Network-Centric
Railway Operations
Utilizing Intelligent Railway Systems
Steve Ditmeyer
SCORT/TRB
Rail Capacity Workshop
Jacksonville, Florida
September 22, 2010
Network Centric Warfare
Use integrated digital data communications, GPS
positioning, sensors, and computers to obtain:
• Increased operational flexibility
• Increased decision-making speed
• Cost savings due to improved asset utilization
• Improved support to dispersed elements
• Increased visibility and better understanding of ops
• Self-synchronization of subordinate organizations
• Benefits resulting from increased connectivity
Department of Defense Command and
Control Research Program
www.dodccrp.org
Asst. Secy. of Defense for Networks
and Information Integration
Strategic Information
“We must view information
as a strategic asset.
Timely, accurate, and trusted information
lies at the heart of network-centric
operations.”
– John G. Grimes, DoD CIO
Next Generation Air Traffic Control
FAA is transitioning:
• “from ground based radar to satellite-based
navigation and surveillance,
• from analog voice communications to digital data
exchange, and, most significant,
• from disconnected and incompatible information
systems to a scalable, network-centric
architecture. This will ensure that everyone using
the system has easy access to the same
information at the same time, when needed.”
Network Centric Railway Operations
and Intelligent Railway Systems
Use the same technologies found in:
• Network-centric warfare
• Next Generation air traffic control systems
• Intelligent Transportation Systems for highways and
transit
• Maritime vessel tracking systems
• Parcel delivery services (UPS, FedEx, DHL)
• Emergency response services (police, fire, medical)
Network Centric Railway Operations
and Intelligent Railway Systems
Use integrated digital data communications, positioning
systems, sensors, and computers on railways to:
– Improve both safety and security
– Raise effective capacity
– Improve asset utilization
– Improve customer satisfaction
– Measure and control costs
– Reduce energy consumption and emissions
– Increase economic viability and profits
– “Manage the unexpected”
What Railway Managers
Need to Know
• Where mobile assets* were (for billing, payments, and analysis)
• Where mobile assets are and what they are doing, in real time
• Real-time status of fixed assets**
• Where mobile assets will be at time t1 in the future
• Where mobile assets need to be at time t2 in the future
• How best to get the mobile assets from where they are and
will be to where they need to be
• That the correct instructions are being conveyed to the right crews
and vehicles, and that the instructions are being obeyed
* Trains, locomotives, cars, crews, maintenance equipment
** Track, bridges, tunnels, switches, terminals
Network-Centric Railway Operations
Utilizing Intelligent Railway Systems
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Architecture
Prerequisite systems for PTC
Positive Train Control (PTC)
Systems directly related to PTC
Other control center systems
Other train-borne systems
Other infrastructure-based
systems
Law and regulations
Impediments to implementation
Implementation recommendations
Summary
NCW
NETWORK CENTRIC RAILWAY OPERATIONS
Commercial Communications
Carriers or Internet
PASSENGERS
Traveler Information
and Reservations
FREIGHT SHIPPERS
Shipment Reservations
Shipment Information
Operating
Data
Systems
Customer
Information
and
Reservations
Train
Control
Centers
Locomotive
Maintenance
Facilities
Train,
Locomotive,
Car & Crew
Scheduling
Tactical and
Strategic Traffic
Planners
Freight Can
Maintenance
Facilities
Track
Maintenance
Facilities
Railway Mobile Radios
VHF & UHF
Railway Backbone Communications Network - microwave, fiber optic, copper cable, leased circuits
Roadway
Workers
Locomotives
Switches
Weather
Sensors
Track
Circuits
Grade
Crossings
Defect
Detectors
End-of-Train
Devices
TRAINS & MAINTENANCE CREWS
AEI UHF
antennas
Freight Cars
Automatic
Equipment
Identification
DGPS
MF xmtr
In-Train Communications – ECP Brakes
Commercial Cellular or
Satellite Communications
RAILWAY MANAGEMENT CENTERS
Differential
GPS
TRACKSIDE
Prerequisite Systems for
Positive Train Control
• Digital data link communications networks
• GPS and Differential GPS (DGPS)
• Automatic Equipment Identification (AEI)
Home
Digital Data Link
Communications
• The key enabler of network-centric railway operations
• Can use any communications medium as a backbone:
microwave, fiber optic cable, copper wire, cell phones,
satellite communications
• Current analog mobile radios used by train crews and
roadway workers need to be replaced with digital mobile
radios
• Permits discretely addressed messages to individuals or
multiple parties; not broadcast
• FCC has provided 181 VHF and 12 UHF frequencies for
railway mobile radio
Why Switch from Voice
Radio to Digital Data Link?
