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Amtrak was close to turning on PTC, Boardman says
Amtrak was close to turning on PTC, Boardman says5/15/2015
Rail News: Amtrak
Amtrak was close to the testing phase of implementing positive train control (PTC) on track at the Philadelphia location of the fatal train derailment, Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman confirmed in a news conference yesterday. ... "We're very close to being able to cut it in," Boardman said, according to a report in The New York Times. "We've got to do testing on MHz radios. We will complete this by the end of the year." ... However, funding shortfalls and bureaucratic delays slowed the technology’s deployment, the Times article quoted officials who were briefed after the accident as saying. Because the government failed to provide railroads with access to radio spectrum necessary to make the system work, Amtrak had to negotiate for privately owned airwaves, according to the article.
But in a post on Amtrak's blog, Boardman said that Amtrak "takes full responsibility and deeply apologizes for our role in this tragic event," and is fully cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation.
....
APTA: Commuter railroads committed to PTC
Yesterday, American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Melaniphy said that commuter railroads are "100 percent committed” to implementing PTC, but challenges remain. He disputed news media reports that said PTC technology is "fully developed" and ready to be deployed. The technology has been under development since the law was passed, and is still being developed, he said.
"PTC is a communications intense technology which requires radio spectrum to transmit data between trains and communications towers. Acquiring radio spectrum is a ... significant challenge in implementing PTC," Melaniphy said in a prepared statement. "APTA has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allocate free radio spectrum for commuter railroads as a public safety priority, yet so far, it has refused to do so. Congress has not requested the FCC to do this either, despite the fact that they mandated the implementation of this safety technology." ... As of April, commuter railroads have spent a total of $950 million of their own funds on PTC, he said. Half of those railroads have indicated they've deferred other capital projects as a result.
Rail News: Amtrak
Amtrak was close to the testing phase of implementing positive train control (PTC) on track at the Philadelphia location of the fatal train derailment, Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman confirmed in a news conference yesterday. ... "We're very close to being able to cut it in," Boardman said, according to a report in The New York Times. "We've got to do testing on MHz radios. We will complete this by the end of the year." ... However, funding shortfalls and bureaucratic delays slowed the technology’s deployment, the Times article quoted officials who were briefed after the accident as saying. Because the government failed to provide railroads with access to radio spectrum necessary to make the system work, Amtrak had to negotiate for privately owned airwaves, according to the article.
But in a post on Amtrak's blog, Boardman said that Amtrak "takes full responsibility and deeply apologizes for our role in this tragic event," and is fully cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation.
....
APTA: Commuter railroads committed to PTC
Yesterday, American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Melaniphy said that commuter railroads are "100 percent committed” to implementing PTC, but challenges remain. He disputed news media reports that said PTC technology is "fully developed" and ready to be deployed. The technology has been under development since the law was passed, and is still being developed, he said.
"PTC is a communications intense technology which requires radio spectrum to transmit data between trains and communications towers. Acquiring radio spectrum is a ... significant challenge in implementing PTC," Melaniphy said in a prepared statement. "APTA has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allocate free radio spectrum for commuter railroads as a public safety priority, yet so far, it has refused to do so. Congress has not requested the FCC to do this either, despite the fact that they mandated the implementation of this safety technology." ... As of April, commuter railroads have spent a total of $950 million of their own funds on PTC, he said. Half of those railroads have indicated they've deferred other capital projects as a result.
Amtrak Says Shortfalls and Rules Delayed Its Safety System
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and JAD MOUAWAD
MAY 14, 2015
WASHINGTON — The Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night was equipped with an automatic speed control system that officials say could have prevented the wreck, which killed eight passengers and injured hundreds. But the system, which was tantalizingly close to being operational, was delayed by budgetary shortfalls, technical hurdles and bureaucratic rules, officials said Thursday.
In 2008, Congress ordered the installation of what are known as positive train control systems, which can detect an out-of-control, speeding train and automatically slow it down. But because lawmakers failed to provide the railroads access to the wireless frequencies required to make the system work, Amtrak was forced to negotiate for airwaves owned by private companies that are often used in mobile broadband.
Officials said Amtrak had made installation of the congressionally mandated safety system a priority and was ahead of most other railroads around the country. ... But the railroad struggled for four years to buy the rights to airwaves in the Northeast Corridor that would have allowed them to turn the system on.
“The transponders were on the tracks,” said one person who attended a Thursday morning briefing for congressional staff members. “But they also said they weren’t operational, because of this ongoing spectrum issue.”
MAY 14, 2015
WASHINGTON — The Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night was equipped with an automatic speed control system that officials say could have prevented the wreck, which killed eight passengers and injured hundreds. But the system, which was tantalizingly close to being operational, was delayed by budgetary shortfalls, technical hurdles and bureaucratic rules, officials said Thursday.
In 2008, Congress ordered the installation of what are known as positive train control systems, which can detect an out-of-control, speeding train and automatically slow it down. But because lawmakers failed to provide the railroads access to the wireless frequencies required to make the system work, Amtrak was forced to negotiate for airwaves owned by private companies that are often used in mobile broadband.
Officials said Amtrak had made installation of the congressionally mandated safety system a priority and was ahead of most other railroads around the country. ... But the railroad struggled for four years to buy the rights to airwaves in the Northeast Corridor that would have allowed them to turn the system on.
“The transponders were on the tracks,” said one person who attended a Thursday morning briefing for congressional staff members. “But they also said they weren’t operational, because of this ongoing spectrum issue.”
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