PTC

[philipmartin]

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blo ... channel=00" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[time]

A good article, and the point is right on. In business, and life, there are always going to be challenges. How you respond and conquer those challenges (or not) defines what kind of person you are. I don't know enough to comment on NJT's "rise to the challenge" status, but I can say that big projects at NJT over the years seem to move at a glacial pace. Understandably, there are political and financial issues that slow down progress, but is it not the job of NJT management to effectively confront those ... challenges ... and mitigate their effect? It is easy to throw up your hands and say you're not getting enough funding for expansion opportunities, blame system delays on Amtrak and reengineer your entire rail fleet to meet the current constraints. But solving the initial challenges rather than patching them is better for the long term.

So, NJT should rise to the challenge and get PTC on the system now. When I bought my car, I did not ask for a Tire Pressure Monitoring System, Vehicle Stability Control, Electronic Brake Distribution, Advanced Compatibility Engineering, blind spot monitoring, rearview backup camera or 500 airbags in my latest Honda. But, most are pretty much standard today and included in the cost of the car. You want a Honda Accord? You pay for all of those new safety systems. And should I ever be in a crash, or if the car saves me from actually crashing, then the relatively small extra investment is more than worth it. So, you want to ride the safe train? You pay for all those new, required, safety systems. I will gladly add another $5 to my monthly rail pass to pay for PTC.

[philipmartin]

http://www.nj.com/traffic/index.ssf/201 ... s_act.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/2015/10/ ... ed-safety/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[philipmartin]

The title of this article is "Amtrak may suspend rail service in mid-December."
http://www.progressiverailroading.com/a ... ber--46039" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[philipmartin]

About PTC, it is possoble to get exclusions from PTC for apecific tracks. The LIRR has one for main tracks in Jamaica, where a collision occurre a few months ago, this according to an article in Railway Age by David Schanoes. http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blo ... dents.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

About PTC, it is possoble to get exclusions from PTC for apecific tracks. The LIRR has one for main tracks in Jamaica, where a collision occurre a few months ago, this according to an article in Railway Age by David Schanoes. http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blo ... dents.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Terminal districts are a grey area, because at sub- 10 MPH the signal system can be overridden by human control. Kind of hard to operate a yard if every switcher's movement has to wait for a signal indication, so practicality rules inside yard/terminal limits with nearly every PTC system in use worldwide. And obviously when playing the odds slowest-speed collisions are far and away a least concern for injury prevention.

NJT has an exemption for the Princeton Dinky, since there's never a situation where more than one train is occupying the branch. It never relinquishes its block unless the trainset is tied down, so the pre-existing rules keep the train-on-train collision loophole closed.

LIRR has one for the Greenport Scoot, since daily schedule falls below the threshold (6 daily trains? Or 8?) for triggering the mandate. Same reason a lot of very light Amtrak schedules (Vermonter, Ethan Allen Express, etc.) are exempt on tracks where their host RR is exempt.

[nomis]

Daily Threshold: 6 RT's with a wayside signal system, 2 RT's in dark territory.

You will see exemptions for trains running both directions on a form D, and the equivalent for GCOR, NS warrants or CSX EC-1's.

[bleet]

House votes to delay implementation:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/house-delay ... 1445977571" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kilroy]

You mean Congress actually agreed on something important? That's shocking.

[Backshophoss]

Not quite yet,off to the "joint" conference committee to hammer something out for both the House and Senate
critters to agree to,then pass the the "joint" bill again in the House and Senate..........