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WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a safety advisory after identifying a design issue with positive train control that makes it possible for a crew member to circumvent PTC enforcement. The advisory, published earlier this month in the Federal Register, says the interface design issue allows crews to manually operate the cut-out valve […]
NEW YORK — An Ultra Wideband train control system being used in a pilot program on a New York subway line has received a milestone form of safety certification. Piper Networks’ Ultra Wideband system has received Safety Integrity Level 4 certification for the European Committee for Electronical Standardization, or CENELEC. The certification from independent assessor […]
PARIS — Global technology firm Thales is on the verge of selling its rail signal business to Hitachi for about $2 billion, Reuters reports. The French firm, which provides electronic systems for aerospace, defense, and digital security applications, plays a significant role in European railways, with its European Train Control System used in 42 countries. […]
The final Frontier Central’s Frontier Yard, formally opened on March 14, 1956, replaced eight smaller yards in the Buffalo area, slashing classification time per car from 27 hours to 9. New York Central photo […]
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway has received a patent for a virtual track block system that has the potential to significantly boost existing mainline capacity, raise average train speeds, and improve the detection of broken rails. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved the patent application last month, and credits the invention to BNSF employees Mitchell […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has published its final rule requiring states to create action plans addressing safety at rail-highway grade crossings, a rule addressing a mandate of the federal FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transporation) Act. The rule requires 40 states and the District of Columbia to develop plans that identify any grade crossing […]
More Monday morning rail news: Rail Runner has no PTC-compliant route-miles, has missed deadline for safety report Zero percent of the 95 miles operated by New Mexico’s Rail Runner Express are compliant for positive train control, making the commuter railroad the only one in the nation with no territory operating with PTC, the Albuquerque Journal […]
Friday morning rail news: PTC implementation complete on Amtrak-owned or controlled mileage Amtrak says it has completed implementation of positive train control on all track owned or controlled by the passenger railroad. The final portion to be completed was 1 mile of slow-speed Chicago terminal trackage. The railroad operates or controls 898 miles covered by […]
WASHINGTON — Just two commuter railroads — NJ Transit and New Mexico’s Rail Runner Express — are now considered at risk of not completing PTC implementation by the Dec. 31, 2020, deadline, according to the latest quarterly PTC update from the Federal Railroad Administration. Chicago’s Metra and TEXRail, the service between Fort Worth, Texas, and […]
CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific is single-tracking and adding centralized traffic control to its main line between Smiths Falls, Ontario, and the Montreal area. The two-year project includes removing 60 miles of double track on the 104.9-mile Winchester Subdivision. “CP is continuously looking for opportunities to improve its track infrastructure,” spokesman Andy Cummings says. “During […]
PHILADELPHIA — Two days of an introductory course does not a signal and train control expert make. Then again, it’s not supposed to. When Trains attended a 2016 University of Wisconsin-Madison Engineering Professional Development course in Philadelphia on the topic, this editor-author had delusions of learning about the latest in positive train control tech. Instead, […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration today released a quarterly status update on railroads’ self-reported progress, as of March 31, 2020, toward fully implementing positive train control systems by December 31, 2020, as required by Congress. Based on railroads’ First Quarter 2020 PTC Progress Reports and current PTC Implementation Plans, nearly […]
