The invention discloses an auxiliary automatic driving 
system and method for a modern rail cleaning vehicle. The 
system comprises a depth camera which is used for collecting image data and surrounding environment indication information, a 
laser radar which is used for collecting the information of a rail and surrounding environment boundary point of the rail, an 
inertial measurement unit which is used for collecting three-axis attitude angles, angular rates and acceleration of an object, a GPS module which is used for obtaining the position and the direction of a rail, a main control board which is used for conducting 
steering control processing according to collected data and detecting an obstacle based on the distance and the direction of the obstacle, a transmission control mechanism which is used for transmission, and a vehicle-mounted 
processing device which is connected with the depth camera, the 
laser radar, the 
inertial measurement unit, the GPS module and the main control board. According to the 
system and method, the depth camera is matched with the automatic driving technology, tramcar rail cleaning is more accurate and rapid; and during night operation, the 
laser radar and the depth camera are combined, and too much influence is not generated by a low-light environment.