The Effect of Rail Head Corrosion on Emergency Brake Activation in Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) KCIC400AF-2208 on Track I-11G2 at KCIC Tegalluar Depot, Bandung Regency, Indonesia

Abstract

Railway transportation requires a reliable signaling system to ensure operational safety. This study analyzes the effect of rail head corrosion on track circuit detection failures that triggered Emergency Brake (EB) activation on Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) KCIC400AF-2208 at Track I-11G2, KCIC Tegalluar Depot, Bandung Regency. A descriptive qualitative method was employed using field observations, documentation, literature review, and secondary data from failure reports, the Dynamic Monitoring System (DMS), Centralized Signal Monitoring (CSM), and Track Circuit Reader (TCR). The results indicate that corrosion on the rail head increased wheel–rail contact resistance, causing bad shunting and inaccurate track occupancy detection by the track circuit. Consequently, the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system interpreted the condition as unsafe and automatically activated the Emergency Brake. High rainfall and limited track utilization accelerated corrosion development. To mitigate this issue, a combined operation pattern using Full Supervision (FS) and Shunting (SH) modes is proposed to reduce dependence on track circuit detection while maintaining operational safety.