Sensor system benefits and costs in positive train control

Raj Bridgelall; Bryan King; Ying Huang; Denver D. Tolliver; Pan Lu

doi:10.1117/12.2512882

27 March 2019 Sensor system benefits and costs in positive train control

Raj Bridgelall, Bryan King, Ying Huang, Denver D. Tolliver, Pan Lu

Proceedings Volume 10970, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2019; 109701R (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2512882
Event: SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation, 2019, Denver, Colorado, United States

Abstract

Positive train control (PTC) is a system that combines sensors, communications, and actuators to stop a train automatically before certain types of accidents occur. The PTC implementation requirements are part of a 2008 congressional mandate. Information about PTC benefits and costs are from reports between 2004 and 2010. Since then, the complexities and rush to comply with the mandated installation deadline of December 2018 has led to a scarcity of updated information about actual costs and anticipated benefits. The purpose of this study is to share a current understanding of the potential benefits and costs of PTC deployments. The finding is that the Class I railroads collectively incurred an estimated average cost of $224,738 per route mile. Analysis of safety data for the five years preceding the 2018 mandate found that accidents due to human factors or failures in signaling and communication systems accounted for 31.6% of the aggregated financial loss. If PTC could have prevented those accidents, then direct benefits to Class I railroads would have averaged $92 million annually. These results indicate that it is unlikely that the savings from accident prevention alone would offset the costs of PTC deployment and its annual maintenance needs. However, the installed infrastructure of sensor interfaces and wireless networks provides opportunities to realize additional benefits from incremental investments in other systems. Those benefits could include rail-grade safety sensors and business enhancements such as improved line capacity, service reliability, equipment utilization, real-time diagnostics, fuel savings, and non-destructive evaluations.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Raj Bridgelall, Bryan King, Ying Huang, Denver D. Tolliver, and Pan Lu "Sensor system benefits and costs in positive train control", Proc. SPIE 10970, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2019, 109701R (27 March 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2512882

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