How to safely derail a train during transit?

Imagine a single, long, straight stretch of track. On the track there is a train heading in one direction at 100 km/h and a second train heading towards it at 200 km/h. The latter train is a special priority train that should not slow down at any cost.

Edit: Let us assume the trains are 75 km apart, resulting in 15 minutes until a full-on collision if no action is taken. Answers needn't adhere to this guideline.

How do I prevent the former train from slowing down the latter without causing major damage to the former train?

Answers adjusting the infrastructure or train construction before the encounter are acceptable, so long as there are no fixed bypasses or signals.

Reasons why such a long, single track may exist could, for example, be:

• The line is temporary or new and only a single track has been completed.
• There are spacial limitations such as the line running through a narrow valley/ravine
• There are structural limitations such as the surrounding ground being highly expensive to stabilise sufficiently
• There are political or cultural limitations such as funding cuts, building permissions, heritage bridges/tunnels or surrounding nature reserves

posted over 5 years ago

A Lambent Eye‭

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