Journal of Accident Investigation
Journal of Accident Investigation
Journal of Accident Investigation
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Positive Train Control Systems<br />
Jana Price and Jim Southworth, National Transportation Safety Board<br />
On March 2-3, 200 , the National Transportation Safety Board hosted the Positive Train<br />
Control (PTC) Systems Symposium at the NTSB Academy in Ashburn, Virginia. The goal <strong>of</strong><br />
the symposium was to reinvigorate dialogue regarding issues relevant to the implementation <strong>of</strong><br />
PTC systems. More than 1 0 people participated in the symposium, including representatives<br />
from the railroad industry, equipment manufacturers, and government regulators.<br />
In her opening remarks, Safety Board Chairman Ellen Engleman Conners emphasized<br />
the need for PTC by noting that 14 head-on, rear-end, and side collision accidents had<br />
occurred in 2003, and that 91 percent <strong>of</strong> those accidents were attributed to human error.<br />
PTC systems are designed to employ automatic control systems to override mistakes made by<br />
human operators, thereby preventing train collisions and over-speed accidents.<br />
BACKGROUND<br />
Over the last three decades, the Safety Board has investigated numerous accidents in<br />
which crewmembers failed to operate their trains effectively and in accordance with operating<br />
rules for a variety <strong>of</strong> reasons, including fatigue, medications use, or distractions within the<br />
operating cab. Because <strong>of</strong> the potential for such accidents, the Safety Board has advocated<br />
implementation <strong>of</strong> a system that compensates for human error and incorporates collision<br />
avoidance. The Safety Board believes that this system, known in the industry as positive<br />
train control, is particularly important where passenger trains and freight trains operate on<br />
the same tracks. Because <strong>of</strong> the Safety Board’s longstanding interest in this issue, the issue<br />
has been on the Board’s Most Wanted List since the list’s inception in 1990. This safety<br />
issue was again highlighted when a freight train and a commuter train collided head-on in<br />
Placentia, California, in 2002. As a result <strong>of</strong> this accident, the Board reiterated the need for<br />
PTC systems, particularly on high-risk corridors where commuter and intercity passenger<br />
railroads operate.<br />
In 1997, the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Railroad Safety Advisory<br />
Committee established a working group to address PTC. In 2001, the FRA published a<br />
NTSB JOURNAL OF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION, SPRING 2006; VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 7