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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