WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today released a quarterly status update on railroads’ self-reported progress, as of December 31, 2019, toward fully implementing positive train control (PTC) systems as required by Congress. Based on Fourth Quarter 2019 PTC Progress Reports from the 42 railroads statutorily required to implement the […]
A Long Island Rail Road train arrives at Jamaica station on Aug. 18, 2019. The LIRR’s efforts to implement positive train control face a new issue involving interoperability with Amtrak trains. TRAINS: David Lassen A look at Friday morning rail news: — Installation of positive train control on the Long Island Rail Road faces a […]
NEWARK, NJ – The Federal Railroad Administration has given NJ Transit approval to begin revenue service demonstration of its positive train control system, moving NJ Transit one-step closer to meeting the federally mandated deadline of PTC certification by December 31, 2020. “Entering the RSD phase of PTC is a major milestone and a testament to […]
ST. LOUIS — RR Mergers & Acquisitions announces the sale of J&A Industries to CDL Electric Co. Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., J&A Industries is a leading manufacturer of signal equipment to major railroad industry leaders, including BNSF Railway and Union Pacific. Since 1986, CDL has been providing signal solutions, maintenance, and installation of highway […]
NJ Transit trains meet in Elizabeth, N.J., in August 2019. A highly critical state auditor’s report says the commuter railroad is at risk of missing the deadline for positive train control implementation, among other issues. TRAINS: David Lassen Friday morning rail news of note: — A state auditor’s report says NJ Transit is at risk […]
An inbound Metro-North train with M8 equipment pauses at 125th Street on Dec. 28, 2019. The New Haven line, which uses the M8s, will be one of the last segments of the Metro-North to place positive train control in operation. NEW YORK — Metro-North will cut in positive train control for Extended Revenue Service Demonstration […]
KCS CEO Pat Ottensmeyer TRAINS: David Lassen LOMBARD, Ill. — In a conference that — like most most rail gatherings these day — had a great deal of focus on PSR, Patrick Ottensmeyer was thinking and talking about PTC. That’s not to say Precision Scheduled Railroading wasn’t part of the Kansas City Southern CEO’s Wednesday […]
A GE-built ES44AH leads a westbound CSX Transportation freight through Palmer, Mass., where new signal hardware has been installed to replace Conrail-era signals. Brian Solomon CORONADO, Calif. – The advent of positive train control is bringing some unanticipated benefits to railroad signals and communications departments. So said representatives of BNSF Railway, and Canadian National, CSX […]
An eastbound Union Pacific auto rack train passes through Lombard, Ill., on Nov. 16, 2019. UP announced it has completed positive train control implementation. TRAINS: David Lassen OMAHA — Union Pacific says it has completed positive train control implementation by activating the final segment of track requiring the safety system. More than 17,000 miles of […]
NEW YORK — How do you make existing subway cars compatible with new signaling at a faster rate for less? Over 300 rail industry attendees, engineering innovators, and academic experts representing 100 firms from four continents attended the Subway Signaling Innovation Summit, held Tuesday at New York University to find out. The event was a […]
CHICAGO — Canadian National announced today that it has successfully met the federal requirement to operate positive train control on all 35 of its U.S. subdivisions required to be equipped with PTC. This important achievement comes 13 months ahead of the December 2020 deadline. “This milestone is a testament to the tenacious dedication of our […]
Ron Batory, Federal Railroad Administration administrator U.S. Department of Transportation NEW YORK CITY — A number of commuter railroads, particularly in the Northeast Corridor, have little margin for error as they race to meet the Dec. 31, 2020 deadline to have positive train control fully operational, the nation’s top railroad safety official says. “We have […]
