2012 MATC Fall Lecture Series: Robert Kollmar

Larissa Sazama Author

11/09/2017 Added

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2012 MATC Fall Lecture Series

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[00:00:00.980]It's my pleasure to introduce Bob Kollmar.
[00:00:03.301]He has 37, a wide range of experience,
[00:00:05.537]37 years in the railway industry.
[00:00:07.567]He's currently Executive Director
[00:00:08.870]of Engineering, Communications, and Train Control
[00:00:10.834]at the Association of American Railroads.
[00:00:13.323]He's worked as Chief Engineering Officer
[00:00:15.736]for the New Orleans Public Railroad.
[00:00:18.889]He's worked at Amtrak as General Superintendent
[00:00:21.040]for West Operations and V.P. for Engineering Initiatives
[00:00:24.125]and Strategic Planning.
[00:00:25.572]We were talking earlier, it's probably one
[00:00:27.011]of the most varied backgrounds in the rail industry,
[00:00:29.406]from finance to strategic planning
[00:00:31.256]to operations and engineering.
[00:00:33.365]So I think he's gonna give us a lot of good insight today.
[00:00:35.988]Bob's,
[00:00:37.635]has a bachelor's of science in civil engineering
[00:00:39.390]from Tri-State University, which is now Trine University,
[00:00:42.147]I guess, what four or five years ago
[00:00:43.544]they changed their name.
[00:00:44.705]And he's also worked, got some academic experience
[00:00:48.052]at Drexel University on his finance side of things.
[00:00:50.390]So, Bob, we're happy to have you here today,
[00:00:51.807]and we look forward to your talk, thanks.
[00:00:53.671]Thank you.
[00:00:54.776]I'd like to thank everyone for attending.
[00:00:56.743]Thank you, Dr. Larry, for putting this on.
[00:00:59.581]What a wonderful forum this is,
[00:01:02.772]for all of us to be able to exchange ideas.
[00:01:06.798]And that's what we'd like to do today, just have some fun.
[00:01:09.917]Gonna try to talk about three different things primarily.
[00:01:13.666]The first is the alphabet soup in Washington,
[00:01:17.335]and try to get some of the different associations,
[00:01:19.464]and what it is that we do, and why we do what we do.
[00:01:23.097]Gonna talk a little bit about the Association
[00:01:25.325]of American Railroads, and then we're gonna talk
[00:01:27.666]about positive train control.
[00:01:30.448]So, sit back and enjoy the trip with us.
[00:01:37.497]♫ I cross many rivers and highways
[00:01:40.954]♫ Over mountains, shore to shore
[00:01:44.618]♫ Yeah, I carry the nation on my back
[00:01:48.080]♫ And if they ask me, I'll carry more
[00:01:51.912]♫ Get your rides on America's freight rail
[00:01:58.353]♫ Every hour of every day
[00:02:01.556]♫ Working to build a dream
[00:02:04.981]♫ Behind the scenes in the scenery
[00:02:08.601]♫ I know how much it means
[00:02:12.274]♫ Get your rides on America's freight rail
[00:02:18.726]Freight rail is America's economic workhorse,
[00:02:21.273]and America's freight rail companies plan to spend
[00:02:23.739]$23 billion of their own money this year alone,
[00:02:26.675]not taxpayer's money, to move our economy.
[00:02:29.045]Find out more at freightrailworks.org.
[00:02:35.239]I've seen that a thousand times,
[00:02:36.912]and every time it excites me.
[00:02:38.800]So it's really a delight to be able to share it with you.
[00:02:41.679]Well, let's talk about, what is the difference
[00:02:43.262]between a railroad, APTA, FRA,
[00:02:47.563]NTSB, AREMA, and the AAR?
[00:02:51.919]They're several different, yet interrelated organizations,
[00:02:54.882]which provide a myriad of different services
[00:02:57.223]to the railroad industry.
[00:02:58.740]We're gonna teach a little bit today about the differences
[00:03:02.686]between standards, specifications, recommended practices,
[00:03:06.045]established and enforced regulations regarding train speeds,
[00:03:10.449]track, signals, grade crossings, and inspections.
[00:03:14.764]Who provides fines for non-compliance?
[00:03:17.639]Who maintains interchange data for all railroads,
[00:03:20.890]and notifies railroads about non-compliant freight cars?
[00:03:24.372]Who investigates accidents and makes safety recommendations?
[00:03:28.959]Who provides technical recommendations
[00:03:30.899]and standard plans for railroads?
[00:03:33.218]Who serves as the advocacy organization
[00:03:35.735]for the freight rail industry?
[00:03:38.283]And then we're gonna talk a little bit about talent base
[00:03:41.336]of active railroad managers.
[00:03:44.012]A railroad, what is it a railroad does?
