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{{about|a safety device in a train}}
[[Image:SIFA-Pedal.jpg|thumb|200 px|A Sifa pedal in an [[Intercity Express]] [[ICE 1]] power car. To the right of the Sifa pedal is the foot-operated button for the [[train horn]]]]

'''Sifa''' is a type of [[deadman's switch#Trains|deadman's control system]] used on German-influenced European railways.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.virtualmarket.innotrans.de/index.php5?id=1022238&highlight=&fid=523&offset=0&Action=showProduct |title = Deadman's control system UDB | accessdate=2008-12-24}}</ref> Although [[deadman's switch#Trains|deadman's pedals]] are commonly used on railways worldwide, Sifa systems are specifically those codified by [[DIN|German Industrial Norms]] [[Verband der Elektrotechnik, Elektronik und Informationstechnik|VDE]] 0119-207-5.

In [[Switzerland]] the equivalent system is called 'safety control' (''Sicherheitssteuerung'').<ref name="AB-EBV">Eidgenössisches Departement für Umwelt, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation: [https://www.bav.admin.ch/bav/de/home/rechtliches/rechtsgrundlagen-vorschriften/ab-ebv.html ''Ausführungsbestimmungen zur Eisenbahnverordnung (AB-EBV)''], as at: 1 July 2016</ref>

==Description==
Sifa is short for ''Sicherheitsfahrschaltung'', German for "safety driving circuit". It is usually a pedal and/or large press button, which monitors the alertness of the driver. The driver has to repeatedly press a button after a fixed interval; if they fail to do so, the train will carry out an emergency stop. It complements the external train safety systems: [[Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung|PZB]], [[Linienzugbeeinflussung|LZB]] and [[European Train Control System|ETCS]].<ref name="Anderegg">Ernst Anderegg: ''Sicherheitssteuerungen für Triebfahrzeuge''.<br />[http://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?rid=sbz-002:1950:68::209 Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Vol. 68 (1950), Issue 15] (E-Periodica, pdf3.0 MB)</ref>

[[Image:sifa ice3.jpg|thumb|200px|The Sifa control display in the [[ICE 3]]]]

In [[Europe]] the ''Zeit-Zeit-Sifa'' (time-time Sifa) is common. In this system, the engine driver holds a pedal or button down for 30 seconds and must then briefly release the pressure. Thus the system can confirm that the driver is still able to react. If the driver does not react after 30 seconds, the system warns the driver, at first optically, then for a few seconds acoustically. After a further short period of time without any reaction the train is automatically stopped. The ''Zeit-Weg-Sifa'' (time-distance Sifa) system takes account of the distance travelled, as well as time, since the last activation.

In electric trains such as those working on [[Rapid transit in Germany#U-Bahn|U-]] and [[S-Bahn]] lines the Sifa has for a long time been combined with the [[driving switch]]. This is where the concept of the dead man's switch first arose. If the button was released (due to the driver becoming incapacitated) the train was automatically stopped.

Drivers must carry out a Sifa test before using a train, to check that the automatic braking is functioning correctly.

Following some serious accidents in which drivers fell asleep but somehow the pedal was still being activated, the [[Deutsche Reichsbahn (GDR)|Deutsche Reichsbahn]] in [[East Germany]] introduced a special type of Sifa (''Sifa86''). Here the driver has to acknowledge, by pressing a button, an optical signal given at random times and distances.

== See also==
* [[Automatic train protection]] (ATP)
* [[Dead man's switch]]
* [[Dead-man's vigilance device]]
* [[Train protection system]]
* [[Watchdog timer]]
* [[Emergency brake (train)|Emergency brake]]
* [[Parking brake|Hand brake]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://everything2.com/e2node/Why%2520it%2527s%2520safe%2520to%2520take%2520the%2520train Why it's safe to take the train]

[[Category:Occupational safety and health]]
[[Category:Railway safety]]
[[Category:Safety switches]]

Sifa - Revision history

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