This was something I meant to write following the NJTransit Pascack Valley Line derailment in Hoboken Terminal back in September, but got lost on the to-do list and slipped through the cracks. Initial reports from the National Transportation Safety Board, who is investigating the incident that killed one and injured over a hundred, indicate that the engineer was exceeding the speed limit in the terminal area moments before derailing. In incidents that involve trains travelling faster than the speed limit (like the December 2013 Metro-North derailment in Spuyten Duyvil and the May 2015 Amtrak Northeast Regional derailment in Port Richmond, PA), officials typically indicate that those types of accidents could have likely been prevented had Positive Train Control (PTC) been in place, but it looks like, at least at this point in time, that PTC would probably not have made any difference in an incident like the NJT derailment because PTC does not have to be installed in terminals.
What segments of track do or do not require PTC are set out in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. In the law, the mandate applies only to “main line” track, and is not required on tracks that are not considered main line track. What counts as a main line track is defined in the law:
“Main line means, except as provided in 236.1019 or where all trains are limited to restricted speed within a yard or terminal area or on auxiliary or industry tracks, a segment or route of railroad tracks:
- Of a Class I railroad, as documented in the current timetables filed by the Class I railroad with the FRA under 217.7 of this title, over which 5,000,000 or more gross tons of railroad traffic is transported annually; or
- Used for regularly scheduled intercity or commuter rail passenger service, as defined in 49 U.S.C. 24102, or both. Tourist, scenic, historic, or excursion operations as defined in part 238 of this chapter are not considered intercity or commuter passenger service for purposes of this part.”
By that definition, railroads are not required to install Positive Train Control in terminal areas like Hoboken Terminal. There are several of these areas on the LIRR that the railroad sought exemptions for as part of their PTC Implementation Plan filed with the FRA. The table on the following pages lists all of the parts of the system the LIRR either sought Main Line Track Exclusion Amendments (MTEA’s) for or declared are not main line tracks as of the time the PTCIP was submitted to the FRA.
What’s going to happen with regards to these exempt parts (some of which, like the Jamaica complex, see hundreds of trains and hundreds of thousands of riders a day) in response to the NJTransit derailment will have to be seen. The RSIA excludes these sections of track, so adding these areas to the mandate would require legislative action from Congress.
It’s reasonable to assume that these types of track weren’t excluded just for the sake of convenience, and that there are technical and logistical challenges to having PTC installed on every inch of the system. If you think of how PTC works, every train, switch, signal, grade crossing, and the like continuously transmit their status in real-time, so the communications overhead is tremendous. Keeping track of the speed the train is traveling at, the aspect of the next signal, the speed limit, and all like that is complicated enough when all of these things are thousands of feet apart, but you’re in an interlocking like JAY or HALL around Jamaica where there are these things every couple of feet, the processing capacity required to handle all of this stuff in real time—even at speeds less than 15 mi/hr—may exceed what’s currently practical or possible.
Imagine you’re trying to send a high-quality photo of something to a friend, but all you have is a fax machine. No matter how good the quality the original photo is, fax machine technology is only so sophisticated, and you’re not going to get it to come out perfect on the other end. There may be technology available today that wasn’t available in 2008 when the law was passed, and that’s something that can be considered in the coming months as the investigation into the NJT incident continues, but it’s important to keep in mind that PTC won’t be the be-all, end-all solution for rail safety. There’s no substitute to having proper training programs and controls in place to make sure everyone is aware of and following rules designed to keep riders safe.
