Systems and methods for testing wayside units

A method for testing a wayside unit of a railway transportation network, the method comprising:

• developing, with a testing system operably connected to the wayside unit, a simulation message configured to simulate at least one of a request or command from at least one transportation network element for a wayside action to be performed by the wayside unit, the simulation message being a message configured to appear as emanating from a vehicle and being configured to elicit a wayside message from the wayside unit upon receipt of the simulation message, the wayside unit arranged to communicate with an on-board system of the vehicle moving on the railway transportation network to one or more of control the movement of said vehicle or to control equipment associated with a crossing of said transportation network with at least one route of a transportation system;
• transmitting, from a communication module of the testing system, the simulation message to the wayside unit;
• receiving, at the communication module, the wayside message from the wayside unit;
• confirming an action performed by the wayside unit responsive to receipt of the simulated message;
• obtaining the wayside message;
• and
• generating a display corresponding to the wayside message.

A tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium of a testing system for testing a wayside unit of a railway transportation network, the computer readable medium comprising one or more computer software modules configured to direct one or more processors to:

• develop a simulation message configured to simulate at least one of a request or command from at least one transportation network element for a wayside action to be performed by the wayside unit, the wayside unit being arranged to communicate with an on-board system of a vehicle moving on the railway transportation network, to one or more of control the movement of said vehicle or to control equipment associated with a crossing of said transportation network with at least one route of a transportation system, the simulation message being a message configured to appear as emanating from the vehicle and configured to elicit a wayside message from the wayside unit upon receipt of the simulation message;
• transmit the simulation message to the wayside unit;
• receive the wayside message from the wayside unit;
• confirm an action performed by the wayside unit responsive to receipt of the simulated message;
• and
• provide a display corresponding to the wayside message.