MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) President Phil Eng announced March 8 that the LIRR has activated Positive Train Control (PTC) on the eastern 108 miles of the railroad, from Patchogue to Montauk and from Ronkonkoma to Greenport.
The addition of these 108 miles nearly doubles the route miles of the LIRR that are operating in PTC, to 220. The activation puts 72.5 percent of the LIRR’s 305 total route miles now operating in PTC.
“This latest achievement shows that we are continuing to make steady and deliberate progress as we work toward implementing PTC systemwide by Dec. 31,” said LIRR President Phil Eng. “We celebrate and applaud intermediate milestones like this, but everyone on the team knows we can’t let up for one moment until we have achieved full systemwide operation by the deadline.”
Positive Train Control enhances train safety behind the scenes by eliminating the potential for human error to contribute to train-to-train collisions, trains traveling into zones where railroad employees are working on tracks, or derailments caused by a train traveling too fast into a curve or into a misaligned switch.
The system uses a network of computers on board trains and along the tracks that are in communication with a central control hub, sharing data on rail conditions in real time. Like roads, every stretch of track has a speed limit; lights at the railroad’s equivalent of intersections flash red and green to indicate when a train must stop or can proceed. If the Positive Train Control system detects that a train is operating too fast for a given stretch of track, or is at risk of passing a stop signal, the system automatically steps in to slow or stop the train, while alerting the train’s engineer that it is doing so.
PTC builds upon existing LIRR systems such as in-cab signaling and automatic civil speed enforcement. These safety measures already offer some of the most substantial functions of PTC to LIRR customers.
With the latest addition, these segments of the LIRR are now operating in PTC with some limited exceptions at select areas that are still being refined:
- Penn Station to the East River Tunnels
- Jamaica to Montauk
- Port Washington Branch (Woodside to Port Washington)
- Hicksville to Port Jefferson
- Ronkonkoma to Greenport
- Hempstead Branch
- Long Beach Branch
- Oyster Bay Branch
- Far Rockaway Branch
- West Hempstead Branch
- The Central Branch, which connects Bethpage with Babylon
