20273: How to enter an end point?

An end stop is a halt point at which trains begin and end (that means here: turn). Such end stops were very rare in the classic railroad world, as the locomotive had to be implemented before, and therefore at railway stations where trains started and ended, at least one implementation track was available, so that they were always stations. Therefore, end points do not fit into the classical definition of the term properly, and the conservative world of the railways is thoroughly mixed up by them.

Definitions: First of all, it is important to note that it is not necessarily a halt at the end of a route, but it could also be "in the middle" of the line. The "end" is therefore for the end of trains, not for the end of the line. This saves us conceptual constructs like "intermediate stop". Since the phenomenon is theoretically not linked to passenger traffic, we use the term "end point" for an operating station without switches where trains begin and end. In the context of travel traffic, an end stop is called end point, in connection with freight traffic it is an end loading point.

Operation "classic": In the past, end points (and end stops) could only occur in the train control mode (ZLB) or the simplified side lane service (VND), whereby the end point for the respective train was always a train entry point and thus a train station. As a matter of fact, the train driver had to report to the train conductor (train running report), and the train got a new train number for the return trip.

Without train control mode or side lane service, a stop point could be approached by a return trip as an alternative, but only in an exceptional case, similarly to a connection point. The train driver did not necessarily have to report before the return trip, and the train (here: the block drive) went back and forth with the same train number. The end stop was not a train report station then. Since the regular safety systems (especially the block of tracks) did not participate in their entirety, this was, however, only permitted in exceptional cases.

Operational execution currently: According to DB-RIL 408.0121.9, trains can also start and end at breakpoints, which do not have to be a train report station, which makes the concept of the train report station unnecessary. There also does not have to be ZLB or VND. Practically these end points work like a station without a switch. They cannot be used as a railway station, since a station is still defined as a "location spot with at least one switch ...".

FBS allows the explicit specification of endpoints under location spot properties / train report stations and endpoints. Like the rest of the train report stations located on the right, endpoints are also equipped with only one train sequence function per direction, so without entry signals. If you have an end point with a signal (also trapeze board), you have to enter it as a train station without additional tracks, because only train stations in FBS offer the option of two train follow-up functions in each direction (entry and exit signals).

Journeys to and from the end points (and end stops) do not have to be declared as a part-trip in FBS. Alternatively, FBS can continue to define a "normal" breakpoint and start and end trains as a part-trip there. The fact that a train is declared as a part-trip in FBS does not necessarily mean that it is to be carried out in practice as a block-by-carriage journey - both are independent from each other.

At the moment, there is no functional difference between the endpoints and train report stations, but it is planned to add an entry / exit balance, with a warning given if more trains arrive than depart or vice versa.

For the display of end stop points in the timetable head, see also #20130.

Last update on 19.03.2020 by iRFP Support.

Go back