BART makes case for modernizing train control systems

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Less crowding and fewer equipment-related delays are important goals of Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) "Big 3" capital improvement projects. The new train cars, an expanded facility to maintain the much larger fleet and a 21st century train control system are all linked and essential to relieving crowding.

 

No one single element can operate optimally without the others, BART notes. These three projects will boost capacity by increasing the number of cars and seats available system wide and the frequency of trains on the track during rush hour. The three projects will also increase the reliability and safety of the system as a whole.

“Although new trains and a new maintenance facility are fairly concrete concepts that are generally understood by everyone, train control is a bit more abstract and works behind the scenes,” BART said. “Even though it’s not a visible part of the daily rider experience, it’s hard to overstate the importance of train control because it’s the brain of our operational system.”

The system monitors and manages train locations, ensures safe and efficient train movement and manages trains to a timetable. A major milestone on the road to replacing the 1970s era BART train control system recently occurred when the board authorized the solicitation of proposals for the Train Control Modernization Program using a design-build method.

“Train control is safety-critical,” said Tom Dunscombe, BART’s group manager of train control modernization. “Train control will slow down and safely stop the trains as required for normal operations or in the event of an equipment failure.”

Currently, more than half of BART’s infrastructure-related delays are due to the train control system, causing BART riders to face more than 400 hours of delay each year.
In the latest Quarterly Performance Report, for the quarter ending March 2016, train control problems resulted in 997 late trains. Train control problems often accounted for more delays than police incidents, track problems, equipment problems on the trains themselves and maintenance work.

BART says he biggest benefit of modernizing the train control system will be the ability to increase the frequency of trains. BART will run more trains on the same system without compromising safety by maximizing the efficiency of the existing tracks.

Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) system would constantly communicate through continuous radio coverage, so that every train in the system can continuously report its precise location to maintain a safe distance.

“Instead of ensuring safe train spacing by reserving a series of long fixed blocks behind a train, a moving block system creates a dynamic buffer zone between it and other trains in the system — allowing them to be safely spaced much closer together,” BART said.

“The new system would have much finer train location resolution,” Dunscombe said. “Imagine the difference between knowing where a train is within a 1,200 foot length of track versus knowing where a train is within a dozen feet. There would be vastly more clarity and control.”

The new system will be fine-tuned to allow trains to move more closely together, with controls for safety. With increased accuracy and more granular coverage, the new system will enable trains to travel closer together, not just speeding trains up when need be but also allowing more trains to be on the system at any one time – providing more capacity that’s desperately needed on crowded trains and platforms.

Riders will benefit from a 25 percent increase of trains travelling through the Transbay Tube per hour during the peak commute with CBTC.

The project to replace the system is estimated to cost $915 million.

Grant money from the federal, state and regional governments is being pursued and the BART Board of Directors is considering placing a bond measure on the November 2016 ballot that could help fund replacement of the old system. The BART draft bond plan proposes $400 million to modernize the train control infrastructure. BART riders are also paying towards a new train control system with their fare dollars. The biannual inflation based fare increase program dedicates fare increases to BART’s top three capital projects: a new fleet of train cars, a new maintenance facility and the new train control system.

BART is targeting mid-2018 to award the contract and then it will take about eight years to fully design and install the system. The project will start on a test track to prove the new technology and then be phased into BART service with the ability to start running more frequent train service through the Transbay Tube in late 2023.

 

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