• Limited communications channels between dispatcher
and field
• Congestion
• Exchange of information not timely
• Erroneous information not stopped
• Train collisions caused by communications mistakes
• Dispatchers, train and MOW crews, safety officials believe
poor communications contributes to accidents
Global Positioning System
GPS
GPS Nominal
Constellation:
• 24 satellites in
6 orbital planes
• 4 satellites in each
plane
• Altitude 20,200 km
• Inclination 55 degrees
Differential GPS
• GPS satellite constellation provides 10 m accuracy
• DGPS is an augmentation of GPS providing 1-to-2
meter positioning accuracy
• DGPS monitors GPS integrity; users receive warning
of GPS degradation within 5 seconds
• Currently operational with single coverage over 90%
of continental US and double coverage over 45%
• DGPS signals available to anyone with proper
receiver; no user fee
• Managed and monitored 24/7 at USCG Navigation
Center, Alexandria, VA
Differential GPS
• Uses decommissioned USAF Ground Wave Emergency
Network (GWEN) sites to send out correction signals
• International standard (RTCM 104) developed by US
Coast Guard; used in 40 countries
• Joint project with FRA, USCG, FHWA, OST, USACE,
TVA, states, and others
• Date for Full Operational Capability with double
coverage uncertain due to funding limitations
• High-Accuracy DGPS (HA-DGPS) developed and tested
by FHWA and USCG at Hagerstown, MD site: 10-20 cm
accuracy
Differential GPS Coverage
Source: 2008 Federal
Radionavigation Plan
Worldwide DGPS Coverage
Automatic Equipment
Identification
• Two passive AEI (ie., RFID) tags installed on each North
American freight car and locomotive since 1995; AAR
Interchange Rule, no government involvement
• Readers at track-side interrogate tags at 900 MHz radio
frequency; the readers require periodic “tuning” to
maintain 100% read rate
• Tags respond with vehicle initial and number
• Can be integrated with wayside equipment sensors to
identify specific freight cars with problems
• Active tags with read-write capability also available, but
require periodic battery replacement
• Provides accurate confirmation of train consists to PTC
computers
AEI Tag and Reader
AEI Tags for
Containers and Trailers
• ISO has adopted the same tag for international
shipping containers as a voluntary standard
• The US railway AEI standard was based on the
draft ISO container tag standard
• ATA has adopted the same tag for US road truck
trailers and chassis as a voluntary standard
• It would be ideal if container and trailer tagging
standards became mandatory industry standards
as with rail freight cars
Positive Train Control (PTC)
Components
• Along the wayside
- Digital data radios and backbone communications network
- Wayside interface units at switches and detectors
• On locomotives and roadway maintenance vehicles
- Digital mobile radios (data and voice)
- On-board computer with digital maps (maps made by
surveying the track network with DGPS)
- DGPS receivers
- Throttle-brake interface
- Integrated displays
• At the control center
- Dispatching computer with displays
- Digital communications terminals (data and voice)
PTC Positioning
• Multiple inputs on train position are integrated:
– DGPS
– Odometer
– Switch position indicators
– Digital track map in control center and on-board
computers
• Train and roadway worker position is sent over the data
link to the control center; movement authorities are sent
over the data link from the control center to trains and
roadway workers
• Track centers are 4 m apart, which requires 1-2 m
positioning accuracy (i.e., DGPS)
• Accurate positioning also needed at clearance points at
switches
Positive Train Control
• Reduces probability of overspeed accidents
and of train collisions and train-roadway worker
collisions by a factor of 100
• Provides enhanced security through:
- Monitoring location and speed of all trains
- Monitoring all switches, bridges, tunnels, etc.
