Positive Train Control

Commentary

Uncertainty clouds key rail bills in Senate

Two bills of substantial importance to railroads—Staggers Rail Act revisions as part of reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), and extension of the deadline to implement Positive Train Control (PTC)—took meaningful steps forward March 25, gaining the imprimatur of the Senate Commerce Committee.

PTC relief on the way?

The U.S. railroad industry has been scrambling since 2008 to meet the requirements of an unfunded federal government mandate—namely, having Positive Train Control installed and fully operational by Dec. 31, 2015 on 60,000 miles of track where hazmat and passenger trains operate. Parallel to the PTC initiative has been a battle waged on Capitol Hill to extend the end-of-the-year deadline. That effort may be paying off, and the railroads may one day be grateful that they have a Thune on their side.

Foxx talks tough on PTC

Testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Feb. 11, 2015, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the DOT is “continuing to hold the industry’s feet to the fire in getting Positive Train Control done as quickly as possible,’’ instead of granting “a blanket extension” on the Congressionally imposed Dec. 31, 2015 deadline.

Siemens Rail Automation expands in Pennsylvania

Siemens Rail Automation announced on August 8, 2014 that it will combine and expand its manufacturing and engineering operations at a new facility in the Pittsburgh area “to help meet growing demand for its rail automation technologies.”

C&S: The new frontier is here

Congress and the FRA perceive PTC primarily as a safety measure to counteract human error and prevent accidents. But rail industry suppliers seek to make PTC, and CBTC too, something with far greater utility than that, as railways scramble to adopt this new technology.

Managing the lineup

Strategic business plans aligned with a strategic technology plan can provide more-effective interchange data and traffic control processes.

Taming the PTC elephant

The pressing issue for the railroad industry’s communications and signal engineers is whether or not Positive Train Control (PTC) is going to be complete and fully functional by the fast-approaching Dec. 31, 2015, deadline.
Commentary

Data drought haunts FRA crew-size mandate

By the Federal Railroad Administration’s own congressional testimony, the years 2012 and 2013 were among the railroads’ safest on record, while the relatively few train crashes were mostly the result of human error and track defects.
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