Jeffrey Peters - Perdue University (via skype)

The Positive Train Control (PTC) Mandate in the US: Overview and IssuesJEFFREY C . PETERSPURDUE UNIVERSITY, USA

@JFFPTRS

May 2015 Amtrak 188 accident•Train was travelling almost twice speed limit

•The NTSB report on cause not fully released• Speed only controlled by engineer• The engineer survived but has no recollection•No cell phone at time of accident• Investigation of “projectiles” •8 killed, 200 injured

THE PTC MANDATE IN THE US: OVERVIEW AND ISSUES 2

Amtrak 188 accident preventable?•Positive train control (PTC) is “a risk mitigation system that could prevent train accidents by automatically stopping trains when a collision or derailment is imminent.” PTC overcomes human error

•“Based on what we know right now, we feel that had such a system been installed in this section of track, this accident would not have occurred.” – NTSB member

•In fact, the US federal government mandated PTC on this stretch of railway by the end of 2015.

•PTC was not operable at the time due to budget and technical issues


Overview of this presentation•Rail safety in the US•How did we get the PTC mandate in the US?•What exactly is the PTC mandate?•Where are we now?•Why does the debate continue?•What might we learn from this?


Rail in the US•>140,000 miles (225,300 km) of trackage•Passenger and freight rail companies operate on track owned by other railroads•Freight uses single track for both directions with passing sidings•Dispatchers and way-‐side signals provide moving authorities


Rail safety in the US•2,000 derailments and 205 collisions, resulting in 422 injuries and 12 fatalities annually from 1998-‐2009 (mainly in rail yards)•In 2009, 4 fatalities from derailments and collisions, 247 from highway-‐rail crossings, and 417 from trespassing•Compared to > 30,000 annual road fatalities•FRA estimates an annual average of 7 fatalities, 22 injuries, US$20 million in property damage, and 150 evacuations could have been prevented by PTC from 1987 – 1997.•PTC is regularly featured on the NTSB’s “Most Wanted List”


PTC in the US (pre-‐mandate)•1990 -‐ PTC appears on “Most Wanted List”•1994 -‐ US Congress issues requests for progress report on PTC•2004 -‐ US Congress requests cost-‐benefit analysis of PTC• Costs significantly outweigh benefits• “…PTC will be more affordable in the future”

•2007 – Federal Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2007 would have mandated PTC in some special circumstances•Did not pass into law


Sept. 2008 Chatsworth, CA Accident•Head-‐on collision between a Metrolink commuter and a freight train•25 fatalities and over 100 injuries•NTSB root cause: engineer negligence• Commuter engineer ran red signal• Distracted by text messaging

•Elucidated lax rules and regulations• Texting was not banned• Allowed an enthusiast to accompany him


Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008•Signed into law just a month after the high-‐profile accident•Mandates that “each Class I railroad carrier and each entity providing regularly scheduled intercity or commuter rail passenger transportation” to implement PTC on segments that:• Carry frequent passenger service (Chatsworth and Amtrak)• Carry more than 5 million gross tons of freight per year and poison-‐by-‐inhalation materials

•Deadline of December 31st, 2015•Covers 70,000 miles (113,000 km) of trackage


The resulting PTC systems•“system designed to prevent train-‐to-‐train collisions, over-‐speed derailments, incursions into established workzone limits, and the movement of a train through a switch left in the wrong position.”•Many different systems can be classified as PTC•No specific technical requirements – left to federal agency

•Intent: allows railroads to adopt the system best-‐suited to their needs.


Overlay-‐type versus CBTC•Overlay-‐type system:• One-‐way communication• Sensors, signals, and transponders installed over existing track• Network operator sends information on speed limits and moving authorities to wayside equipment•Wayside equipment then transmits to onboard (locomotive) equipment

•Communications-‐based train control (CBTC):• Two (or more)-‐way communication between network operators, trains, and equipment• Greater precision, system redundancy, and opportunity for optimization•Much more expensive


Overlay-‐type versus CBTC


Implementation schedule•December 31st, 2015 deadline•Most have adopted overlay-‐type to meet aggressive schedule•Meet basic requirements•Amtrak plans to meet the deadline•Other railroads are significantly behind schedule and face significant fines


Why does debate continue?•Debate is on the deadline because of several issues• Budget for unfunded mandate• Interoperability• Communication spectrum

•Some debate on special accommodations for law• Budget for small railroads• Barriers to market entry


Budget•FRA estimates total cost of equipment to be > US$10 billion

•Freight companies estimate expenditure at more than US$1.2 billion

•Amtrak budget comes from decreasing federal funds (-‐18% in May 2015)

•Regional commuter lines also require state funds to operate (hundreds of millions US$)

•Only US$50 million from federal grants allocated for PTC

•FRA estimates benefit of US$90 million benefits and US$4 billion if CBTC…


Interoperability•Lack of standards means each railroad pursuing different routes•In US passenger and freight railroads operate on others’ infrastructure•Interoperability requires planning, testing, cost


Communication spectrum•The allocation of communication spectrum has proved problematic

•Ideal to have a single radio frequency for entire PTC system•Required to know frequency prior to equipment purchases

•A PTC consortium has identified 220 MHz as ideal

•Radio frequency is auctioned in the US• Costly to purchase in competitive market (especially with rent seekers)• No guarantee of perfect coverage (especially with small gov’t budgets)

•Federal Communications Commission has not made any accomodations


Barriers to market entry•Interoperability requirements and spectrum issues• Existing problem for small railroads on track owned by large railroads

•Increased capital costs• Adds roughly 5% to per mile track costs•Only 2.5% increase on new locomotive cost; however,• Almost 50% increase on old locomotives used by small operators

•Increased operating and maintenance costs•Barrier to expansions and entry


Further legislation•Deadline extension• House of Representative bill extends to 2020• Senate bill passed extending at FRA discretion to 2018• FCC/FRA joint report• Expand funding opportunities• Senate bill introduced March 2015 and another in April 2015 to extend to 2020 and 2018, respectively• Similar to previous bill• Extend deadline on a case-‐by-‐case basis• No movement since…


What can we learn from this?•PTC has the potential to prevent high-‐profile train accidents•PTC is very expensive•Without the mandate the US would not likely have PTC•The aggressive deadline elucidated some important issues:• Minimum requirement systems• How do we pay for it?• Interoperability• Communication spectrum• Large railroads are different than small

•In future, technology mandates should allow flexibility to respond to unforeseen issues


Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you!


Jeffrey C. [email protected]

Engineering

Jeffrey Peters - Perdue University (via skype)