A train dispatcher (US), rail traffic controller (Canada), train controller (Australia), train service controller (Singapore) or signaller (UK), is employed by a railroad to direct and facilitate the movement of trains over an assigned territory, which is usually part, or all, of a railroad operating division. The dispatcher is also responsible for cost effective movement of trains and other on-track railroad equipment to optimize physical (trains) and human resource (crews) assets.
Local dispatchers at work at the central station in Bohumín, Czech Republic, in August 2008
An Indonesian train dispatcher
Railway signalling (BE), or railroad signaling (AE), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormous weight and inertia of a train, which makes it difficult to quickly stop when encountering an obstacle. In the UK, the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 introduced a series of requirements on matters such as the implementation of interlocked block signalling and other safety measures as a direct result of the Armagh rail disaster in that year.
A Class 66 locomotive (right) is waiting at a red signal while a First Great Western passenger train (left) crosses its path at a junction.
A block signal and a 130 km/h speed limit at kilometer post 547 in Iisalmi, Finland
Short signal blocks on the Toronto Transit Commission subway system. A train (not visible) has just passed the most distant, leftmost signal, and the two most distant signals are red (stop and stay aspect). The next closest signal is yellow (proceed with caution), and the nearest signal shows green (proceed).
Traditional mechanical signals on display at a railway station in Steinfurt, Germany
