Railroad Forums
Arlington wrote:I believe PTC works by GPS and Radio, both of which like the heightThe wood poles are for the comm lines to support the PTC communications between sites. Only the metal poles with antenna arrays are actually transmitting.
harshaw wrote:Well, by having these poles & wires above ground these will be the first things that fail when we have trees fall on the right of way. And after last year, we can guarantee that will happen.They actually have been aggressively clearing trees along the right of way in many places. It's quite surprising how far they are going, even to the top of slopes in cut areas. Which is the right thing to do to maintain the ROW.
neman2 wrote:Probably, I don't know.
Where are they installing underground conduit for wifi? I thought the wifi project was suspended because of objections from abutters to the installation of 70 foot monopoles needed to make it work.
twropr wrote:Does anyone know why MBTA is bustituting during weekends on the Lowell Line? All the "T" would say is that they are running PTC test trains. I don't understand why that would interfere with scheduled operations.Giving a test train free run of the tracks allows it to do what/where/when it wants. It is the most efficient use of a test train. It also allows adjustments to the system to be made unimpeded if problems are found during testing. If the test train had to work around scheduled service they'd sit idle if the desired test operation was in conflict with scheduled service. With a deadline looming at the end of the year they're probably just trying to expedite the testing as best possible. Getting those few extra tests in every day adds up over time.
Andy
Trinnau wrote:twropr wrote:Does anyone know why MBTA is bustituting during weekends on the Lowell Line? All the "T" would say is that they are running PTC test trains. I don't understand why that would interfere with scheduled operations.Giving a test train free run of the tracks allows it to do what/where/when it wants. It is the most efficient use of a test train. It also allows adjustments to the system to be made unimpeded if problems are found during testing. If the test train had to work around scheduled service they'd sit idle if the desired test operation was in conflict with scheduled service. With a deadline looming at the end of the year they're probably just trying to expedite the testing as best possible. Getting those few extra tests in every day adds up over time.
Andy
The GLX project is also performing work at the same time in a lot of cases.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials are worried the agency will miss a key deadline to install a federally required safety system on the commuter rail, with testing of the long-planned system delayed by an equipment issue.For more info on Metro North's issues, here is the thread.
Other agencies have faced struggles with Siemens equipment. Board members at New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority have threatened to cut off business to the company because of similar problems, and Siemens has issued two nationwide recalls related to the hardware problem in recent months.
The FRA said federal officials have been in regular contact with Siemens about the problem, and will soon visit a Siemens factory “to help oversee the ongoing corrective actions.”
In Massachusetts, the problem has delayed testing for the project on the northern side of the commuter rail, said Karen Antion, the MBTA’s project manager.
The southern side seems to be less of an issue because it has different signaling equipment and requires less rigorous testing, the MBTA said. But even minor software updates could cause delays because Siemens is taking months to process them. The MBTA recently received Siemens equipment back from recall, and so far the results have not been promising.
