Patent ID: 6997520

Claim:
A communication and control system in combination with a railway train which comprises at least one main engine and a plurality of carriages or wagons, the communication and control system comprising first and second bi-directional transmission lines which extend parallel to and spaced from one another along the train; a main control unit installed on said at least one main engine and connected, in said at least one main engine, to both said transmission lines and to brake control systems or devices of the train; a plurality of slave control units each of which is installed upon a respective carriage or wagon and is connected, in the respective carriage or wagon, to both said transmission lines, to solenoid valve units associated with pneumatic brake cylinders for controlling the solenoid valve units and to sensor devices associated with the respective carriage or wagon; the main control unit and the slave control units being arranged to communicate with one another via said transmission lines according to a predetermined serial protocol; the main control unit being arranged to transmit to the slave control units serial brake control signals, and to receive and acquire serial information or status signals from said slave control units via at least one of said transmission lines, wherein the slave control units are arranged to acquire and transmit said brake control or said information signals selectively on either the first or second bi-directional transmission line equally, and are moreover operable, when the slave control units receive said brake control signals on said first bi-directional transmission line, to transfer to the second transmission line said brake control or said information signals received on said first bi-directional transmission line; the main control unit being arranged to detect a condition in which said transmission lines are both interrupted, each between different pairs of slave control units, and to provide a transfer command signal to send said brake control signals to at least to said different pairs of slave control units between which there is an interruption of one of said transmission lines, in such a way that all the slave control units are able to communicate with the main control unit via a provisional transmission line comprising portions of both said bi-directional transmission lines and the slave control units which have been sent said brake control signals.