New safety system launch causes some delays for Virginia Railway Express

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New safety system launch causes some delays for VRE
By Max Smith | @amaxsmith
April 10, 2019 4:14 am



Positive Train Control — a system that can slow or stop trains going too fast or approaching another train on the tracks ahead — expanded to all Fredericksburg Line trains last month. (Courtesy Virginia Railway Express via Twitter)

Virginia Railway Express partially blames the roll out of a new safety system for a number of recent delays. ... Positive Train Control — a system that can slow or stop trains going too fast or approaching another train on the tracks ahead — was first fully activated for a VRE train on the Federicksburg Line Feb. 14. Last month, it was expanded to all Fredericksburg Line trains. ... Last week, the first Manassas Line train activated the safety feature.

While staff was trained on the safety feature, it can still take several trips for train crews to get used to, VRE said. This has led to slower than usual operations, even with a help line. ... “We will continue to roll out PTC on the remaining Manassas line trains this week and work with our host railroads to minimize conditions in our service area that result in delays to VRE trains,” VRE said.

The delays are in addition to VRE mechanical issues that remain under investigation and other issues related to freight trains. VRE operates on tracks controlled by freight rail companies. The Manassas Line also runs on tracks owned by Norfolk Southern. ... State officials are talking with CSX, Amtrak and VRE about ways to improve schedules to provide better service for all three.

“We need to look at the schedules of Amtrak, VRE and the freight railroads to see if there are some efficiencies and time savings and things that could improve the customer service as well rather than just throwing a train out there just to sit behind another train,” said Michael McLaughlin, chief of rail transportation with the Department of Rail and Public Transportation. ... Just adding a single new Amtrak train from Norfolk to D.C. through Richmond took weeks of discussions, he told the Commonwealth Transportation Board Tuesday, because of the ripple effects on crowded tracks over the Potomac River and at Union Station.
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[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. From an April 27 newsletter (excerpts) sent by the Virginia Railway Express to its passengers:

I don't have a link. I got this from an online group of train enthusiasts in northern Virginia

From an April 27 newsletter (excerpts) sent by the Virginia Railway Express to its passengers:

SERVICE DISRUPTION FOLLOW UP
VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS (VRE)

As discussed in previous Train Talks, VRE began the rollout phase of our Positive Train Control (PTC) implementation on February 14th. We spent the remainder of February and all of March getting PTC fully operational on all Fredericksburg Line trains. PTC is a new and very complex technology and has required changes in operating practices and procedures. As the train crews, mechanical crews, host railroad dispatchers and everyone else involved in the daily operation of VRE trains were gaining familiarity with the new system and procedures, it affected our on-time performance. In mid-March, we saw OTP drop to around 60%, and for the month of March we finished at 76%.

Rollout on the Manassas Line trains began April 1st. This part of the rollout brought additional challenges. First, we have train sets that operate multiple trips, so they “turn” at the completion of one trip, re-initialize PTC along with the other procedures involved in swapping controls of the train to the other end, and operate back in the opposite direction. Any delay on the initial trip or in the processes involved in “turning” the train can cause a cascading of delay, not just for that train, but throughout the system.

Over the past few weeks, enhancements to the re-initialization process and procedures followed by the train crews have improved the turn time. While we may ultimately have to make slight schedule adjustments to accommodate the new procedures, delays directly attributable to the turn process should be minimal going forward.

A second challenge for the Manassas Line trains is the transition from the Norfolk Southern railroad to the CSX railroad. Currently, as trains move between the two host railroads, we must slow down. In some cases, we have seen this transition take an additional 5-8 minutes. We are working with our host railroads to enable this transition to be more “seamless” without the need to slow down and hope to have that improvement in place by early May.

Finally, both lines are experiencing a PTC/Cab Signal synchronization issue as a result of implementing PTC. The issue has resulted in trains operating at slower speeds at certain points even though the conditions ahead are favorable for higher speeds. A software update due out as soon as next week should result in improving the timely synchronization of both systems.

We continue to focus on completing the PTC rollout phase and working with our host railroads on minimizing the negative effects of congestion to VRE trains.

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