ON JANUARY 8 the US Federal Railroad Administration formally approved the implementation of Positive Train Control on BNSF, the first such application to receive full clearance. Developed by Wabtec, the Electronic Train Management System is ’an overlay technology that augments and supplements existing train control methods’. ETMS sends vital information, such as movement authorities, speed restrictions and turnout positions to an on-board display in the loco cab using a digital communications network. Train location is tracked using GPS. If a dangerous situation arises and the crew fails to respond to warnings, ETMS will initiate an automatic brake application. Development began in 2003, when FRA granted BNSF a waiver allowing Wabtec to install and test ETMS on 50 locomotives using the the 220?km route between Beardstown and Centralia, Illinois. Since the pilot project went live in October 2004, BNSF has run more than 2 000 revenue trains using ETMS-equipped locos, and the system has successfully passed all tests. Implementation of ETMS on the 480?km route between Alabama City, Kansas, and Fort Worth, Texas, is due to begin in the second quarter of 2007.n
Related articles
-
Rail Business UKPost-Covid rail sector must understand what it does best, says Haines
UK: ‘We in the rail sector must be objective and honest about what we are good at’, Network Rail Chief Executive Andrew Haines told a conference in Birmingham on October 3, as he reflected on how the industry can plot its way through the uncertainty of the post-Covid period.
-
Rail Business UKBritish railway family comes together to back Ukraine’s railways
EUROPE: Senior figures from across the UK rail sector came together at the Rail Partners with Ukraine event to hear how national railway Ukrzaliznytsia is keeping trains running under wartime conditions, and to raise money to fund food parcels for Ukrainian railway workers and their families. ...
-
NewsIndian Railways reports buoyant business in post-Covid rebound
INDIA: Publishing its final results for the 2022-23 financial year, Indian Railways has reported a 27·75% increase in revenue for the 12 months to March 31. Reflecting economic buoyancy in the face of global headwinds, the national railway reported revenues of Rs2·44tr for the year. This ...