[00:03:46.071]Its mission is to provide safe and efficient transportation
[00:03:49.251]at a reasonable cost.
[00:03:51.534]Their mission is also to develop customers,
[00:03:54.112]to service on-line industry, to interchange
[00:03:56.753]or exchange freight cars with other railroads.
[00:03:59.517]They have to work with stakeholders to develop
[00:04:01.473]economic growth throughout their corridors,
[00:04:04.061]and throughout the United States.
[00:04:06.259]They develop their own standards and recommended practices,
[00:04:09.841]or they use industry recommended practices
[00:04:13.377]within their systems.
[00:04:15.156]And, their managers that we're gonna talk about today
[00:04:18.358]also volunteer to serve on AAR and AREMA committees,
[00:04:22.315]whatever they are.
[00:04:23.859]And also, a railroad makes money.
[00:04:25.882]That's the key difference between a railroad,
[00:04:28.504]and everyone else.
[00:04:30.078]Some folks have heard of APTA,
[00:04:31.734]the American Public Transportation Administration,
[00:04:34.976]the association in Washington.
[00:04:37.038]Its vision statement says they are the leading force
[00:04:40.018]in advancing public transportation.
[00:04:43.317]But their mission is to strengthen and support,
[00:04:46.220]and improve public transportation.
[00:04:48.828]APTA serves and leads its diverse membership
[00:04:52.076]through advocacy, innovation, and information sharing.
[00:04:56.273]And its members work to ensure that public transportation
[00:04:59.770]is available and accessible for all Americans
[00:05:02.746]in communities throughout the country.
[00:05:05.067]So APTA primarily deals with public transit
[00:05:08.947]and public transportation.
[00:05:11.020]The Federal Railroad Administration, or the FRA,
[00:05:14.067]they're entrusted to promulgate and enforce
[00:05:17.456]rail safety regulations.
[00:05:19.998]They administer railroad assistance programs,
[00:05:22.944]that's financial assistance.
[00:05:24.803]They conduct research and development
[00:05:27.292]in support of improved railroad safety,
[00:05:30.133]and a national railroad transportation policy.
[00:05:33.471]They fund the Northeast Corridor passenger service,
[00:05:37.298]and they consolidate government support
[00:05:39.026]of many rail transportation activities.
[00:05:42.497]They are headquartered in Washington, D.C.,
[00:05:44.967]and they have offices strategically placed
[00:05:47.317]throughout the United States.
[00:05:49.433]They are a part of the United States
[00:05:51.612]Department of Transportation.
[00:05:54.568]The National Transportation Safety Board.
[00:05:57.843]Now sometimes you hear their name mentioned
[00:06:00.236]whenever there's a large disaster, a safety issue.
[00:06:05.116]But they are charged with investigating
[00:06:06.864]every civil aviation accident in the United States,
[00:06:11.175]and especially significant accidents
[00:06:13.398]in other modes of transportation.
[00:06:16.198]With us, it's railroad, so when we have
[00:06:18.904]a major passenger train derailment,
[00:06:21.275]or even a major freight train derailment,
[00:06:23.498]they will be involved in helping determine
[00:06:26.224]the probable cause of the accident, and issue,
[00:06:30.047]they will issue a safety recommendation
[00:06:32.097]aimed at preventing future accidents.
[00:06:34.995]They are also headquartered in Washington, D.C.,
[00:06:37.584]with offices throughout the United States,
[00:06:40.079]and they are an independent federal agency.
[00:06:45.060]We all heard of AREMA.
[00:06:46.443]AREMA is the American Railway Engineering
[00:06:48.922]and Maintenance-of-Way Association.
[00:06:51.001]What are they?
[00:06:52.097]They're charged with the development and advancement
[00:06:55.003]of both technical and practical knowledge,
[00:06:58.301]and recommended practices, pertaining to the design,
[00:07:01.604]construction, and maintenance of railway infrastructure,
[00:07:05.830]a very, very important group.
[00:07:08.372]They also develop and maintain
[00:07:10.134]volumes of recommended practices,
[00:07:12.648]which I encourage you to take a look at.
[00:07:16.275]Also, they develop a portfolio of standard plans,
[00:07:19.756]and those plans really deal with track work
[00:07:22.516]and railroad infrastructure.
[00:07:24.557]The technical committees are comprised
[00:07:27.053]of the entire railroad industry,
[00:07:29.696]managers, suppliers, consultants, and academia.
[00:07:34.351]And I urge you, if you become a member
[00:07:37.394]of a railroad industry profession, no matter what it is,
[00:07:40.800]you will be a part of one of these committees.
[00:07:43.414]And it's up to you to determine
[00:07:45.237]which committee you wanna be a part of.
[00:07:47.246]It's wide-ranging, and I know you'll have fun.
[00:07:50.041]We need your expertise.
