A block post in railway signalling

Railway signalling

Railway signalling is a system used to control railway traffic safely, essentially to prevent trains from colliding. Being guided by fixed rails, trains are uniquely susceptible to collision; furthermore, trains cannot stop quickly, and frequently operate at speeds that do not enable them to stop...

 is the signal box

Signal box

On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...

 at one end of a block section.

German practice

In Germany block posts are known as Blockstellen (abbreviation: Bk) and are defined as railway facilities on the open line that, as part of a block system, mark the end of a block section. The usually have a home signal in each direction and on each running line. They are mainly found where the distance between two railway stations is greater than average.

In the early years of the railway, block posts were local signal boxes manned with block post keepers. Today there are only a few of these classic, railway staff-operated block posts. Their function has been largely superseded by equipment that forms part of an automatic block signalling (Selbsttätigen Streckenblocks or Sbk) system or by a central block post in a station signal box at one end of the section between two stations.

Block posts are described in the German railway regulations, the Eisenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsordnung

Eisenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsordnung

The Eisenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsordnung or EBO is a German law specifying rules and regulations for railways....

or EBO, at § 4 sub-paragraph 4.

See also

• Automatic Block Signal
  Automatic Block Signal
  Automatic Block Signaling, or ABS, is a block system that consists of a series of signals that divide a railway line into a series of blocks and then functions to control the movement of trains between them through automatic signals...
  
  
• Centralised control
• Block signalling
• Signalling block systems
• Token (railway signalling)
  Token (railway signalling)
  In railway signalling, a token is a physical object which a locomotive driver is required to have or see before entering onto a particular section of single track. The token is clearly endorsed with the name of the section it belongs to...