Two Pittsburgh-area companies bid for high-tech rail projects

Written by jrood

Two Pittsburgh-area companies that have served the railroad industry since the 1800s are competing to install 21st Century technology to prevent trains from colliding and from hitting workers on railways, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Ansaldo STS USA in South
Oakland, formerly Union Switch & Signal, and Wabtec Corp. of Wilmerding,
formerly the Westinghouse Air Brake Co., want to capture business generated by
the installation and maintenance of computerized systems that would automatically
stop or slow down a train before a collision, both companies said.

The competitors for the new
business, called "positive train control," share common roots — both
were founded by legendary Pittsburgh businessman George Westinghouse.

The Rail Safety Improvement
Act of 2008 mandated the installation of on-board collision-avoidance systems
on major railroads, commuter lines, intercity lines and railroads carrying
hazardous materials by December 2015. The systems, which can track the location
and speed of trains, would be connected to a railroad dispatching center. The
dispatching center would be able to communicate with the locomotive’s controls
to apply the train’s brakes if necessary, in case a locomotive’s engineer makes
a mistake.

"We are already
starting to receive preliminary orders. We’re on track to having the
solution" and the ability to develop the technology to meet all of the
requirements, said Alan Calegari, president and CEO of Ansaldo STS USA,
headquartered in Pittsburgh.

Railway supply companies
will be competing for the multi-billion-dollar business of meeting the
government requirements. It will cost railroads about $5 billion to install the
collision avoidance systems, the Federal Railroad Administration estimated. In
the next 20 years, the installation and maintenance is projected to cost
between $9.5 billion and $13.2 billion, the agency said.

"The FRA selected
Ansaldo to pioneer the collision avoidance system," said Calegari, who oversees
a Pittsburgh office where 600 employees work.

Ansaldo installed the first
positive train control system for Alaska Railroad, which Calegari said is the
first use of the system in the United States. The Federal Railroad
Administration said field testing is to be completed in March.

"As train control
systems are deployed, it is a significant growth opportunity for Wabtec,"
spokesman Timothy Wesley said.

Wabtec has its railway
electronics unit in Germantown, Md., which develops and manufactures electronic
train control equipment and system solutions, Wesley said. BNF began testing
Wabtec’s train management system in 2007.

"It’s the heart of the
train control system," Wesley said.

Wabtec’s strategic
acquisition in March of Xorail LLC, a leading provider of signal engineering
and design services, added to its capabilities for implementing electronic
train control systems, Wesley said.

"As railroads expand,
or double track, they will need design and engineering work for these systems.
It’s another way that Wabtec will play a role," Wesley said.

A third Pittsburgh-area
company, Stantec Consulting Services in Lawrenceville, is designing a signaling
system for Dallas’ rapid transit system, that governs the signals to trains to
indicate if it is safe to pass through upcoming intersections. The company is
finishing design of a similar signal and communications system for an extension
of the Miami-Dade rail line.

The cost of complying with
the new safety regulations has concerned the railroad industry.

"There’s a lot of
angst among members over what the initial costs will be," said Joseph H.
Gerdes III, executive director of the Keystone State Railroad Association, a
Harrisburg-based trade group representing 25 railroad companies operating in the
state.

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