STOUGHTON, Mass. — An alert and ever vigilant Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad crew — that recognized the difference between a bag of clothes between the tracks and a human being — saved a life in this Boston suburb last week. The MBCR crew, with engineer Chris Holm at the throttle and conductor John Gibbs (UTU [...]
PTC: What it is, how it works
November 15, 2010
Los Angeles Metrolink — a 512-mile commuter rail system, which serves the Southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernadino and Ventura — is moving to be the first railroad to install and implement a positive train control (PTC) system. PTC is collision avoidance technology that monitors and controls train movements remotely, can [...]
Progressive approach to PTC in Los Angeles
October 6, 2010
LOS ANGELES — A former Federal Railroad Administration chief safety officer, Jim Schultz, who later became a highly respected safety officer at CSX, is advising Los Angeles Metrolink as it moves to lead the rail industry in installing and implementing a positive train control system on Metrolink’s seven-route, 512-mile system serving the Southern California counties [...]
Controversy over PTC business benefits
May 15, 2010
Railroads are campaigning hard to get federal funding for all or part of the cost of developing and deploying a positive train control (PTC) system, writes Larry Kaufman in Rail Business newsletter. There are two elements to the PTC issue. Most aggravating, the railroads are on the hook to invest anywhere from $5 billion to [...]
Put PTC safety first, labor tells FRA
August 24, 2009
As the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) works toward having effective safety regulations in place for the operation of positive train control prior to its 2015 congressionally mandated implementation, the agency is reaching out for feedback to its early proposals. In fact, many PTC operations likely will commence prior to 2015 mandatory date. In response to [...]
Tie stimulus funding to rail jobs
January 29, 2009
WASHINGTON — Any federal funds flowing to freight railroads as part of a stimulus package, or investment tax credit or loans should be accompanied by a requirement that the railroads not use the money for technology that eliminates jobs. That was the principal message Jan. 28 of the UTU to the House Rail Subcommittee, which [...]
