GE Transportation and PowerTrunk have jointly agreed to provide Colombian rail company Ferrocarriles Del Norte De Colombia (FENOCO) with an incremental train control system (ITCS) over a digital TETRA land mobile radio network.
A purchase services agreement to this effect was signed by GE Transportation, PowerTrunk and FENOCO.
ITCS is a federally approved positive train control railway signalling system, which monitors and controls train actions by using train-to-wayside wireless links and a vital communications protocol.
Approved for operation at speeds up to 177km/h, ITCS reports train status along the railway and provides safety and operational functions such as track occupancy, speed limits and controls, as well as enforces the execution of the safety functions through a vital onboard computer.
As per the agreed terms, the TETRA land mobile radio network will be expanded and upgraded to support ITCS for FENOCO’s railway operations across northern Colombia.
GE ITCS communications-based train control system product manager Berry Yeldell said: "The integration of TETRA with ITCS, and potentially some of our other communications based products, will significantly improve our product portfolio’s communications capabilities by utilising standardised, state-of-the-art, digital radio technology."
