POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL Implementation Rolls on at BNSF By Joseph Faust, Director, Public Affairs, BNSF Railway
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Photos courtesy BNSF Railroad
THE BASICS ON PTC
Positive Train Control (PTC) is a technology overlay of existing train operations that stops a train before certain types of accidents occur. It is a predictive, advanced safety technology designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, enforce speed limits, protect roadway workers and equipment, and prevent the movement of a train through a switch in the improper position. It accomplishes this through a combination of GPS, Wi-Fi and high-band radio transmission that determine the location, direction and speed of the train; warn the locomotive engineer of a potential problem; and take action by stopping the train if there is not a response by the engineers. THE PTC MANDATE
In 2008, Congress mandated that PTC technology must be implemented on routes that carry passengers and/or toxic-byinhalation (TIH) commodities—approximately 70,000 miles of track—by December 31, 2015. However, in November 2015, Congress extended that deadline three years to December 31, 2018 for all railroads. www.ndtahq.com |
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