Metrolink begins PTC revenue service demonstration along San Bernardino Line

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Metrolink

Metrolink reached a critical milestone March 2, 2015, by launching Positive Train Control (PTC) in revenue service demonstration (RSD) along the its San Bernardino Line between Los Angeles and San Bernardino, Calif.

 

The railroad says that with this latest accomplishment, Metrolink remains on track to become the nation’s first passenger rail system to have a fully implemented, interoperable PTC system in place.

Functional field testing of the integrated PTC system along the San Bernardino Line began in July 2014. More than 150 unique test cases were performed on the subdivision in addition to extensive end-to-end functional testing. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) formally approved the commencement of RSD on the San Bernardino Line in mid-February.

 

“This is a huge step toward fully implementing an interoperable safety initiative that will keep millions of lives safe,” said Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson, who is the chair of the Metrolink Board of Directors. “We fully understand the challenges of implementing PTC and continue to work with our rail partners to make certain every inch of the Metrolink service area is covered. We remain on track to have our entire system fully operable with PTC well before the December 2015 federal deadline.”

The San Bernardino Line traverses the cities of Los Angeles, Alhambra, Rosemead, El Monte, San Dimas, Baldwin Park, Covina, Pomona, Claremont, Montclair, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Rialto, and San Bernardino along with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

Metrolink first launched PTC in revenue service demonstration under the authority of BNSF in February 2014. That set of tracks includes portions of Metrolink’s Orange County Line, the 91 Line, along with the agency’s Inland Empire-Orange County Line.

The agency recently completed end-to-end testing on the Ventura County Line and just initiated similar testing on the Antelope Valley Line, which are the next two lines expected to go into RSD. Testing and RSD will then take place on the Orange County Line this spring.

Metrolink intends on having RSD across all track dispatched by the agency by late summer of 2015. Despite challenges, Metrolink is scheduled to meet the federally-mandated December 31, 2015, PTC implementation deadline.

The estimated cost for developing, installing and deploying PTC on the Metrolink system is expected to be $216.3 million, using a combination of federal, state and local funding sources. Investments were also made to upgrade and expand the existing communication network, which is necessary for PTC and other modern railroad operations.

 

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