IEEE lauds CBTC-focused Working Group

The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Standards Association (IEEE-SA) has presented Working Group 2 (WG2) of the IEEE Rail Transit Standards Committee with the 2010 “Emerging Technology Award.” WG2 is chaired by Dr. Alan F. Rumsey (pictured), Vice President of Rail and Transit Systems at Delcan Corp., Markham, Ontario.

The award recognizes an individual, working group, or company that has advanced, initiated, or progressed a new technology within the IEEE-SA open consensus process. The IEEE Rail Transit Standards Committee Working Group 2 was lauded for its leadership in developing universally adopted consensus standards for communications-based train control (CBTC) technology. Rumsey has led this working group, which currently consists of more than 20 members, since 1997. Over the past decade it has developed three CBTC standards and is currently finalizing a fourth standard. These standards are being widely used and referenced. The working group

The following standards have been developed by WG2:

1) IEEE Std 1474.1 – 2004 (R2009): “Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) Performance and Functional Requirements.” This standard was first published in 1999, updated in 2004 to incorporate driverless/unattended train operations, and re-affirmed in 2009 without revisions. This standard is widely used and referenced around the world; it is also referenced in the FRA final rule for PTC (Positive Train Control)

2) IEEE Std 1474.2-2003 (R2008): “User Interface Requirements in Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) Systems.”

3) IEEE Std 1474.3 – 2008: “Recommended Practice for Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) System Design and Functional Allocations.”

4) P1474.4: “Recommended Practice for Functional Testing of Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) Systems”. This standard has recently been successfully balloted and should be published in the near future.

“This working group has been around as long as the Railway Age/Parsons International Conference on CBTC,” says Rumsey. “It was originally led by the late Tom Sullivan, and I took over as chair in 1997. The working group currently consists of more than 20 members.”

The Ninth Railway Age/Parsons International Conference on CBTC will take place in Washington, D.C. on May 5 and 6, 2011. For more information or to register, CLICK HERE.