- Only authorized persons can control trains
- On-board enforcement of all movement
authorities
- Remote intervention capability from control
center
Comparison of
Train Control Systems
• Centralized Traffic Control (CTC)
Bought by the mile, installed along the track
Costs: 80% wayside, 20% control center
Stays in place along the track
• Positive Train Control (PTC)
Bought by the region, significant portion vehicle-borne
Costs: 40% vehicle-borne, 40% wayside, 20%
control center
Moves where the traffic moves
Cheaper than replacing and retaining existing signal
systems, plus offers greater functionality
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Capital vs. O&M costs for PTC
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An FRA report in March 2004 estimated the capital
cost of PTC on all the US railroads would be $4.4
billion.
FRA’s PTC NPRM in July 2009 estimated the capital
cost of PTC to be $5 billion.
– However, FRA also added $5 to 8 billion
(depending on interest rate) as the NPV of 20
years of PTC operations and maintenance. This is
different from the capital cost!
Cost comparison –
PTC vs. current signal systems
• Railroads currently spend for communications and
signaling $564 million per year on capital and $500
million per year on maintenance.
• PTC spending would be in place of most of this, not in
addition to it.
• It would take $9 billion to replace current CTC systems
with modern ones, at a cost of $140,000 per mile. And
that is on just 50% of the railroad network.
Why railroads say there are no
business benefits from PTC
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One railroad (since merged out of existence) wrote to
FRA saying that there could be no business benefits
from PTC because, on that railroad, running time,
running time reliability, and asset utilization were so
good that there was no room for any improvement.
If a railroad implements PTC using the track block
occupancy paradigm, it will not get the business
benefits.
Business benefits can be achieved
with Network-Centric Systems
• Previous train control systems - DTC, TWC, ABS, CTC,
ATS, ATC - all function on the principle of track block
occupancy, and the signal systems then use relay logic to
determine what authority can be granted to a train.
• PTC, on the other hand, functions with a totally different
paradigm: real-time, precise, continuous information
about the location and speed of trains and maintenance
vehicles, and the principle that no two things can occupy
the same space at the same time.
• As a result, PTC can support improved meet-pass
planning, closer spacing between trains, and greater
awareness of “windows” for maintenance and inspection.
How PTC Permits More Efficient Train Meets
Accurate projections of train location reveal opportunities to
reduce meet/pass delays.
How PTC Permits More Efficient Train Passes
The ability to operate with short headways can reduce
meet/pass delays.
Systems Directly Related
to PTC
• PTC displays dispatcher and cab
• Track forces terminals
• Wayside track sensors
• Locomotive health
monitoring systems
• Energy management
systems
• Work order reporting
systems
Home
• Tactical traffic planners
• Strategic traffic
planners
• Crew registration and
time keeping systems
• Intelligent weather
systems
• Emergency notification
systems
Control Center Displays
Control center displays will provide dispatchers
with:
• Precise location and speed information on
each train and maintenance vehicle
• Ability to efficiently issue movement authorities
• Performance of trains against schedule
• Tactical and strategic traffic plans
• Health status of locomotives and cars
• Interface for crisp and informed
tactical decisions
• Status of on-board and
wayside systems
How PTC Control Centers
Help Dispatchers
• Reduce dispatchers’ communication load
• Improve dispatchers’ communication efficiency
and speed
• Increase dispatchers’ communication precision
• Radically change dispatchers’ communication
focus:
– Traffic planning and problem solving replace
information gathering and movement authorization as
dispatchers’ primary tasks
Locomotive Cab Displays
Coordinated displays of relevant information to train
crews in both graphical and textual formats:
• Train position and speed
• Current movement authority
• Current and upcoming route profile
• Train consist, with special handling instructions
• In-train forces
• Actual and recommended throttle and brake
settings
• Locomotive and car health
• Set-out and pick-up instructions
Locomotive Cab Displays
Locomotive Cab Displays
Locomotive Cab Displays
Locomotive Cab Displays
Track Forces Terminals
• Provide the interface for communications to and
from roadway workers
• Can be laptop computers or PDAs
• Enable crews to determine future track occupancy
and to request “track and time” from dispatcher
• Display current movement authority
• Enable crews to place slow orders and to transmit
administrative data
• Should greatly improve productivity of roadway
workers by eliminating uncertainty of track
availability
Wayside Track Sensors
• Track sensors detect conditions/anomalies
that occur on or alongside the track
• Information is transmitted over the data link to
train and track crews and the control center
for immediate action or logging for
unscheduled maintenance
• Conditions detected include: switch position,
broken rail, misaligned track, high water, rock
and snow slides, excessive rail stress,
misaligned bridges and trestles, blocked
culverts, weather information
Locomotive Health
Monitoring Systems
• Provide real-time and historical internal health
monitoring data for engines, electrical systems,
dynamic and air brake systems, hydraulic
