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From Transittrax: Unexpected Candidate for CBTC...the 7 Avenue Line

NX Express

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in New York City Subway

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NX Express

NX Express

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Paul Fleuranges: I'm Paul Fleuranges, and you're listening to TransitTrax, New York City Transit's podcast service.

 

(Sound of (2) train)

 

Sleek New Technology trains have been running on the (2) line for 4 years now...with brighter interiors, better climate control, in-car intercoms and of course automated announcements.

 

(Sound of announcement)

 

This year, (2)(3) train riders will benefit from even more technology, as Communications Based Train Control - or CBTC - is activated and put into operation on the 7 Avenue Line in Manhattan (the (3) will receive our newest A Division fleet, the R142, as part of this change). Dr. Nabil Ghaly, Program Officer at New York City Transit explains what CBTC is:

 

Dr. Nabil Ghaly: Communications-based train control is a signal technology that is based on two-way communication between smart trains and wayside computers.

 

Paul Fleuranges: CBTC is the first major technological modernization of the signal system that controls train movement. It is already successfully in place on the (L) line.

 

Dr. Nabil Ghaly: As a new technology, it will provide us with safety enhancement. One of the safety enhancements is to continuously monitor the speed of the train, make sure that it does not exceed the allowable speed... So over-speed protection, continuous over-speed protection, will be one enhancement … Also will allow us to provide or enforce protection to people working on the tracks, so if we have a work zone, the system will enforce a 10 mph through the work zone.

 

Paul Fleuranges: While this is nearly new technology for the New York City subway system (only one line with it now operating), similar systems have been used extensively in Europe for decades... the Grandfather of these systems is the Meteor Line at RATP in Paris.

 

Critics have called the CBTC system a quote-un-quote "Robo Train" but in reality, it's anything but:

 

Dr. Nabil Ghaly: There are two modes of operations, there is a manual operation, called Automatic Train Protection Mode or ATPM for short, which allows the train operator to manually operate trains between stations, the computer however will have an oversight role in terms of ensuring that the speed of the train does not exceed the safe speed. This mode of operation is totally under the train operator's control with the exception of the system protects for over-speed. The second mode of operations is called Automatic Train Operations or ATO, an abbreviation, and under this mode of operations the train operator is still required to close the doors at a station, and then the computer will conduct the train leaving the station until it makes a station stop at the following station.

 

(Sound of train announcement)

 

Paul Fleuranges: With CBTC, New York City Transit is deploying cutting edge technology on a 24-hour railroad, more complex than the no-merges (L) line.

 

But as Carl Steele of New York City Transit's Rapid Transit Operations Division explains, CBTC is more than just cutting-edge technology ... it will dramatically change the way Dispatchers operate the 7 Avenue line.

 

Carl Steele, Rapid Transit Operations: Well, it's going to mean certainly a system that's better monitored - it means a system that's going to be much better for us as far as handling incidences, more proactive…

 

Paul Fleuranges: Proactive, because dispatchers at the Rail Control Center can now monitor trains on the 7 Avenue line in real-time.

 

Carl Steele: Here what we are doing is monitoring the speed in real time, we can make sure it stays under 10 mph through a work zone, not just in term of its calculated time over that work zone area, but actually on a second by second juncture to ensure that that train is controlled … It now puts us in a position to look at the way we control the trains, it means we can now free up the train operators whether we keep conductors on the train or not, but to have them start to look at the customer concerns more closely.

 

Paul Fleuranges: For instance, with CBTC, New York City Transit can run trains closer together, providing more service; it will also speed up evacuations in case of emergencies.

 

(Sound of train announcement)

 

Another benefit of CBTC is that riders will receive more accurate real time information on arriving trains through the existing Public Address Customer Information Screen or P-A-C-I-S system.

 

Dr. Nabil Ghaly: This will allow us to provide real time information to our passengers since the trains are continuously communicating with wayside computers and they can relay their positions and that information can be translated into arrival times at various times.

 

Paul Fleuranges: For more information about CBTC operations, look for a CBTC brochure at a station along the (2)/(3) lines in the near future.

 

For TransitTrax, I'm Paul Fleuranges. Thanks for listening and thanks for riding with MTA New York City Transit.

http://transittrax.mta.info/audio/archive/2011/transcpts/CBTConthe23Lines.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: April Fools Joke. This webpage has been modified. Modified quotes and events are purely fictional.

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