Method and apparatus with an axle counter for operating a railroad crossing, computer program product and delivery apparatus for the computer program product

A method for operating a railroad crossing, the method comprising, for rail vehicles approaching a railroad crossing:

• using an axle counter to capture measurement data during a passage of the rail vehicle;
• using arithmetic measures to calculate a velocity of the rail vehicle and an acceleration of the rail vehicle as properties of the rail vehicle from the measurement data of the axle counter;
• specifying a time of closure for triggering a closure of the railroad crossing as a function of the calculated properties of the rail vehicle with reference to:
• a calculated velocity as the rail vehicle is leaving the axle counter, and
• a calculated acceleration as the rail vehicle is leaving the axle counter;
• calculating a first further property as to whether the rail vehicle is a passenger train or a freight train, by arithmetic measures based on calculated axle spacings;
• in a first checking step during the calculation of the first further property, checking whether identical or similar patterns can be identified in at least a predominant share of a sequence of axle spacings;
• and
• if no pattern could be identified, assigning to the rail vehicle a property of a freight train as the first further property, or
• if a pattern was identified, at least one of assigning to the rail vehicle a property of a passenger train as the first further property or performing a further checking step.