systems, exhaust systems, fuel tanks
• Transmit health data to locomotive cab, and over
the data link to the control center, locomotive
scheduling center, and locomotive shops
• Include event recorders
• Allow collection of health data for maintenancebased decision making
• Improve reliability, availability, and utilization rate
of locomotives
Energy Management Systems
• Goal is to optimize fuel consumption and
emissions
• Use train, locomotive health, track, and
schedule information to determine best speed
profile
• Provide guidance to locomotive engineers for
best throttle settings
Work Order Reporting
• Instructions sent from control center to train crews to
set out and pick up loaded and empty cars en route
• On-board train consist updated automatically based
on crew acknowledgement of work order completed
• Train consists in control center and central computer
data bases also updated in real time
• Location of set-outs automatically recorded
• Customers can be automatically notified of impending
or actual car placement
• Important for establishing “custody chain” of
shipments
Tracking Hazmat and
Other Shipments
• AEI confirms the locos and cars on each train and
sends it to operating data system
• DGPS receiver determines location of the loco to within
1-2 meters and speed to within 1-2 km/hr and data
radio transmits it back to dispatchers and operating
data system
• Work order reporting system confirms set-outs and
pick-ups and sends them to operating data system
• Data in train location, train consist, work order
reporting, and waybill data bases can be merged to
precisely locate every car/shipment
• Authorized parties (at railway and shipper) can inquire
about precise car/shipment location
Tactical Traffic Planners
• Enable dispatchers to look ahead in time
• Identify where trains should meet and pass, and
which trains should take sidings
• Allow roadway workers to select best “windows”
• Feedback provided by the PTC system will allow
replanning as necessary
• Receive target times from the Strategic Traffic
Planner
Strategic Traffic Planners
• STPs can measure train movements against a set of
externally-defined schedules
• Cost-minimizing decisions can be made on whether,
and how, to adjust train priorities and schedules on a
real-time basis
• Display the performance of trains against schedule and
show the real-time location and future location of every
train by type
• Federal Aviation Administration applies this philosophy
to the management of air traffic
• System, rather than local, optimization is possible
Hierarchy of Rail Traffic
Flow Control
Crew Registration and
Time-Keeping Systems
• Use passwords, card keys, biometrics to
identify crew members authorized to
operate trains
• Movement authority issued only when
designated crew is on board and logged in
• On and off duty times, and terminal
departure and arrival times, automatically
sent to operating data system for payroll
accuracy [ Airline O-O-O-I systems]
Intelligent Weather Systems
• Combine data from railway weather sensors
(wayside and on-board) and national,
regional, and local forecast data to alert train
control centers and train crews of actual or
potential hazardous weather conditions
• Advanced warning for flooding, track
washouts, fog, high winds, sudden freezes,
snow, avalanches, mud, and rock slides
Emergency Notification System
• Automated reporting of railway incidents
• Notification of all involved organizations
• Coordination and control of organizations
involved
• Information services for media and passengers
• Registration and analysis of performance
• Faster resolution of problems and resumption of
service
Other Control Center
Systems
• Scheduling systems - locomotive, car,
and train crew
• Yield management systems
• Travelers advisory systems
• Data archiving systems
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Scheduling Systems
• When trains run on schedule, scheduling of
locomotives, cars, and crews is possible
• Locomotive and car scheduling permits better
allocation of assets, less cross-hauling
• Car scheduling makes it possible for
customers to make car reservations, and for
railways to use yield management
• Crew scheduling permits predictable work
hours and regular periods of sleep and
recreation
Yield Management Systems
• Enable railways to establish variable pricing
policies
• Links price charged for a service to customer
demand
• Requires data from car scheduling and car
reservation systems
• Useful especially for intermodal and grain
traffic
• All major airlines use yield management for
selling seats
Travelers Advisory Systems
• Used primarily by commuter railroads
• GPS receivers and data radios on trains
provide real-time location
• Train locations can be shown on web
• ETAs of trains can be displayed at stations
• Permits train performance record keeping
• Can be free-standing or integrated with PTC
and the railway data link network
Data Archiving Systems
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Enable railways to capture and retain
data generated by intelligent railway
systems and make them available for
analysis
Permit the summarization of the huge
amounts of fine-grained data generated
Some railway lawyers are concerned
about this capability
Other Train-Borne Systems
• Electronically-controlled pneumatic (ECP)
brakes
• Car on-board component sensors
• Car on-board commodity sensors
• Vehicle-borne track monitoring sensors
• Vehicle-borne track lubrication systems
• Passenger-train inventory management
and emergency notification systems
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Electronically-Controlled
Pneumatic (ECP) Brakes
