Re: Will PTC allow more operational flexibility? No.
Author: Margaret (SP fan)
Date: 05-08-2017 - 12:20
From what I have been hearing while listening
to an LA area feed on railroadradio.net, PTC
is not working well at all. I have too often heard
crews talking about getting "red hash marks" on
their PTC computer screens, instead of the data
they should be getting.
The latest PTC problem I heard was yesterday (Sun.,
May 8, 2017), when an engineer told the UP's PTC Help
Desk that his PTC display showed that his train was
2 miles away from where it actually was -- AND going in
the OPPOSITE direction that his train was actually going
in!! He had to get permission from the dispatcher to
turn off the PTC and operate without PTC.
I wish railroadradio.net had an Archive that we
could listen to, as broadcastify does, because then
I could post a link to that conversation. Please note:
you have to pay for a Premium Membership to access
their Archives. This is well worth the money -- $15
for a 180-day Premium Membership, and $30 for a
360-day Premium Membership.
No, PTC will not allow operational flexibility. It is so
new that it cannot even work reliably. PTC is far, far from
being a mature technology, and until it becomes a mature
technology, it will continue to cause problems for the crews
and the railroads. (I do not know how any railroad can stay
fluid with PTC enabled.)