Federal Railroad Administration Approves California Positive Train Control System

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Fri Dec 12, 2014, 04:59 PM - Edit history (6)

FRA green-lights CBOSS PTC

Friday, December 12, 2014
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief

The Federal Railroad Administration has given Caltrain the green light to proceed with the installation and testing of its CBOSS (Caltrain Communications Based Overlay Signal System) Positive Train Control (PTC) technology. Parsons is leading the design, procurement, and installation of the system for Caltrain.

“CBOSS includes several advanced safety features not currently deployed in other PTC systems in the U.S., including assured scheduled station stops and near-side station crossing activation,” Parsons said in announcing FRA’s go-ahead. “The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015 in order to meet the PTC technology requirements established by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.”

CBOSS FAQ

1. What is CBOSS PTC?

CBOSS PTC stands for Communications Based Overlay Signal System (CBOSS) Positive Train Control (PTC).

CBOSS PTC is an advanced signal system that can monitor and control train movements and provide safety enhancements including PTC, which is mandated by the Federal Rail Safety Act of 2008. PTC is intended to prevent train to train collisions, overspeed derailments, and movement into established work zones or through a misaligned switch. Caltrain’s CBOSS project includes additional requirements such as, enhanced crossing safety and performance, improved headways and operational flexibility, enforcement of scheduled station stops, and schedule management.

Positive train control

News release from Parsons: Parsons’ Positive Train Control System for Caltrain Project Receives FRA Approval to Proceed

For More Information, Contact:

Erin Kuhlman
[phone]
[e-mail]

Caltrain says: Caltrain Modernization Program - CBOSS PTC Project

Not everyone gets it:

George Will: Why Liberals Love Trains

By George F. Will 2/27/11 at 10:00 AM

Generations hence, when the river of time has worn this presidency’s importance to a small, smooth pebble in the stream of history, people will still marvel that its defining trait was a mania for high-speed rail projects. This disorder illuminates the progressive mind.
....

So why is America’s “win the future” administration so fixated on railroads, a technology that was the future two centuries ago? Because progressivism’s aim is the modification of (other people’s) behavior.

Forever seeking Archimedean levers for prying the world in directions they prefer, progressives say they embrace high-speed rail for many reasons—to improve the climate, increase competitiveness, enhance national security, reduce congestion, and rationalize land use. The length of the list of reasons, and the flimsiness of each, points to this conclusion: the real reason for progressives’ passion for trains is their goal of diminishing Americans’ individualism in order to make them more amenable to collectivism.

To progressives, the best thing about railroads is that people riding them are not in automobiles, which are subversive of the deference on which progressivism depends. Automobiles go hither and yon, wherever and whenever the driver desires, without timetables. Automobiles encourage people to think they—unsupervised, untutored, and unscripted—are masters of their fates. The automobile encourages people in delusions of adequacy, which make them resistant to government by experts who know what choices people should make.

Yes, he does get paid to write that.

[pinto]

1. +1

Big train fan here. And a fairly regular rider.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. You can almost hear him hiss the word "progressives."

Cartoon America - Punch Lines: Gag & Single Panel Cartoons

“Let's go to the Trans-Lux and hiss Roosevelt!”
Peter Arno

Peter Arno (1904-1968) lampoons a group of middle-aged socialites hissing at President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Trans-Lux, a popular New York theater. In this drawing, unlike the published version, the group appears scantily dressed, perhaps for a costume party. Though highly popular with most Americans, Roosevelt was strongly disliked by many members of the conservative, social elite. The Trans-Lux often screened newsreels that featured the president. Arno's first published drawings appeared in 1925 in the New Yorker and remained a popular feature during his forty-year cartooning career.

[pinto]

3. Yeah. Really...

[MisterP]

4. does George Will not understand that cars will still be permitted?

it's not trains that are hurting the Interstate fund

by his logic we should've torn down every airport and spiked all the runways after the Grand Canyon Crash

of course my parents weren't each other's brothers so I can't really follow how he thinks