NJ Transit completes PTC milestone

NEWARK, NJ — On Dec. 17, NJ Transit marked 100-percent completion of the Federal Railroad Administration’s 2018 year-end milestone for Positive Train Control. Criteria for this requirement included installation of equipment on locomotives and cab control cars; installation of 326 miles of wayside equipment including radios, transponders and poles; and initiating PTC testing and employee training. The achievement means NJ Transit can apply for an alternative schedule to have PTC fully operational by the end of 2020.

“It’s a new day at NJ Transit,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a press release. “We promised the people of New Jersey that we would start making it right at NJ Transit and this achievement shows we are doing just that. Make no mistake. There’s still a lot of work left to do on PTC, but this is a major step forward as we continue to rebuild our mass transit system.”

“After years of being behind schedule, meeting the federal deadline for installing Positive Train Control technology along NJ Transit rail lines shows transit passengers that safety is priority No. 1,” said U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, who worked to secure a federal grant for PTC installation in 2017. “I expect PTC can help prevent future accidents and start restoring New Jerseyans’ trust in our public transit. While there are miles to go to repair the damage from years of neglect, Gov. Murphy deserves commendation for his focus on improving NJ Transit. We must again have a mass transit system New Jerseyans deserve.”

“Accomplishing this goal would not have been possible without the hard work and commitment of the men and women at NJ Transit assigned to this project, along with our contractors, who completed four years of work in less than a year,” NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett said. “As our customers are at the heart of what we do, I also want to thank them for their patience and understanding in helping us reach this milestone. This achievement is certainly something I’m proud of, but we still have another four years’ worth of work to accomplish in the next two years. While there is still much work to be done, I’m confident that our team will have PTC fully operational by Dec. 31, 2020.”

As part of the FRA approved schedule for implementing PTC, NJ Transit was required to complete — and did complete — the following hardware installations by December 31, 2018: equipment installation of 282 locomotives and cab cars; and 326 miles of wayside infrastructure upgrades on 112 poles, 112 antennas and 120 wayside interface units. While NJ Transit was required to train 823 employees by Dec. 31, it actually trained 1,745, exceeding that requirement.

Throughout the course of 2019 and 2020, NJ Transit will continue to install PTC equipment as it continues to restore the ranks of locomotive engineers. PTC equipment will be installed on the remaining 158 locomotives and cab cars bringing the total number of vehicle installations to 440. NJ Transit will complete training of the remaining 985 employees, bringing its total number of PTC-trained employees to 2,730. Field testing will continue to demonstrate system reliability before advancing PTC testing to revenue service demonstration, interoperability and tenant railroad testing and full FRA PTC certification. Full PTC system implementation must occur by Dec. 31, 2020.

  NJ Transit, Phil Murphy