Details:

Corporate Creators:
John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Automatic Train Control Communication Systems
Resource Type:
Tech Report
OCLC Number:
61307841
Corporate Publisher:
United States. Federal Railroad Administration
NTL Classification:
NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITY;NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Human Factors;
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.


Format:
PDF
Collection(s):
Federal Railroad Administration Volpe
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:17969e10167ce6c48fc616910d7edfac663d06f985e4adfb754ba335ff984113
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/8656/dot_8656_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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