Interoperable Communications-Based Signaling as a Basis for Positive Train Control [Research Results]

Federal Railroad Administration2009PDFBriefTse, TerryUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and DevelopmentUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and DevelopmentUnited StatesCommunicationsInteroperabilityPositive train controlRailroadsSignalingIntelligent transportation systemsRail transitRR09-11his project demonstrated that the major suppliers of signaling equipment for the North American railroads could modify their existing safety-critical equipment to support operation of a vital interoperable positive train control system based on signaling principles developed over many decades. Project participants included the major suppliers of signal and train control equipment within North America. These suppliers have provided a wide variety of signaling equipment, including processor-based equipment that has been in revenue service on railroads and transit properties for decades. This includes equipment designed and built to the vital (or fail-safe) requirements of rail and transit properties. The project was sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration\u2019s (FRA) Office of Railroad Development and coordinated through the Railroad Research Foundation (www.railroadresearch.org). This project was undertaken to show a set of interoperability standards developed and maintained through an industry professional organization, such as the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA), could be implemented. Interoperability is important as trains frequently travel across multiple territories operated by other railroads. As part of the project, a test environment modeling four sections, each representing a different railroad, was created along with a communications infrastructure for transporting messages. Each of the suppliers modified their own existing equipment to support the AREMA Manual of Recommended Practices and inserted their equipment into one of the sections within the overall test environment. Experience gained through the project was collected and referred to AREMA for inclusion in the next release of Recommended Practices. The four suppliers demonstrated that their modified wayside equipment operated within the test environment and was interoperable with the other suppliers equipment. Two of the suppliers demonstrated their car-borne equipment operated within the system (including across all four suppliers waysides) and was interoperable within the overall system.127