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  • WMATA Automatic Train Control

  • Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.
Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.

Moderators: mtuandrew, therock, Robert Paniagua

 #1475705  by davinp
 
Metro has hired the engineering consulting firm Mott MacDonald — at a cost of just over $1 million — to study the potential safety impact of restoring Automatic Train Operation (ATO), which for riders would mean smoother rides, precise train positioning at platforms and fewer time-wasting stops and starts.

This study is due this summer

Metro was designed for ­computer-driven trains, and that’s what was used until the 2009 Red Line crash near Fort Totten

Automatic Train Operation was suspended indefinitely following the crash.

The ATO system itself was not at fault in the crash, however, as federal investigators determined the probable cause was a faulty track circuit module. Metro’s signal system uses a network of electrical circuits that communicate the location of trains on the tracks. Faulty circuits can cause a train to “disappear.”

Metro spent $106 million to replace 1,700 track circuits in the system as part of a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation, with an eye toward eventually returning to automatic operation. ATO was restored to the Red Line briefly in spring 2015, with plans for it to be restored systemwide by 2017.

But the Red Line restoration was short-lived, and the systemwide transition never happened. When Paul J. Wiedefeld came on as general manager in 2015, he said ATO was not a priority because the agency was focused on initiatives critical to safety and maintenance.

Metro said the tens of millions of dollars in upgrades it spent were critical for the safety of the system — even if automatic operation is never restored.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tr ... 366bcbce6c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1475749  by Sand Box John
 
Automatic train control is mostly a train board function. Wayside only provides the speed commands to maintain safe operation regardless operating mode.

The $64,000 question is, has WMATA maintained the train board hardware that performs that function to designed specification? Have they maintained the marker coils that are used to execute automatic station stops? Have they corrected the doors opening on the wrong side issue?

Edit 06 11 2018 10:14 am:

See this subreddit for the answers to those questions.
 #1488471  by JackRussell
 
https://twitter.com/AdamTuss/status/1051944920792145922" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

EXCLUSIVE: Metro trains returning to computer controlled automatic mode. GM says it’s time to be “better than good.” Full story shortly

Edit: Full story here: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/loca ... 20131.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In an exclusive interview with News4, Wiedefeld promised that Metro’s entire fleet of trains will return to a computer-controlled automatic mode during rush hours for the first time since the deadly 2009 Red Line crash that killed nine people near the Fort Totten station.

"We are very comfortable. Obviously we wouldn’t do it unless we were comfortable. We will be rolling with it pretty soon," Wiedefeld said Monday.
 #1488488  by Sand Box John
 
All I can say is, It Is About F---ing Time !!

Next question, when will the switch be thrown?
 #1489060  by JDC
 
Another GGW piece has more details, including that a) 6-car trains will berth at the front of a station not in the middle (the piece makes the point that most trains will be 8-cars anyways, so....); b) automatic door operation is supposed to start this November; and c) ATO will be rush-hour only, starting in July 2019. https://ggwash.org/view/69545/metro-rea ... oming-back
 #1489073  by The EGE
 
BART has zero problem operating in ATO at all times - it's fairly easy to put on temporary software (or hard-coded electronic switch) speed restrictions to protect track workers. Does WMATA not have that ability?
 #1489134  by Sand Box John
 
"The EGE"
BART has zero problem operating in ATO at all times - it's fairly easy to put on temporary software (or hard-coded electronic switch) speed restrictions to protect track workers. Does WMATA not have that ability?


Did you read the Greater Greater Washington article? Yes Rail Operations can change the speed commands on the fly. The issue is the rules were changed to a speed, 10 MPH, that can not be set to on the fly. The lowest speed command that can be set is 15 MPH.
 #1489144  by mtuandrew
 
Found it interesting that WMATA has the freedom to increase their personnel-on-ROW speed from 10 to 15 mph (restricted?) without FTA oversight. Not that it’s an unsafe speed, but that’s the kind of thing that would have been a months-long process had it been a heavy railroad. I always forget how few regulatory teeth FTA has, compared to FRA.
 #1489363  by srepetsk
 
mtuandrew wrote:Found it interesting that WMATA has the freedom to increase their personnel-on-ROW speed from 10 to 15 mph (restricted?) without FTA oversight. Not that it’s an unsafe speed, but that’s the kind of thing that would have been a months-long process had it been a heavy railroad. I always forget how few regulatory teeth FTA has, compared to FRA.
It used to be 35mph up until Lavin came down from MTA back in 2016.
 #1489407  by dcmike
 
mtuandrew wrote:Found it interesting that WMATA has the freedom to increase their personnel-on-ROW speed from 10 to 15 mph (restricted?) without FTA oversight. Not that it’s an unsafe speed, but that’s the kind of thing that would have been a months-long process had it been a heavy railroad. I always forget how few regulatory teeth FTA has, compared to FRA.
I've discussed this ad nauseam with several different FTA officials over the years, and every time I hear the same argument: this is very much by design. The most substantial reason they always cite is that every US transit system is unique. The differences between properties are so great that it would not be feasible to effectively regulate all of them. Consider how many different track gauges, signaling systems, vehicle types, etc there are out there. They make a strong argument that it's practically impossible to write regulations that would be applicable across the board.

The other argument that often comes up is that the federal government has no jurisdiction over anything that doesn't cross state lines. WMATA is the only* US transit system that might technically be an exception to this, but even that isn't entirely clear because WMATA itself isn't part of any jurisdiction - it is its own sovereign entity.

*I realize that PATH is is mostly a transit system versus a railroad, but at one point in time it did have shared trackage so it makes sense that it falls under FRA oversight.
 #1489466  by MattW
 
St. Louis Metrolink crosses into Illinois, and PATCO crosses between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. But those are still exceptions.
 #1489521  by Sand Box John
 
"MattW"
St. Louis Metrolink crosses into Illinois, and PATCO crosses between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. But those are still exceptions.


Both are interstate compacts similar to WMATA.
 #1490234  by daybeers
 
YES! FINALLY! I don't quite understand why they're only going to be operating it during rush hours though. And why aren't they having six-car trains stop at the center of platforms?