• Electronic initiation and release of brake
applications
• Permits simultaneous application of all brakes on
the train
• Shortens braking distance
• Reduces in-train coupler forces and slack action
• Wireline carries the electronic signals between
cars and locomotive
• Enables data collection/monitoring of car
components and car contents
(continued)
Electronically-Controlled
Pneumatic (ECP) Brakes
(continued)
• Shorter braking distance enables closer
headways and increased track capacity
• Train running time is reduced and reliability is
increased
• Wheel and brake shoe wear is reduced, cutting
cost of wheel and brake shoe replacement
• Reduced in-train coupler forces and slack action
reduces damage to car components and
commodities
• Safety of operations is enhanced
Freight Car On-board
Component Sensors
• Sensors are mounted on rolling stock to identify and
report a number of defects related to the cars
• Defects detected include: overheated bearings and
wheels, impacts and vibrations from flat or derailed
wheels, excessive bogie hunting, excessive longitudinal
forces, braking system status
• Data is transmitted via the ECP braking system to the
cab and then over the data link to the control center and
freight car maintenance facilities
Freight Car On-board
Commodity Sensors
• Sensors are being mounted on freight cars to monitor
the status of the commodities being carried
• Status data includes temperature, pressures, load
position, radiation, vibration
• Data transmitted via ECP braking system to cab and
then over the data link to the control center, freight car
maintenance facilities, and shippers
• Additional proprietary sensor and satellite or cellular
communications packages are also in use for tracking
and condition monitoring
Vehicle-Borne
Track Monitoring Sensors
• Vehicle-mounted sensors to detect various defects or
conditions which may require immediate crew
attention
• Rail flaws, broken rail, misaligned track, track soft
spots, corrugated rail, and excessive rail stress can
be detected
• DGPS determines precise location of defects and
conditions
• Data is presented in inspection coach or loco cab and
transmitted over the data link to the control center and
track maintenance crews
Vehicle-Borne
Track Lubrication Systems
• DGPS and digital track map determine
precise locations at which vehicle-borne
track lubrication systems are activated
• Result is significant reduction in train
friction and train energy consumption
Passenger train inventory
management and emergency
notification systems
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Transmit information on seat and compartment
occupancy over the data link to passenger service
management centers – enable Amtrak to sell space that
would otherwise go unoccupied
Enable food service personnel to request restocking of
items in short supply
In case of on-board emergencies, notification of the
locomotive crew, control centers, and emergency
responders can be carried out rapidly
Other Infrastructure-Based
Systems
• Wayside equipment sensors
• Intelligent grade crossings
• Yard management systems
• Security systems
• Supervisory control and data
acquisition (SCADA) systems
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Wayside Equipment Sensors
• Equipment sensors detect anomalies of
rolling stock components
• Data is transmitted over the data link to the
locomotive cab, the control center, and freight
car maintenance facilities
• Conditions detected include: overheated
bearings and wheels, deteriorating bearings,
cracked and flat wheels, derailed wheels,
excessive truck hunting, dragging equipment,
excessive lateral and vertical loads, skewed
trucks, excessively high and wide loads
Intelligent Grade Crossings
• Establish communication between railway control
systems and highway control centers and signal
systems
• Train presence and arrival times can be
communicated over the data link to highway
traffic control centers and to motor vehicle
operators via in-vehicle and/or wayside displays
• Stalled vehicle detection can alert trains
• Second-train-on-approach warnings
• Reduction in gate down times and traffic
congestion
Architecture of ITS User Service #30 - Highway-Rail
Intersections
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Yard Management Systems
• The key link between movement of trains and
movement of cars
• Receive real-time info on location and consist
of each train on the system
• Keep track of all cars in the yards
• Receive goals and objectives from STP
• Schedule the time required for each yard
operation to be be performed
• Supplies forecast of yard departure times to
the STP
Security Systems
• Closed-circuit television cameras
• Infrared presence detectors
• Deployed at yards, terminals, bridges,
tunnels, and on some locomotives, to provide
detection of intruders and obstructions
• Appropriate information transmitted to train
control centers, train crews, maintenance
crews, and security forces
Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition (SCADA) Systems
• Monitor all wayside and on-board
systems and report their status to
control centers
• Enable appropriate level of dependency
on each system to be determined
• Reduce requirements for field
inspections
Home
Rail Safety Improvement Act
of 2008
By April 16, 2010, each Class I railroad and each
entity providing intercity or commuter rail passenger
service shall develop and submit to FRA a plan for
implementing PTC by December 31, 2015,
governing operations on-–All main lines (ie., > 5 MGT) where passenger trains run
–All main lines where hazardous material is carried
–Other tracks specified by the Secy of Transportation
Can railroads meet the 2015
target date?
