Railway traffic conflicts are common in the day-to-day operation of trains due to the limited track capacity, the varying priority of trains, localised weather conditions, maintenance operations etc. The conventional conflict resolution strategy focuses on delaying the trains by considering the braking distance of a preceding train, cancellation or intermediate stopping of the trains etc. This strategy can solve the problem of railway operators than the passenger's problem of missed connecting trains, missed business opportunities or personal appointments etc. To ensure both operator and passenger satisfaction, this paper proposes a novel blockchain-enabled virtual coupling of automatic train operation fitted mainline trains for railway traffic conflicts. The immutable blockchain databases of the trains and track infrastructures help to forecast the traffic conflicts in real time. Seven variants of virtual coupling strategies are described in this study. Based on the chosen strategy, the reference model of the automatic train operation of mainline trains is virtually coupled or synchronised. Finally, the simulation results and theoretical analyses using several case studies are carried out to confirm the sufficiency of the proposed system and method. The major advantage of the proposed study is that it can be an overlay to the existing European Railway Traffic Management System Level-2.

中文翻译：

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用于列车交通冲突控制的自动列车运行主线列车的基于区块链的虚拟耦合

火车和轨道基础设施的不可变区块链数据库有助于实时预测交通冲突。本研究描述了虚拟耦合策略的七个变体。基于选择的策略，干线列车自动列车运行的参考模型实际上是耦合或同步的。最后，利用几个案例研究进行了仿真结果和理论分析，以确认所提出系统和方法的充分性。提议的研究的主要优点是它可以作为现有欧洲铁路交通管理系统Level-2的覆盖。实际上，干线列车的自动列车运行参考模型是耦合或同步的。最后，利用几个案例研究进行了仿真结果和理论分析，以确认所提出系统和方法的充分性。提议的研究的主要优点是它可以作为现有欧洲铁路交通管理系统Level-2的覆盖。实际上，干线列车的自动列车运行参考模型是耦合或同步的。最后，利用几个案例研究进行了仿真结果和理论分析，以确认所提出系统和方法的充分性。提议的研究的主要优点是它可以作为现有欧洲铁路交通管理系统Level-2的覆盖。