[00:07:52.582]I work for the Association of American Railroads.
[00:07:55.540]We are an independent trade association.
[00:07:58.676]We are not associated with the government.
[00:08:01.361]I'm not a government employee.
[00:08:03.549]Our customers are the seven Class One railroads,
[00:08:07.334]Amtrak, and over 200 smaller freight railroads
[00:08:10.692]and commuter railroads.
[00:08:12.564]So we service those railroads, they are our customers.
[00:08:17.025]We work with elected officials and leaders in Washington,
[00:08:19.725]D.C., on critical transportation and related issues.
[00:08:24.347]We ensure that the freight rail industry
[00:08:26.583]will continue to meet America's transportation needs
[00:08:30.745]today and tomorrow, and we see nothing
[00:08:34.195]but unparalleled growth in the freight rail industry.
[00:08:38.367]It's exploding, and it will continue to explode
[00:08:41.740]in the foreseeable future.
[00:08:44.240]We establish the standards for North America's
[00:08:48.660]railroads, rolling stock, both freight cars and locomotives,
[00:08:52.355]and technology and network operations.
[00:08:55.212]So that's one of the questions that we had at the beginning.
[00:08:57.391]Who establishes the standards
[00:08:58.937]for freight cars and locomotives?
[00:09:01.050]We do.
[00:09:02.266]We also focus on improving the safety and productivity
[00:09:06.082]of rail transportation throughout our own initiatives,
[00:09:09.180]in cooperation with FRA and other associations.
[00:09:13.301]So yes, we work with all of our railroads.
[00:09:15.796]We work with the NTSB, we work with the FRA,
[00:09:19.527]we work with APTA, and we work with AREMA.
[00:09:22.764]So it's one big, one-stop shopping place.
[00:09:26.159]Let's talk about the other portions of our association.
[00:09:30.716]To advance these goals, we use two subsidiaries.
[00:09:33.970]The Transportation Technology Center,
[00:09:36.092]which is located in Pueblo, Colorado.
[00:09:38.780]We're gonna learn a little bit about that in a minute.
[00:09:42.393]And Railinc.
[00:09:43.697]TTCI, the Transportation Technology Center,
[00:09:46.770]is the world's leading research and development
[00:09:49.509]testing facility, and we develop the next generation
[00:09:53.187]of advancements in safety and operation efficiency.
[00:09:57.833]Rail link, our other subsidiary,
[00:09:59.692]serves as the rail industry's leading resource
[00:10:02.780]for rail data, information technology,
[00:10:05.592]and information services, and uses one of the largest
[00:10:09.378]data networks to track customer shipments.
[00:10:12.515]So if you can imagine all of the freight cars
[00:10:14.670]that interchange throughout the United States,
[00:10:16.898]every day continuously, we manage that data.
[00:10:20.927]The AAR also supports the Railroad Research Foundation.
[00:10:24.555]It is a world-class policy research organization,
[00:10:27.355]dedicated to sustaining a safe and secure
[00:10:30.973]technologically advanced rail network.
[00:10:33.593]So we have plenty of opportunities.
[00:10:35.733]Between these three organizations,
[00:10:37.380]I think there's about 500 people.
[00:10:41.745]The Safety and Operations Management Committee
[00:10:45.160]is a part of the AAR.
[00:10:47.761]We look across the top in the slightly shaded boxes.
[00:10:51.522]You can see there are a number of managerial committees,
[00:10:55.328]and these deal primarily with locomotives and freight cars.
[00:10:59.813]There's technical oversight, risk management,
[00:11:03.202]business services, railroad security, Railinc.
[00:11:07.753]And then we have this one in the middle
[00:11:10.056]called Interoperable Operations Working Committee.
[00:11:13.626]Most of those committees I support,
[00:11:16.906]and these are the, all of the railroad electronics
[00:11:19.860]associated with the railroad industry,
[00:11:22.193]whether it be wireless communication,
[00:11:24.610]or the data assimilation for moving trains,
[00:11:29.028]railroad signaling, communications and train control,
[00:11:32.126]and then we also have one other committee,
[00:11:34.072]Positive Train Control Policy.
[00:11:36.454]All of our members, railroad,
[00:11:40.389]and also vendor community and suppliers,
[00:11:44.951]make up these committees.
[00:11:46.879]They work together collaboratively
[00:11:50.151]to continue the research that's done,
[00:11:53.965]and to continue to make our industry better
[00:11:56.910]and safer every day.
[00:11:58.757]In, I'd say in these committees,
[00:12:00.998]there's probably about a membership of 1,000.
[00:12:04.068]So we welcome you also, if you're a member of a railroad,
[00:12:07.723]we hope that you will participate on these.
[00:12:10.028]You'll be selected by your managers to work on these.
[00:12:13.345]Let's talk a little bit about TTCI.
