Alaska Railroad Corporation Awards Vital Positive Train Control Contract to US&S

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) has awarded a contract to Union Switch & Signal for the implementation of a vital (fail-safe) Positive Train Control (PTC) system. "This project is very significant because it sets a new standard for safety in the industry," said Eileen Riley, Vice President of Projects, Engineering, Technology & Signals for ARRC. "Alaska Railroad felt very strongly about having a vital system in place, and we knew that Union Switch & Signal was capable of providing this for us."

The vital PTC system objectives are:

- Prevention of train-to-train collisions.

- Vital enforcement of speed restrictions, including permanent speed restrictions and temporary slow orders.

- Provide enforced protection for roadway workers and their equipment operating under specific authority.

"This will be the first vital stand-alone PTC system ever to be put into service," said Ken Burk, President and CEO of Union Switch & Signal. "Our patented technology for vital PTC is another industry first for US&S. Other PTC systems that have been implemented to date have been overlayed on existing signaling systems."

The US&S scope of work includes delivery of a computer aided dispatching (CAD) system, a safety server implemented using US&S' MicroLok II vital logic controller, and an on-board computer (OBC) based on US&S' MicroCab platform.

The Alaska Railroad territory is predominantly unsignaled. Train location is determined by on-board Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, which are already in service. In the unsignaled territory, trains will be dispatched via direct traffic control (DTC) authorities that will be digitally transmitted to the locomotive via a data radio network. The US&S MicroLok safety server will validate the DTC authorities prior to issuance. The OBC will provide vital limit of authority and speed enforcement.

The PTC system is planned to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2007. 

About Union Switch & Signal Inc.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA and with manufacturing operations in Batesburg, SC, Union Switch & Signal Inc. (US&S) is a leader in the design, manufacture and service of signaling, automation and control equipment and systems for the railroad and mass transit industries worldwide. US&S is a subsidiary of Ansaldo Signal N.V., a Finmeccanica company.

www.switch.com