• Yes, if the moon, the stars, and the
planets are all aligned perfectly.
Won’t Congress be upset if
the railroads don’t meet the
2015 deadline?
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I believe that if the railroads make a good faith
effort to meet the deadline, Congress won’t
intervene.
However, if railroads don’t show a commitment*
soon to meeting the deadline, railroads will be
facing the specter of reregulation sooner rather
than later.
* commitment = hiring new staff and contractors
and issuing purchase orders for PTC equipment
How FRA will Regulate PTC
and Related Systems
• FRA adopted a performance-based approach for this rulemaking
• Railroad must submit a Railroad Safety Program Plan to FRA
- Address safety hazards associated with operation of PTC and
related systems, and describe its program for implementation
of these systems
• Railroad and vendor must submit Product Safety Plan to FRA for
approval 180 days prior to planned use
- Complete description of product including development,
installation, implementation, operation, maintenance, repair,
inspection, testing, modification, and any other safety aspects
- Complete description of territory and operation where it will be
applied
• Minimum performance standard: No worse than what is out there now
FRA says the Product
Safety Plan must address:
• Training criteria for control center personnel,
train crews, roadway workers
• Risk assessment criteria, in terms of Mean
Time to Hazardous Event (MTTHE) and
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
• Safety assurance criteria and processes
• Independent review of verification and
validation processes
• Human-Machine Interface (HMI) criteria
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Impediments to Implementation of
Network Centric Railway Operations
• Magnitude of costs; competition for capital
• Pressure by the investment community to deliver nearterm on investments
• Shortage of capital – left over from railway mergers and
post-merger problems; need to invest in capacity
• Time to implement: 7+ years
• Lack of trained staff
• Fear of liabilities; problems in saying rwys will be “safer”
• Interoperability issues come into play – depending on
degree of independence of the railway companies
• Fear of change, institutional and individual
• Misuse of “80-20 rule”; 20% of the costs do NOT result in
80% of the benefits
More Impediments to
Implementation of Network Centric
Railway Operations
• Unwilling to view existing signaling systems as sunk costs
• Uncertainty about customer response to improved service
• US railways discount “soft” efficiency benefits heavily,
count only “hard” labor and fuel savings benefits
• Some railways try to minimize cost of subsystems and not
optimize total system
• Some railways are implementing free-standing and
independent systems, not integrated systems
• Some railways want PTC based on existing operating
rules, not on new paradigm
Still More Impediments to
Implementation of Network
Centric Railway Operations
• Signaling community (signal maintainers, signal engineers,
signal suppliers, signal consultants, signal regulators) tied to
legacy systems
• Railway budgeting often calls for each department to justify
its own projects
• Railways not organized for implementing NCRO;
telecommunications and train control report to different
department heads
• Availability of new information means that information flows
must be changed
• Uncertainty about government regulations and regulators
• Proposed separation of railways into infrastructure and
operating companies
Yet Even More Impediments to
Implementation of Network
Centric Railway Operations
• Railways are concerned about US military control of
GPS; EU’s Galileo should help; DOD has promised to
eliminate its capability to degrade GPS signals
• Senior railway managers got promoted by successfully
managing downsizing and cost-cutting, not growth
• Railways wanted off-the-shelf systems, but didn’t give
suppliers the commitment to enable them to put
systems on-the-shelf
• Railways had said that business benefits of PTC were
less than the costs, that current operations were so
good there was little room for improvement
Home
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #1
• Implement integrated systems, rather
than free-standing systems
– The new digital telecommunications
systems have substantial capacity
– Digital communications permits discretely
addressed messages to individuals or
multiple parties
– Avoid using separate radios for each
subsystem
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #2
• Study information flows
– Provide each person with all the
information he/she needs to do his/her job
– Provide each person with only the
information he/she needs to do his/her job
– Make sure the information is intelligible
– Decide which information to “push to”
users and which to have “pulled by” users
– Consult the users
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #3
• Security and information assurance must be
constant considerations
– Data regarding trains, freight cars, crews, and
shipments must be kept confidential
