A graph theory-based approach to route location in railway interlocking

• A component-based model is presented to describe the station’s topology.
• A modified algorithm based on graph theory is introduced to find the routes.
• The verification of routes can be completed automatically by matrix calculation.
• This approach is universal which lowers the cost of interlocking logic design.

The location and verification of routes is an important component of railway interlocking logic design. The interlocking routes are typically listed manually by experienced signaling engineers, and this task is both time consuming and expensive. In this paper, an automatic, graph theory-based approach to route location and verification is presented. In this new approach, a component-based model is used to represent the topology of the station layout, and a modified matrix algorithm based on graph theory is used to locate all of the routes in a given station. This algorithm exhibits superior performance in the location and verification of routes and is universally applicable, irrespective of the station layout. When a station is modified, the designers can simply update the topological data for the station, and the new route information can be obtained automatically.