KCSR begins PTC testing today

Kansas City Southern Railway will start its positive train control Field Integration Testing to evaluate existing PTC technologies and hardware prior to full implementation.    Kansas City Southern Railway is set to begin its Field Integration Testing of positive train control (PTC) today, according to a statement from the company.
   KCSR’s Field Integration Testing, a series of evaluations for existing PTC technologies and hardware prior to full implementation, will begin with the railway’s New Orleans Subdivision.
   “The team is wrapping up one phase of Verification and Validation (V&V), which consisted of validating the route, speed, critical feature locations, and configuration of PTC wayside devices within the subdivision file by the Geographic Information Systems and Signal Teams,” KCSR said. “V&V testing to date has been conducted with hi-rail vehicles.”
   PTC is a federally mandated wireless communication system that can override a conductor to slow or stop a train to prevent an accident. The original deadline for implementation of the safety program was Dec. 31, 2015, but Congress extended it in order to avoid a potential shutdown of major cargo and passenger service.
   The deadline extension to 2018 included a provision under which railroads could petition the Federal Railroad Administration for an extra two years to implement the intricate system.
   Three Class I railways – CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway and Canadian National Railway – along with a handful of passenger railroads, told the FRA earlier this month they will need until 2020 to install PTC across their networks. Kansas City Southern, Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway Co., and Canadian Pacific all said they would meet the 2018 deadline.