Area | Limits of exemption from PTC mandate | Reason for exemption |
Long Island City Station & Yard | All station and yard tracks west of HAROLD signals 822EA and 828E | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE |
Belmont Race Track Station & Yard, the QUEENS-Belmont Running Track, and the Belmont East Leg of Wye | All station and yard tracks east of QUEENS signals 6E and 5W | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE |
Hunterspoint Avenue Lead Tracks | All station and yard tracks west of HAROLD signals 822EA and 828E | Non-signaled restricted/LOE |
Main Line from Ronkonkoma (KO) to Greenport (GY) | All station, yard, and siding tracks between just east of signals 11W and 11E east of Ronkonkoma to Block Limit GY just west of Greenport | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE Read more about the Ronkonkoma to Greenport MTEA |
Port Washington Station & Yard | All station and yard tracks east of the End-of-Block sign/signal 11W | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE |
Far Rockaway Station & Yard | All station and yard tracks east of the End-of-Block sign/signals F111W and F222W | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE |
Long Beach Station & Yard | All station and yard tracks east of the End-of-Block sign/signal BW | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE |
Hempstead Station & Yard | All station and yard tracks east of the End-of-Block sign/signal 11W | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE |
Oyster Bay Station & Yard | All station and yard tracks east of the End-of-Block sign/signal 11W | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE |
Port Jefferson Station & Yard | All station and yard tracks east of JEFF Interlocking limits/JEFF signals 1E, 1W, and 2W, including the Port Jefferson East and West Yards | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE |
Montauk Station & Yard | All station and yard tracks east of the future End-of-Block sign/future westbound “leaving” signal | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE |
Greenport Station & Yard | All station and yard tracks east of Block Limit GY | Non-signaled terminal w/ hand switches/LOE |
Jamaica Complex (Passenger-only zone, freight routes, and DUNTON 15 mi/hr zone) | Within DUNTON, JAY, and HALL interlockings limits between JAY switches 65, 69, and 103, HALL switches 33, 37, and 65, and HALL signals 36L, 40L, and 46L, including Yard D tracks 1 through 5, stub-ended lay-up tracks 2 and 3 immediately east of the station, the stub-ended lay-up track just east of HALL bridge 99, tracks 10 and 11 from JAY signals 64R and 102R to HALL signals 42R and 44R, between HALL signals 36L, 40L, and 46L and signals 36R, 38R, and 40R, westward Atlantic Branch Freight Track, Eastward Atlantic Branch Freight Track, Jamaica Station tracks 0 through 9, secondary tracks 5 and 6 between HALL and HALL East Interlockings, within HALL East Interlocking limits on secondary tracks 5 and 6, all trackage west of JAY signals 18R and 100R, all trackage west of HALL signal 44LB, all trackage east of HALL East signals 494E, 494W, 492E, 492W, and all trackage west of DUNTON signals 14R, 16RA, 16RB, 18RA, 18RB | Signaled w/ speeds <15 mi/hr/PTE |
GCT Terminal & Interlocking | Within GCT 1, GCT 2, GCT 3, and GCT 4 Interlockings limits and the entire Grand Central Terminal Station | Signaled w/ speeds <15 mi/hr/PTE |
BROOK Interlocking & Atlantic Terminal | Within BROOK 1 Interlocking limits and the entire Atlantic Terminal Station | Signaled w/ speeds <15 mi/hr/PTE |
West Hempstead Station & Yard | Within WEST HEMPSTEAD Interlocking limits and the entire West Hempstead Station | Signaled w/ speeds <15 mi/hr/PTE |
West Side Yard, including the four Lead Tracks | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Arch Street Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
New Sunnyside Midday Storage Yard for GCT | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Jamaica Advance and Receiving Storage Yards | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Morris Park Shops & Yard Tracks | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Morris Park Bone Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Johnson Avenue Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Hillside Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Babylon Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Speonk Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
VD Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Ronkonkoma Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Freeport Yard Tail Track | Entire track | Not mainline track |
FARM 1 Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Pilgrim State Hospital Track | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Pilgrim Siding | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Southern Container Sidetrack | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Reserved Supply Sidetrack | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Switch 432W Sidetrack | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Fresh Pond Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Garden-Mitchell Secondary Track | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Montauk Cutoff Secondary Track | Entire track | Not mainline track |
US Plywood Sidetrack | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Holban Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
Two sidetracks east of Merillon Avenue Station | Entire track | Not mainline track |
LILCO sidetrack east of NASSAU bridge 4 off track 1 | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Hicksville Tail Track off North Siding | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Sayville Siding off of Track 2 and Team Track | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Patchogue Team Track | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Shea Yard | Entire yard | Not mainline track |
BAY Interlocking Sidetrack | Entire track | Not mainline track |
HAROLD Interlocking switch 861 tail track | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Main Line Cutoff | Entire track | Not mainline track |
FARM 2 Siding (#10s) | Entire track | Not mainline track |
FARM 1 North Siding East Portion | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Huntington South Siding East End | Entire track | Not mainline track |
Ronkonkoma South Siding and Wash Track | Entire track | Not mainline track |
