December 16, 2020
Amtrak OIG: Ensure PTC Reliability Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Amtrak s PTC systems are expected to be interoperable with its host and tenant railroads by year’s end, but the Amtrak OIG says Amtrak can take steps to better ensure its systems are reliable.
The Amtrak Office of Inspector General (OIG) has recommended in a new report that Amtrak should “better measure” PTC (Positive Train Control) system reliability. It also noted that Amtrak faces two risks that may diminish the safety benefits of PTC.
OIG assessed the operations of Amtrak’s systems for which implementation was completed in August and their interoperability with Amtrak’s host and tenant railroads, including New Jersey Transit. Interoperability is expected by the Dec. 31, 2020 deadline.
Amtrak OIG: positive train control will be interoperable but could better measure system reliability.
Amtrak
Amtrak has installed Positive Train Control technology on the tracks it owns and expects its systems to be interoperable with host and tenant railroads by year’s end, but it can take steps to better ensure its systems are reliable, according to an Amtrak Office of Inspector General report released today.
PTC is a safety technology that automatically applies a train’s brakes to slow or stop it to prevent collisions, derailments, or other accidents resulting from unsafe conditions. Amtrak and other railroads are required by law to have PTC implemented by December 31, 2020. According to the report, the company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to install and operate its three PTC systems, including about $370 million from fiscal years 2008 through 2020.
Cordel Taps Henderson as Global Head of Rail Solutions Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Erik Henderson has been appointed Global Head of Rail Solutions at Cordel, which produces an artificial intelligence platform for railroad inspection.
Henderson served most recently as Technical Director, GIS Field Services, Robotics and Automation at CSX, driving the automation of asset survey, inspection and inventory across its 20,000-mile network.
Henderson is an expert in Positive Train Control (PTC), asset change management and the use of remote sensing technologies such as LiDAR and UAVs for railroad engineering applications. He spent several years developing and completing the PTC validation and verification process for Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) approval at CSX.
With 3 weeks left, will NJ Transit make critical federal deadline?
Updated Dec 10, 2020;
Tick tock. There are 21 days and counting.
Those aren’t the shopping days until Christmas, it’s the time left for NJ Transit to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to have a federally-mandated safety system called Positive Train Control running and approved.
The stakes are high - there are no more extensions and if they blow it, trains will either stop running on Jan. 1 or the railroad will be fined $27,000 a day if they run.
NJ Transit and the contractor hired to install the $337 million safety system sounded cool when they delivered the final progress report at NJ Transit’s Wednesday board meeting.