Proceedings of the Transportation Research Forum
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ISSN 1052-7524 Proceedings of the Transportation Research Forum Volume 7 1993 35th TRF Annual Forum New York, New York October 14-16, 1993 262 Proceedings of TRF, Vol. 7, 1993 Advanced Train Control Systems: The Right Technology for Railroads In the 21st Century?1 Randolph R. Resor, Moderator Vice President Zeta-Tech Associates I am Randy Resor. I work for Zeta-Tech The next presenter is Jeff Young, Associates,a technical consulting firm in Director, ATCS for Union Pacific. Jeff the railroad industry. I have been began his railroad career at Idaho Falls, involved in advanced train control since Idaho, in June 1976. He has worked the fall of 1987. Anyone who has seen primarily in the operating and the current issue of Railway Age knows information technology departments at that there is something going on about Union Pacific. Throughout his career, advanced train control since the headline he has been involved with implementing on the cover says, control systems technology in the railroad industry. He multiplied, but where is advanced train was assigned to his current position 2 control? Well, where indeed? years ago, and has responsibility for implementing the advance train control Today's panel includes 4 individuals who system, which he will discuss today. have been active participants in the development of ATCS, and a fifth who Our next speaker is a person who has has been an interested although neutral been an interested observer of the ATCS observer of its development. Together, development project and an implementor they may shed some light not only on of some advance technology using where ATCS is, but also what it is, why somewhat different specifications. it is important, and what it will do for Joseph Noffsinger is Chief Engineer, the North American railroad industry. Communications and Signals,at Conrail. He got his BS in electrical engineering The first speaker is John Reoch, from Case Western Reserve University. Assistant Vice President, Operations for He is Vice Chairman of the AAR Canadian National. John was born in Communications and Signal Division, a Nachuria, a fact that always interested member of the AAR Signal Liaison me. He is a civil engineer and a Committee, and at Conrail, he is a graduate of the University of Toronto. member of the Operations Planning He began working with CN in 1962. He Team and the Engineering Department has been involved in ATCS for nearly 10 Quality Council. He recently completed years. He attended the first meeting to 2 years with the National Railway Labor organize the project, and to discuss the Conference negotiating a national wage way it would proceed, on September 23, skill differential agreement with rail- 1983. road signalmen. 1 A grant from the UPS Foundation helped make this session possible. Advanced Train Control Systems and the 21st Century 263 Our next speaker, Lynn Garrison, is a part to play in making that happen? with Burlington Northern, and he was The second question is, if ATCS is such involved in the development and a hot idea, why isn't everyone doing it? specifications of the ARES project. He is My answer to the first question is a now involved in equipping locomotives double yes. I believe railroads can not With on-board digital communications. only survive and prosper in the years to Lynn has a BS in electrical engineering, come,but railroads have a real chance to and a masters degree from Columbia. become once again the dominant mode of He was with Harmon Electronics for a land transport, at least in the freight number of years, and has been with business. I believe ATCS will play an Burlington Northern since 1984,starting important part, although we must be as an engineer systems design and clear, only a part, in making that manager of the ARES data radio happen. network until 1992. He continues to work on digital applications. To the second question, I would answer most railroads on this continent are Last, but by no means least, is Chuck using ATCS. That may not be fully Dettman,Vice President,Operations and recognized, and the answer leads to a Maintenance of the AAR. In that discussion ofa misconception about what Position, he has responsibility for ATCS really is. Providing the industry effort to develop compatible specifications and a plan for First, however, let me start with the implementation. He is a graduate of main issue the railroads must answer,in Georgia Tech and the Harvard Business order to restore their dominant position. School, who began work as an industrial The railroad market share in the U.S. engineer for the Missouri Pacific has remained constant at about $30 Railroad in 1964. He retired from the billion, in spite of inflation for a decade, Union Pacific last year after 29 years while the market grew by about $60 and 17 jobs going from Assistant Train billion to $189 billion. There is, Master to Vice President of therefore, an opportunity for railroads Transportation. He has been Vice measured in billions of dollars. But can President of Operations and they achieve that revival? And, if not, Maintenance of the AAR since the first why not? What is missing in what the of this year, and he has been railroads bring to the market? orchestrating the development of ATCS, and the development of an industry First, however, let's look at what position regarding its implementation. railroads do bring to the market — the areas where they already have an unassailable advantage. John Reoch Assistant Vice President First, railroads are safer than their Operations competitors. Railroad fatalities are less CN North America than a third those of the trucking industry, and railroad fatalities are I think there are 2 main questions. One, continuing to drop. But further, since looking to the next century, can the most rail related fatalities are due to railroads not only continue to prosper, crossing accidents, it is arguable that but once again become the dominant they should not be attributable to mode of overland transport? A subset of railroads. Second, railroads are much that question would be, does ATCS have more environmentally friendly than 264 Proceedings of TRF, Vol. 7, 1993 their competitors. Lower atmospheric railroad audience is that a pattern is emissions illustrate one aspect of that. emerging. If we stay the course, we will But rail also has a 3 or 4 to one advant- bring about an integrated information, age in terms of energy consumption. communications, and control technology architecture to support the railroad Third,the cost of railroad transportation industry, customer service, product is much lower than that of its quality, safety, and productivity. competitors. Admittedly, the truck number is probably a composite of some The conviction of a growing number of pretty short haul stuff. But neverthe- people is that this technological less, on an overall basis, revenue per ton revolution is a key to reversing years of mile for railroads is much less than for declining railroad market share in inter- trucks. city freight transportation, and a key to ushering in a new period of growth Since railroads are safer, more based on high quality transportation environmentally friendly, and cheaper, services. why are the truckers handling most of the business? Market analyses leave no Several projects of a technological doubt that the reasons go to the trucking character are underway in the railroad industry's superior ability to provide fast industry. A list of such projects can be and reliable service. organized according to which of 4 fundamental goals each project The same analyses, plus work that has contributes to: customer service,product been done in connection with the ATCS quality, safety, or customer service. program, show that a very large part of ATCS,and the applications derived from rail service deficiencies can be tied to ATCS, such as reporting work orders deficiencies in communications,informa- and monitoring locomotive operations, tion management, and operational• span the entire spectrum. control. That strongly suggests that solutions lie in the field of command An integration of systems is a key to control,communications and information maximizing benefits. If ever there was technologies or C3I, as it has come to be a case where the whole could be greater known. than the sum of the parts, this is it. That led a few of us about a year ago to The other conclusion I am attempting to articulate a vision of a technological illustrate is that ATCS is the backbone framework that we believe has the of the concept of an integrated set of potential to achieve levels of safety, technological applications. efficiency, customer satisfaction, and profitability not otherwise attainable. A question is, however, how does one go about such an integration? It may seem Obviously, this technological framework such a daunting task that it would be is not limited to ATCS. There are a lot bound to fail because of sheer of initiatives coming forward in the unmanageable complexity. Actually, railroad industry encompassing the although the technology is complex, the disciplines of information systems, ATCS program, and the architecture of telecommunications, and command and ATCS applications, is such that a control technologies. That there is a program of integrated applications can worldwide revolution in these fields of be quite manageable. At its simplest technology is not news. The news for a conceptual level, ATCS is nothing more Advanced Train Control Systems and the 21st Century 265 than a combination of 3 elements: a entertainment system. A railroad can mobile or portable computer terminal in choose the applications that best suits its the field, a central computerized needs at the present time, leave others information or command and control out, proceed as quickly or as slowly as it center in the office, and a radio data link wants in a sequence of its own choosing, connecting the 2.