BLE Focus

Fall/Winter 2003
Volume 110 - No. 3 & 4

BLE Focus

An Examination of Positive Train Control

What Our Members Say

Jim Chiles, a member of BLE Division 474 (Blue Island, Ill.), operated a test train for three years and served as an engineer instructor on the Integrated Train Control System (ITCS). Amtrak runs the ITCS system between Chicago and Detroit. Brother Chiles has been involved in the project since its inception five years ago. He and Brother Dave Fernald - who works for Norfolk Southern and is Local Chairman of BLE Division 2 (Jackson, Mich.) - have worked closely with representatives of the various groups responsible for the implementation of the ITCS program.

The involvement of Brother Chiles and Brother Fernald at the beginning of the program ensured that the needs of locomotive engineers were met in the development of the system. Amtrak, the FRA and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) were all cooperative with Brother Chiles and Brother Fernald and incorporated their suggestions into the final product.

"Everything we suggested was implemented by Amtrak after it had been checked by the FRA," said Chiles. "They were very cooperative and understanding through out the process."

The ITCS system is adaptable for all styles of engineers, according to Chiles. Those who are more aggressive or more cautious find that the system can comfortably adapt to their own personal preferences. However, those at the most aggressive end of the spectrum find that the system does not allow them to be "cowboys."

Brother Chiles' fellow engineers were somewhat apprehensive about the new technology at the outset, but quickly adapted to it as time went on because they were open-minded. One of the negative aspects of the program was the fact that it used on-the-job training as opposed to a test train to train the locomotive engineers in the use of the technology, according to Chiles.

"I believe the on-the-job training could have caused a safety issue had the engineers in training not trusted me," said Brother Chiles. "My hat is off to them for their patience and understanding. They wanted to learn and accepted the situations that were created during this training period.

"Any new system is scary. It was new and there could have been problems. They had to have confidence that the system was not going to fail them."

Brother Fernald's experience was similar to that of Brother Chiles. He was involved in training the NS locomotive engineers on his territory.

"The system is easy to learn," said Brother Fernald. "And it doesn't erode any of the skills of locomotive engineers."

Brother Fernald believes that the ITCS system has the potential to be deployed all over the country on all railroads.

"If they continue to work all of the bugs out of the system, I think, based on my knowledge of the other systems being tested, that this one could be used all over," said Brother Fernald.

Fernald credits the collaboration between Amtrak, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the FRA and the BLE members involved for making this program work.

"The collaborative process is important," said Brother Fernald. "Together, each party was able to come up with things that the others may not have thought of.

"It is really nice to see that the BLE is working to keep the dialogue open."

The BLE supports the development and implementation of PTC and has formed a task force within the organization to study Positive Train Control and to find ways to make it better and safer. The BLE wants to ensure that the technology is properly designed to be human centered. The task force will consist of members from every level of the organization.

By lending an engineer's expertise to the design and implementation of these systems, the BLE can make a large contribution to advance the goal of the NTSB, FRA, the railroads and the BLE in deploying safe and sane PTC systems.

Leading the PTC Task Force is International Vice-President Dale McPherson. The BLE feels that the only way that it can ensure safe implementation of the products that will eventually be approved through the FRA's regulation on Processor-Based Train Control will be to have the active involvement of persons on the property.

The FRA's PTC regulation is a "performance based" standard. That standard essentially states, the proposed system can not deteriorate the level of safety of the system it replaces. In order to determine compliance, the BLE must have expertise at the property level and develop a pipeline to inform the International Division of problems and virtues of a given system. This will enable the ID to oversee and report to FRA specific issues that may need addressed. It will also give the BLE the ability to offer assistance to others where similar systems may be deployed.

Current PTC news

In a letter sent on November 6, 2003, to the Association of American Railroads, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended the freight rail group establish priorities and aggressively work to resolve long-standing technical obstacles.

"While the safety board understands that (train control technology) is complex and expensive, the board remains convinced that these systems provide the best approach to reduce human-error collisions," safety board chairman Ellen Engleman said.

The recommendation was prompted by the board's finding that crew error likely caused a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train to ram a commuter train last year outside Los Angeles, killing two people. Investigators said a train control system would have prevented the accident.

The Federal Railroad Administration is working on standards for train control technology but an industry source said regulators would not likely set a deadline for implementation and would probably leave it to freight companies and equipment manufacturers to resolve the most important issues.

Continued on Page 5

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