Talk:Automatic Warning System

Claxon vs Klaxon
Should 'claxon', mentioned twice in the section entitled 'British Rail AWS', be spelt 'klaxon', or is 'claxon' a recognised railway term? There's an existing entry for klaxon. jm


 * It is neither. A Klaxon is a specific type of horn with a characteristic sound (It may even be a trademark).  The correct term is 'horn'.  Article corrected.

- within railway documentation, it is always referred to as a 'horn', not 'klaxon'/'claxon'.

I suggest the Automatic Warning System and Automatic Train Control items be merged. This article (AWS) has quite a thorough explanation of the GWR 1905/6 system that was called ATC.--7severn7 20:10, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

What is TBL?
What is TBL as used in HK? Tabletop (talk) 09:02, 22 March 2009 (UTC)
 * See Transmission balise-locomotive--217.155.32.221 (talk) 11:18, 8 January 2020 (UTC)

Automatic Train Stop
This article should be edited to focus on the specific name brand implementation of AWS with AWS-like systems moved to the generic page on Automatic Train Stop technology. AWS is an instance of the ATS concept and we should try to avoid overlapping article content.Sturmovik (talk) 18:24, 29 June 2013 (UTC)

As a professional signalling engineer with 40 years experience, I am happy to keep this article on the subject of "automatic warning systems" because they are a distinct class of systems which issue only a warning at the "distant" signal (and may also issue a brake order if the driver ignores the warning) but they do not have "trainstop" functionality associated with a "stop" signal. On the other hand, ATP / ATC systems can be defined as those which include speed supervision and / or trainstop functionality. Regulations issued in Great Britain in 1950 specified that "Equipment of train-stop type (...) to be provided on urban electric railways in tube or tunnel (...). An approved form of equipment of Warning type for distant and multi-aspect signals is desireable on important main lines." The justification for this was that a warning system was considered to bring about a long term 28% reduction in fatalities within an achieveable budget and timescale, given that there was substantial competition for resources for other signalling renewals as well as a severe limitation on material and mampower availability, whereas full trainstop functionality for main lines was considered to increase the reduction in fatalities to 36% but at much higher cost and therefore lower chance of being implemented. A warning system was, in modern parlance "low-hanging fruit". (N. Cory 2016-10-10). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.31.28.155 (talk) 13:07, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

When was AWS introduced ?
I have just changed the date for the introduction of AWS from 1956 to the 1950s, as per document cited by the initial author. AWS was certainly in use in 1954 as it can be seen just over 9 minutes into the British Transport film, Elizabethan Express. Does anyone have a good citation for the date AWS was introduced ? 86.157.165.111 (talk) 15:49, 6 December 2019 (UTC)
 * As you would expect, introduction was phased. An extended trial was mounted on the GN main line between New Barnet and Huntingdon and, on completion in May 1956, the equipment was then authorised as the BR standard. The standards for deployment of the equipment (positioning, etc) were published in February 1958. Soon after, the existing GN coverage was extended northwards to York; Euston to Blisworth and Edinburgh to Glasgow then followed. On 6 March 1960 the SR main line between Salisbury and Exeter was brought into use. "The 1950s", then, seems to cover the issue. All this comes from An Illustrated History of Railway Signalling ISBN 0-7110-2551-7.


 * If anybody wants to add this (and there's a lot more detail to it) it should, perhaps, be a new section ==Phased introduction== or similar, rather than a bit added to the already long ==History== section. Good luck!
 * --217.155.32.221 (talk) 10:08, 16 December 2019 (UTC)


 * Afterthought: I've just re-watched Elizabethan Express (1954). The sunflower is showing "caution" as the train continues at full speed but as, according to the commentary, we are now north of York this isn't an anomaly as installation hadn't got that far yet.--217.155.32.221 (talk) 11:13, 16 December 2019 (UTC)


 * The sunflower predates AWS - it was used in connection with the Strowger-Hudd system. – Signal head   &lt; T &gt;  12:05, 27 December 2021 (UTC)

Southern Region Automatic Warning System
What was Southern Region Automatic Warning System and is it possible to include it in side the AWS page? I Like The british Rail Class 483 (talk) 16:28, 25 April 2023 (UTC)