Q How does BNSF’s Network Operations Center in Fort Worth, Texas, control BNSF trains when they share tracks with another railroad, such as the route over the Tehachapi Pass? Union Pacific owns the trackage and allows BNSF trackage rights. On average, BNSF sends three trains over the pass to UP’s one. Does the BNSF Operations Center have the Tehachapi route on its monitors? Or does BNSF have to confer with UP in order to schedule trains over Tehachapi?
— Milton Smith, Bakersfield, Calif.
A When BNSF or UP run on each other’s tracks, they have agreed to prioritize trains by type. For instance, a Z train of either railroad would have highest priority. Each railroad has a representative in the other’s dispatching center, with direct access to dispatchers and decision-makers.
— Milton Smith, Bakersfield, Calif.
A When BNSF or UP run on each other’s tracks, they have agreed to prioritize trains by type. For instance, a Z train of either railroad would have highest priority. Each railroad has a representative in the other’s dispatching center, with direct access to dispatchers and decision-makers.
Moreover, each railroad can monitor movement of trackage rights trains via computer displays. In times of high volumes or service interruptions, regular conference calls between the dispatching centers in Fort Worth and Omaha, Neb., coordinate the trains’ sequencing and pacing.
— Fred Frailey
