Congress
Train crashes
in this country
should not be
(Acceptable Losses)!
Positive
train control technology to automatically slow trains
“Did our
congress,”
Take into
consideration
protecting train passenger citizens
of the
United States of
America
from crashes like this ones in the future
while chopping taxes
to
raise
their wealth?
Positive
train control technology to automatically slow trains
Positive
Train Control (PTC) is a complex, nationwide system of newly developed
technologies that continuously relays critical information such as speed
limits, train movement authorization, switch positions, work zone locations and
other operational data. It must factor in locomotive and rail car mix; train
length, weight and speed; terrain and signal aspects to determine safe stopping
distances. This conservatism in the "braking curve" slows the rail
network's velocity and, thus, reduces capacity and ability to handle more
freight. Additionally, any PTC hardware or software component failure also
defaults to stopping the train, thus reducing rail network capacity.
Implementing
PTC properly requires integrating thousands of components across the
telecommunications spectrum, such as GPS, Wi-Fi, radios, cellular technology,
antennae, base stations and first-of-its-kind software that decides when to
slow or stop a train – across Union Pacific’s network.
PTC
must be "interoperable" – passenger, commuter and freight trains must
be able to seamlessly communicate and operate across all railroad systems. Any
breakdown in interoperability presents unacceptable risks to the safety and
efficiency of America's rail network. Additionally, the Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA) must review each railroad's PTC safety plan and certify
the PTC system after development and testing of components is completed. This
certification is mandatory before PTC-controlled trains can go into service.
About
40 railroads are developing and installing PTC systems around the country. As
the architecture of this system comes together, 1,000 Union Pacific employees
and contractors are working full-time against a planned $2.9 billion investment
in PTC.