North County Transit District (NCTD) has completed the federally-mandated Positive Train Control (PTC) safety system implementation.
NCTD is a public transportation agency in the US state of California.
The agency has implemented the PTC safety system for 58.5 miles of track within the San Diego County portion of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor (LOSSAN). Railway contractor Herzog was associated with this PTC implementation project.
PTC is an integrated command, control and communications system designed to prevent train-to-train collisions and derailments.
The system is capable of alerting engineers about potential hazards ahead, as well as provide notifications about excessive speed and unauthorised entries.
NCTD Board of Directors chair Rebecca Jones said: “To finally be able to say that this system is fully implemented is so rewarding. The enhanced safety that it brings to our customers and train crews is unmatched.”
In September last year, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) conditionally approved NCTD’s PTC Safety Plan and its PTC system.
The conditional approval enabled NCTD to begin interoperability testing with railway operators Metrolink, Amtrak, BNSF and Pacific Sun Railroad and validate integration with its system.
The testing and commencement of the Interoperable Revenue Service Operation (RSO) with all operators was completed by 27 December last year. Subsequently, NCTD informed the FRA on the full implementation.
All trains are operating on the NCTD San Diego subdivision with PTC protection.
According to the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, all railway tracks that carry passengers or toxic-by-inhalation materials are required to install PTC systems on tracks.