– Authentication of data will insure that the content
is genuine, unaltered, and complete
– Unwarranted extraction of information from
communications network must be prevented
– Encrypt data to keep it out of wrong hands
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #4
• Backup and redundancy are important
– Fault-tolerant system architecture
– Dual-redundant components
– Integrated architecture provides checks
and balances to limit the impact and
propagation of human errors
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #5
• Don’t underestimate the inertia of legacy
systems
– PTC offers a new paradigm
– Net-centric systems provide real-time information
– Operating rules must be changed; don’t saddle
PTC with old rules that were based on delayed
information flows
– Legacy systems must be written off as “sunk
costs”
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #6
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Technological change will affect companies in
unforeseen ways; choices have to be made in
intellectual capital, financial capital, and process
– Additional staff with proper skills will need to be hired and
trained
– Reallocation of capital needed to implement PTC and netcentric systems
– PTC and net-centric systems will generate capital for
investment in infrastructure and rolling stock
– Budgeting processes must be modernized; “soft dollar”
benefits included, not just “hard”
– Don’t optimize subsystems - optimize total system
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #7
• Be aware that net-centric operations will
affect your organization’s culture
– Only with changes in the way an organization
does business can it fully leverage the power of
information
– Information flows will be different; some in the
organization will feel threatened
– Telecommunications and train control staffs need
extremely close working relationship
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #8
• Make sure the implementation team
represents all affected departments
– The team members must coordinate project
activities with their home departments
– The team members must coordinate project
activities with their counterparts at their
supplier/contractor
– The team members must coordinate project
activities with each other
– Do not try to minimize the size of the team
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #9
• Recognize that net-centric operations are not
a panacea; they may encourage
micromanagement
– Use information to improve performance of the
railway, not to monitor the performance of
individuals
– Net-centric systems enable both “reach back” and
“reach forward” for information. There must be a
balance between centralized planning and local
execution.
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #10
• Choose top leaders well
– “Leaders Count”
– The top leaders must understand the
technology, establish the proper
environment for its deployment, and
provide proper incentives
– The top leaders must elevate the project
implementation team in the hierarchy and
talk with the team regularly
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #11
• An implementation strategy must be
established early
– Top leadership and project implementation
team must jointly set it
– Are you going to implement a “safety-only”
system, or a system that encompasses
safety, efficiency, and service?
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #12
• Communicating is important!
– The implementation strategy must be
communicated throughout the railroad to all
departments
– Suppliers and customers need to be informed
– Consult early and often with your unions; they are
the folks who will install, operate, and maintain the
systems. They are key to success.
Achieving Long-Term PTC Benefits Recommendation #13
•
Maintain realistic expectations, and be
patient
– Net-centric systems are governed by Metcalfe’s
Law, which asserts that the power of a network is
proportional to the square of the number of
nodes in the network
– But … Metcalfe’s Law is really about potential
gains; there is no guarantee that simply hooking
things up will make the results better
– Thinking, planning, and organizing are essential!
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Summary
• A new era is upon us
• Railroads have the opportunity to maximize the
benefits from their investments
• Network-centric operations are the way of the
future in many different organizations; a
“system of systems”
• Learn from successes and failures of other
users
• Improved railroad safety, security, efficiency,
and profitability are all achievable with
network centric railway operations and
intelligent railway systems
“Net-enabled operations,
while clearly complex, can actually
be described quite simply.
It is all about ensuring timely
and accurate information gets
where it’s needed, when it’s needed,
and to those who need it most.”
– John G. Grimes, DoD CIO
Questions ?
Prof. Steve Ditmeyer
Railway Management Program
Michigan State University
www.raileducation.com
Phone: 703-768-5540
Cell phone: 703-980-0073
Email: srdit@aol.com
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