Railroad communications and train control : report to Congress

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Communication systems
  • Automatic train control
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
• Abstract:
  Recent tragedies in the railroad industry have again focused attention on the prospects for ; improving railroad safety through enhanced radio communication and implementation of ; advanced train control systems (ATCS). ATCS has the potential to prevent future accidents ; such as the collision between multiple-unit commuter trains at Gary, Indiana, on January 18, ; 1993, in which seven passengers died, and the collision between trains of the Union Pacific ; and Burlington Northern railroads at Longview (Kelso), Washington, on November 11, ; 1993, in which five employees lost their lives. ; The Clinton Administration is strongly committed to improving safety on all modes of ; transportation, and this objective is one of the seven core goals of the Department of ; Transportation's Strategic Plan announced by Secretary Federico Peiia in January 1994. In ; this report, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) expands on a Congressional mandate ; to evaluate ATCS and enhanced radio communications and finds that positive train control ; (PTC)--which, as a component of ATCS, can enforce speed and movement restrictions-is ; nearing a point at which it can begin to be used on railroads to eliminate injuries and deaths ; caused by train-to-train collisions. FRA recommends a series of steps to encourage the ; implementation of PTC systems on high-risk rail corridors by the year 2000. ; Both through the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and through individual ; companies' efforts, the railroad industry has made great strides towards the development of ; ATCS over the last twelve years. The AAR has developed technological standards to ensure ; that equipment from different suppliers will be compatible, and certain railroads have ; implemented basic ATCS technologies for purposes such as replacement of landline ; communications. However, ATCS systems are not yet available in off-the-shelf form, nor is ; much of the research and development necessary to full implementation completed.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/8656/dot_8656_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 8.93 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Volpe Center ; Federal Railroad Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8b5e303cb291e2f520cc93924ca39d0c6191cf624b986c3a97d3ec82e1abf1afdb76034c130d3848bf6164dcbd7651e0f7dfbfef275310e8a972677ecb871fda