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POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL
POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL Implementation Rolls on at BNSF
By Joseph Faust, Director, Public Affairs, BNSF Railway • 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.
Railroads were required to submit revised PTC implementation plans to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) by January 27, 2016, outlining how and when they would have PTC fully installed and activated. A further extension for the technology’s implementation (until 2020) may be available for testing and fine tuning if a railroad has met certain requirements, including having an already installed and at least partially operational PTC system.
“PTC is an important safety system that has already prevented incidents,” said Chris Matthews, Assistant Vice President, Network Control Systems. “Implementing PTC is hard work. This is the most complex technology our industry has ever attempted. BNSF leads the industry in PTC development and implementation, but we have to get even better to make it run smoothly on our railroad.”
LEADING THE WAY Today, BNSF has the only FRA-certified PTC system among the Class 1 railroads, and is running an average of 600 PTC trains daily in revenue service on 17 of its PTCmandated subdivisions. In fact, on June 11, the railroad reached 100,000 successful trips operating PTC in revenue service. hanced reporting tools and ToneUp, a new communication system for train crews to contact PTC support personnel directly for all PTC-related questions.
“Many teams have been instrumental in our continued progress on PTC—from Engineering, to Mechanical, to Transportation, Technology Services and many more,” said Director Lesha Hampton, PTC Implementation, Network Control Systems. “Cross-departmental collaboration and support have been outstanding and continue to get even better as we move toward the deadline.”
THE SCOPE OF IMPLEMENTATION ON THE BNSF NETWORK The scope of BNSF’s PTC installation is immense, with 11,300 miles of track— roughly half of the BNSF system and 80 percent of BNSF’s freight density—and 5,000 locomotives to equip with PTC technology.
PTC PROGRESS BNSF submitted its formal PTC Implementation Plan to the FRA in January 2016, with a commitment to fully implement PTC on mandated subdivisions by
BNSF’s PTC implementation team expects to have more than 40 percent of the 86 PTC-mandated subdivisions operating in revenue service by the end of this year, and the team has already installed approximately 90 percent of the PTC communication support technology that includes signal, wayside, back office and locomotive hardware and software.
BNSF will work closely with other railroads on jointly testing PTC system interoperability for wayside, locomotive and other technology, which will be essential to full industry-wide implementation.
To further ensure the program’s success the PTC team recently implemented enDecember 31, 2018. BNSF believes it is on target to meet this goal, but reserves its right to continue testing past the deadline as it enters the uncharted territory of addressing issues such as interoperability with other railroads.
As of July 2016 BNSF has: • 20 of 86 PTC-mandated subdivisions operating in revenue service • 50 percent+ of 86 PTC-mandated subdivisions expected to be operating in revenue service by the end of 2016 • 100,000+ trains that have operated with PTC • 22,000+ BNSF employees who are PTC-trained
Types of PTC Systems in the United States ACSES (Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System): A transponderbased system, in use on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor originally put into use on the Northeast Corridor by the specific requirements of an Order of Particular Applicability. (Type Approved and Certified by FRA.)
ETMS (Electronic Train Management System): A GPS- and communicationsbased system being deployed by BNSF Railway, originally put into use by the specific requirements of 49 CFR Part 236, Subpart H. (Type Approved and Certified by FRA for restricted use.)
I-ETMS (formerly called Vital Electronic Train Management System): A GPS- and communicationsbased system, not yet ready for deployment. It is the system of choice for CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad. BNSF Railway is to upgrade to it when software is available, various passenger/commuter and other railroads are adopting it for compatibility and interoperability. (Type Approved by FRA.)
ITCS (Incremental Train Control System): A GPS- and communicationsbased system used by Amtrak on its Michigan line, authorized for passenger train speeds up to 110 mph, originally put into use by the specific requirements of an FRAapproved waiver. ITCS certification through Amtrak’s request for expedited certification process is pending successful resolution of a few remaining issues prior to FRA approval for certification.
Enhanced Automatic Train Control (E-ATC): A system that uses an underlying automatic train control (ATC) system, in conjunction with other “enhanced” features or systems to achieve the core required functionalities of PTC. These systems are often integrated with underlying cab signal systems (CSS) and centralized traffic control (CTC) systems, in addition to other signal or train control system enhancements the railroad elects to make, to meet the full requirements of PTC.
PTC CHALLENGES Positive Train Control is the biggest technological change ever implemented by the railroad industry, bigger even than the conversion from steam- to diesel-powered locomotives. The technological complexity of the PTC system and the scope of its implementation are unprecedented.
Revenue Service operation will be challenging as BNSF works through issues unique to each location, as well as overall system issues with multiple PTC components. As the only freight railroad running PTC in Revenue Service, BNSF will continue to uncover new issues with PTC equipment, software and system integration.
PTC reliability will be an ongoing focus due to its potential to have significant impact on overall network velocity and service reliability for BNSF customers.
THE FRA’S ROLE
The FRA is providing support to all rail carriers that have statutory reporting and installation requirements to implement PTC, as well as rail carriers that are continuing to voluntarily implement PTC. That assistance includes: • Providing more than $650 million to passenger railroads, including nearly $400 million in Recovery Act funding • Issuing a nearly $1 billion loan to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to implement PTC on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North • Building a PTC testbed in Pueblo, Colorado • Working directly with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to resolve issues related to spectrum use and improve the approval process for PTC communication towers • Dedicating staff to continue work on PTC implementation, including establishing a PTC task force
BNSF’S REMAINS COMMITTED BNSF began developing and testing PTC before the Congressional mandate of 2008. It was the first freight railroad to put PTC into Revenue Service Demonstration in 2012, and is currently the only Class I railroad running PTC in Revenue Service. BNSF remains deeply dedicated to PTC deployment and continues to work with the passenger commuter rail lines so that their trains operating on BNSF tracks can also benefit from this technology. BNSF is equally focused on getting PTC implementation done right. It continues to test and implement the system as quickly as possible with transparency and partnership with the FRA. DTJ
