MTA News Release | Aug. 19, 2020: Metro-North Announces PTC Implemented On Entire System East of the Hudson River. Adding the New Haven Line from Greenwich to New Haven to join the line’s western portion, the Harlem and Hudson Lines and Danbury and New Canaan Branches, which already had PTC operability. All Metro-North’s diesel trains, as well as all of its electric trains on the Harlem Line and Hudson Line are operating in PTC Technicians are bringing PTC software to the New Haven Line’s M8 electric cars, which will allow New Haven Line trains to enter PTC operations in October.
“Achieving PTC operability on 100% of our tracks is a major milestone and evidence that we remain on schedule to have full PTC functionality across the railroad by the end of this year,” said Catherine Rinaldi, President of MTA Metro-North Railroad. “I congratulate our team for achieving this milestone and encourage everyone to keep the momentum going through the end of the year, when all trains will be operating with PTC.”
About Positive Train Control
Positive Train Control enhances train safety behind the scenes by eliminating the potential for human error to contribute to train-to-train collisions, trains traveling into zones where railroad employees are working on tracks, or derailments caused by a train traveling too fast into a curve or into a misaligned switch.
The system uses a network of computers on board trains and along the tracks that are in communication with a central control hub, sharing data on rail conditions in real time. More information about how Positive Train Control works on the MTA network can be found at the three-minute video at this link: youtube.com/watch?v=bIX9wWlY_wg
All the segments that have been activated with PTC have it enabled full interoperability with all other railroads who share the tracks, including Amtrak and freight railroads.
