About us: Signalling Systems

We are the oldest and the smallest software division of the Slovak branch of Scheidt & Bachmann. Our divisionwas established in Slovakia together with the establishment of the branch on 13^th November 1995. In Žilina, on the bank of the Rajčianka river, we form a compact and motivated team. In cooperation with our German colleagues, we are developing software for safer European railways.

We are specialists in diagnostics, communication protocols and graphical user interfaces. We also won’t get lost in the intricacies of C++, C# and MFC.

It’s a great joy for us to create applications which simplify work for dispatchers and enable service personnel to come home sooner.

We sell level crossing systems and provide service maintenance for them. But mainly we develop various intelligent programs for railway safety.

Railway crossing diagnostics
It is an application for the Windows operating system running on a computer located in the interlocking (a house with the dimensions 2 x 2 m located next to the railway crossing). It is fully automated and used to monitor the status of individual elements of the railway crossing and the interlocking. If there is detected an error or malfunction, the application will report it to the relevant railway dispatching. Alerts come to another application (Diagnostic Centre) or to a dispatcher by SMS, e-mail. In the past, they used to be sent by fax or landline. "Diagnostics is our child, we created it. We are constantly working to improve it, and so far we have been doing well, because we are one step ahead of the competition," says Ing. František Talapka, Head of the Signaling Systems division. Railways in Germany, Austria, Czechia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Israel, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Slovakia use this smart application.

Diagnostic Centre
It is a Windows application used by railway dispatching. Its task is to monitor the conditions of the whole line or several lines, which include railway crossings and interlockings. Each of them is equipped with separate diagnostics, which report errors or malfunctions to the control panel. The dispatchers assign the amendment to individual technicians according to the type of the error. They will find instructions in the application how to eliminate the problem, and then they will fix it.

Electronic interlocking with control panel
The interlocking is a security device used for the safe operation of trains (correct setting of switches, signals...). It consists of a complex of hardware (switches, signals) and software components. The control panel is a Windows application used by a dispatcher, who organizes the operation at the railway station – it determines what is the right track for incoming passenger train, which switches should be used by the freight train when leaving the station and many other functions. This electronic interlocking system has been used by railways in Germany, Austria and Poland for several years.

Safety Level of the Interlocking
It is a type of software which task is to control safe movement of trains on railway tracks. This intelligent program checks the entire railway line which is set by a dispatcher for passenger or freight trains. It examines whether another train is not situated on the selected line or whether there is a risk of a collision with a scheduled ride of another train. It also checks whether a failure or other technical problem has been reported somewhere on the line. If everything is allright, the software sets up the switches and other necessary track-side equipment. If this process also goes right, the program will turn a green light on the signal. Now, the train can safely pass the selected line.