.

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On a single track, however, the speed of the
faster moving train is restricted by a slower

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moving vehicle in front of it.

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The faster train will have to reduce speed
and keep a safe distance.

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However, this can be avoided by constructing
an overtake or passing station on a single track.

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Another alternative is two separate tracks
for fast and slower trains.

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This is more efficient, but can be very expensive
and difficult to construct in densely populated areas.

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Thus it is more common to have several types
of trains on one track.

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But single tracks incrue another issue:
braking distances for railway vehicles significantly

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exceed the viewing range of the driver.

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This means that on a single track,
as soon as a driver sees the vehicle ahead,

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he is already too late to prevent a collision.

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For regular train movements, train separation
requires a system which works independently

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from the viewing range of the driver.

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To solve this, signals are used to indicate
safe or no passage.

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A basic signaling operation is called
the fixed block control system.
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As long as a train occupies a block, no other
train is allowed to enter that particular block.

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This ensures a safe distance between trains.

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The time interval in which
a section of track is used by a train

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and therefore blocked for other trains
is called the blocking time.

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In the time-distance diagram,
this can be indicated by blocks.

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The so-called blocking- time stairway represents
the operational use of a line by a train.

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Blocks of other trains may not overlap.

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The blocking time is the minimum time interval
between two trains.

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A way to improve capacity is by modifying
the signaling arrangement.

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More signals means shorter blocks.

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By increasing the amount of block sections
the minimum distance between trains is reduced

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and capacity increases.

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A development in block operations is the moving block.
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Instead of dividing a railway track in fixed blocks,

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the moving block operation
essentially recognizes the actual train.

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This is done by maintaining a virtual block,
which moves together with the train.

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Fixed signals along the track become useless
if the blocks they have to guard are moving.

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Therefore, methods are developed to display
this information directly in the train driver’s cabin.

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This is a high-end control system to increase
train frequency in a safe way.

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But, it requires a communication link between
each train and the control center.

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The required train separation distances are calculated.

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So train(driver)s can be updated
on their allowed velocity.

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Moving block operations are still under development,
but will become the standard in the near future.