FYP PROGRESS - WEEK 8

Background Study (literature review)

Rail transport in Malaysia comprises heavy rail (including commuter rail), light rapid transit (LRT), monorail, airport rail link and a funicular railway line. Heavy rail is mostly used for intercity passenger and freight transport as well as some urban public transport, while LRTs are used for intra-city urban public transport and some special uses, such as transporting passengers between airport buildings. There are two commuter rail services linking Kuala Lumpur with the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The sole monorail line in the country is also used for public transport in Kuala Lumpur, while the only funicular railway line is in Penang.

The railway network covers most of the 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia. In East Malaysia, only the state of Sabah has railways. The network is also connected to the Thai railway 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) network in the north. If the Burma Railway is rebuilt, services to Myanmar, India, and China could be initiated.

The intercity railway network in Peninsular Malaysia consists of two main lines: The KTM West Coast Line between Singapore and Padang Besar, Perlis, on the Malaysian-Thai border, and the KTM East Coast Line between Gemas in Negeri Sembilan and Tumpat in Kelantan. There are also several branch lines – between Kuala Lumpur and Port Klang, Batu Junction and Batu Caves, Bukit Mertajam and Butterworth, Tapah Road and Teluk Intan, Kempas and Tanjung Pelepas, Kempas and Pasir Gudang, and between Pasir Mas and Rantau Panjang. The entire 1,699 km network uses 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge tracks. The network uses ballasted setup with locally manufactured concrete sleepers. Since the early 1980s, companies formed via international collaboration, such as Mastrak Sdn Bhd had been producing these sleepers via technology transfer.[2][3][4] In the five years period of 1982-1987 alone, it was estimated that about 500,000 pieces of sleepers had been laid for the Kerdau-Jerantut and Sungai Yu-Tumpat lines, giving clear preference due to its advantages over wooden sleepers. This was also evident in the changes made by Sabah State Railway in 2006 for the network under their control.

The network is linked with the Thai railway network at Padang Besar and Rantau Panjang.

A total of 438 km of the network is double track and electrified. They include portions of the West Coast Line between Gemas and Ipoh and the entire Kuala Lumpur-Port Klang branch line as well as the stretch between Kuala Lumpur and Sentul – Batu Caves branch line. The double-track and electrified portions between Kuala Kubu Bharu and Seremban and the Port Klang to Kuala Lumpur branch lines are used as the commuter train services.

Standard type of rail lines in Malaysia

• ·         Airport Rail Link
• ·         Light Rapid Transit (LRT)
• ·         Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)
• ·         Monorail
• ·         Cable Car Rail System (Funicular)

FYP PROGRESS - WEEK 7

OVERVIEW OF METHODOLOGY

Some Journal and References :-

1. Arduino Based Automatic Railway Gate Control and Obstacle Detection System

2. Automatic Train Track Switching System with Computerized Control from the Central Monitoring Unit

3. Journal 3
4. Journal 4

FYP PROGRESS - WEEK 6

Railway electric traction

Railway electric traction describes the various types of locomotive and multiple units that are used on electrification systems around the world.

Railway electrification as a means of traction emerged at the end of the nineteenth century, although experiments in electric rail have been traced back to the mid-nineteenth century.Thomas Davenport, in Brandon, Vermont, erected a circular model railroad on which ran battery-powered locomotives (or locomotives running on battery-powered rails) in 1834. Robert Davidson, of Aberdeen, Scotland, created an electric locomotive in 1839 and ran it on the Edinburgh-Glasgow railway at 4 miles per hour. The earliest electric locomotives tended to be battery-powered. In 1880, Thomas Edison built a small electrical railway, using a dynamo as the motor and the rails as the current-carrying medium. The electric current flowed through the metal rim of otherwise wooden wheels, being picked up via contact brushes.

Electrical traction offered several benefits over the then predominant steam traction, particularly in respect of its quick acceleration (ideal for urban (metro) and suburban (commuter) services) and power (ideal for heavy freight trains through mountainous/hilly sections). A plethora of systems emerged in the first twenty years of the twentieth century.

FYP PROGRESS - WEEK 5

PROBLEM STATEMENT

In Malaysia, as we know, we have many type of train operating in our country such as KTMB, LRT, MONOREL and other. Sadly, the system and the train itself are build or using other country technical expertise where we rely too much to other country in locomotive field. Not just in train manufacturing industry, but also in the train operation system. It also consume to much cost when we using outside expertise for the train’s field and even until now, we still had huge debt with other country for train and railway construction, and in few month before, we signed a new project of railway construction in Malaysia  with the china which cost more than 50 billion ringgit. Thus, with this domination in the locomotive filed by other country it made us thinking about how crucial a locomotive industry that affect our country and has given an idea to implement and review a basic electric train system for studies.

OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

·           To study the electric train traction concept using arduino

·           To observe the auto gate crossing controlling system

·           To learn about train traction operation concept.