Traffic network and method for operating rail vehicles in a traffic network consisting of a combination of line sections with train protection and line sections without train protection

A traffic network for operating rail vehicles, comprising:

• a reserved operating area which is reserved for the rail vehicles and a shared operating area which is shared between the rail vehicles and traffic participants other than the rail vehicles;
• said reserved operating area being configured for centralized automatic train supervision and operations management via a computer-assisted method, based on two-way communication, with automatic train protection, automatic operation, and automatic supervision configured to take place, and said computer-assisted method accesses an infrastructure that corresponds to specific safety requirements;
• said shared operating area being configured for implementation of centralized automatic train supervision and operations management via a computer-assisted method in which:
• automatic train protection does not take place;
• but
• automatic operation and automatic supervision do take place;
• and
• in the shared operating area, functional components of a further infrastructure, other than said infrastructure that corresponds to the specific safety requirements, are utilized, and the further infrastructure being also available to the traffic participants other than the rail vehicles.

A rail vehicle for operation in a traffic network, wherein the traffic network includes:

• a reserved operating area which is reserved for rail vehicles;
• and
• a shared operating area which is shared between rail vehicles and traffic participants other than rail vehicles;
• and
• wherein, in the reserved operating area, the rail vehicle is subject to centralized automatic train supervision and operations management via a computer-assisted method, based on two-way communication, with automatic train protection, automatic operation, and automatic supervision configured to take place, and said computer-assisted method accesses an infrastructure that corresponds to specific safety requirements;
• and
• in the shared operating area, the rail vehicle is subject to centralized automatic train supervision and operations management via a computer-assisted method in which:
• automatic train protection does not take place;
• but
• automatic operation and automatic supervision do take place;
• and
• in the shared operating area, functional components of a further infrastructure, other than said infrastructure that corresponds to the specific safety requirements, are utilized, and the further infrastructure being also available to the traffic participants other than the rail vehicles.