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        Train Control
                Intelligent Grade Crossings
                Positive Train Control
                                Overview
                PTC Development
                PTC Analyses
                Incremental Train Control System
                PTC Testing & Evaluation
                
                Positive Train Control (PTC) Development
    

    
    
          Since 2001, the efforts to deploy PTC on various railroads have accelerated. These deployments were mostly started with development specific to the territory and the type of service the system would be installed to operate on (e.g., passenger service). These systems also vary in their implementations of the basic functionalities of a PTC system (i.e. to enforce authority and speed, as well as to protect roadway workers). Even the design of each system tends to be unique. Some systems use track transponders, mainly on passenger lines, to track trains. Others use GPS, supplemented by onboard devices for tracking. A few systems employ a centralized office system to perform major safety-critical functions, but others choose local distributed systems with peer-to-peer communication between a train and the wayside interface units. Some railroads elected to develop vital systems with safety-critical and fail-safe implementation. Others started with a non-vital overlay system where the protection relies mainly on the base system with an additional layer of protection from the PTC overlay. When the PTC overlay fails, the system is protected by the original base system. Generally, the non-vital overlay systems are less expensive to deploy.

The table below lists the various PTC systems that have been deployed or are under development and test, as of January 2007.

PTC Systems

Project
			StakeHolder
			Rail Corridor
			Miles
			StatusCBTM I
			CSXT
			Spartanburg SC - Augusta, GA
			138.6
			RevenueCBTMII
			CSXT
			Spartanburg SC - Erwin, TN
			110
			TestETMS I
			BNSF/FRA
			Beardstown - Centralia, IL
			130
			RevenueETMS II
			BNSF/FRA
			Fort Worth, TX - Oklahoma City, OK
			115
			TestITCS
			AMTRAK/MDOT/FRA
			Niles - Kalamazoo, MI
			66
			RevenueNAJPTC
			AAR/IDOT/FRA
			Springfield - Chicago,IL
			123
			TerminatedNAJPTC
			RRF/FRA
			TTCI, Pueblo, CO
			Test Track
			DevelopmentCAS
			AKRR/FRA
			Anchorage - Fairbanks, AK
			350
			DevelopmentACSES
			AMTRAK
			Boston, MA - New Haven, CT
			198
			RevenueACSES
			AMTRAK
			New Haven, CT - New York City, NY
			75
			RevenueOTC
			NS
			Columbia-Charleston, SC
			110
			DevelopmentCBTC I
			UPRR
			North Platte - Morrill South, NE
			193
			DevelopmentCBTC II
			UPRR
			Spokane, WA - Eastport, ID
			140
			DevelopmentASES I
			NJ TRANSIT
			Spring Valley, NY - Woodridge, NJ
			21
			TestASES II
			NJ TRANSIT
			Port Jervis, NY - Secaucus, NJ
			60
			TestFRA provided funding and technical supports for system development of ETMS, ITCS, CAS, and NAJPTC.   In addition, in cooperation with the industry and the AAR committees, FRA has supported the following PTC-related projects.

Universal Onboard Platform
	Higher Performance Digital Radio
	Communication Management Units
	Software Defined Radio
	TTCI Communication and PTC Test Beds
	Hi-Speed Wireless Data Transmission with 802.11x Protocol
	Employee-in-Charge Portable Terminals
	Risk Assessment Modeling
              
      
    
          Last updated: Thursday, December 5, 2019 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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