[00:12:19.874]This is the world's premiere facility
[00:12:23.041]for rail research and testing.
[00:12:26.339]This is where the railroads spur innovation.
[00:12:29.875]Ready for a brake test anytime.
[00:12:34.000]This is where the industry boosts safety,
[00:12:37.251]reliability, and efficiency.
[00:12:40.440]This is TTCI.
[00:12:50.904]The Transportation Technology Center, Inc., TTCI,
[00:12:54.749]is located on the open prairie in Pueblo, Colorado.
[00:12:58.205]TTCI is a huge facility, it's about 52 square miles.
[00:13:01.652]It's about five miles wide and 10 miles long.
[00:13:04.475]We've got about 48 miles of track, and a number
[00:13:07.200]of different laboratories.
[00:13:09.775]TTCI is a unique public-private partnership.
[00:13:13.339]The facility is owned by the Federal
[00:13:15.474]Railroad Administration, and TTCI is in turn
[00:13:18.255]a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Association
[00:13:20.945]of American Railroads.
[00:13:23.176](train whistles)
[00:13:26.406]TTCI is perhaps best known for its research
[00:13:29.383]and testing on freight rail technology.
[00:13:32.651]In the facility's two main laboratories,
[00:13:35.143]the component test lab and the rail dynamics lab,
[00:13:38.506]engineers use one of a kind test machines.
[00:13:43.716]These machines simulate the stresses
[00:13:45.603]of long-time train operations in very short periods of time.
[00:13:50.931]It's trying to push the components to their limits,
[00:13:54.553]in a safe environment in the lab,
[00:13:56.126]before they every go out onto the rails.
[00:13:58.748]With testing in these labs,
[00:14:00.220]customers receive data on the durability of components
[00:14:03.412]in weeks instead of years.
[00:14:07.098]And those time savings translate to gains
[00:14:09.677]in reliability and safety.
[00:14:12.262]All the work that we do focuses on making
[00:14:14.092]the railroads much safer.
[00:14:15.662]Anything that we can do to prevent derailments
[00:14:17.906]is definitely something that we love to do.
[00:14:22.172]In the rail dynamics lab,
[00:14:23.739]engineers can also test entire freight cars,
[00:14:26.552]not just their components.
[00:14:28.945]Huge 200-ton cranes move the cars right onto a machine,
[00:14:33.031]called the vibration test unit.
[00:14:35.328]You can put the entire car body on it,
[00:14:39.350]and then run it through the paces
[00:14:41.744]of its dynamic environment in real life.
[00:14:45.451]All set to go.
[00:14:46.473]TTCI takes freight rail testing
[00:14:48.387]onto the tracks, with the instrumented freight car.
[00:14:51.787]It's a performance-based tracking station,
[00:14:54.551]and when it rides over a piece of track,
[00:14:57.244]it tells us about the track condition.
[00:14:59.671]So if there's any track location that requires
[00:15:02.899]maintenance to attend the train,
[00:15:04.917]then engineers and maintenance personnel
[00:15:07.143]will be notified about it.
[00:15:10.014]This kind of track testing
[00:15:11.407]can be done at TTCI, or on a customer's railroad.
[00:15:17.590]And looking forward, TTCI is working with the railroads
[00:15:21.315]to test and perfect positive train control.
[00:15:24.730]PTC systems aim to use digital radio signals
[00:15:27.920]and computer programs to automatically stop trains
[00:15:31.496]when human error threatens a crash.
[00:15:33.918]What we have done here at TTCI is to build
[00:15:37.235]a simulated PTC system, where we actually have
[00:15:42.583]three real locomotives equipped with PTC,
[00:15:45.832]to see how well they will operate in a stressed environment.
[00:15:51.989]It's this kind of technology,
[00:15:53.722]and the engineering talent behind it,
[00:15:55.876]that keeps major customers returning to TTCI.
[00:15:59.877]Customers like TTX, North America's leading
[00:16:02.642]provider of rail cars.
[00:16:04.817]We come to TTCI to test our cars in controlled
[00:16:07.587]track conditions to evaluate performance of our cars.
[00:16:10.693]We have a large fleet, and improvements in our performance
[00:16:13.127]translate to cost savings for TTX and our owners.
[00:16:19.873]TTCI also does passenger rail
[00:16:21.939]research and testing.
[00:16:23.595]In fact, its roots are in high-speed
[00:16:26.001]passenger train research.
[00:16:29.184]In the early 1970s, the site was known
[00:16:31.528]as the High-Speed Ground Test Center.
[00:16:35.450]In the late 1990s, TTCI tested Amtrak's
[00:16:38.347]high-speed Acela train, logging tens of thousands
[00:16:41.541]of miles on its test tracks.
[00:16:43.870]And TTCI continues to requalify the Acela's performance
[00:16:47.681]once a year.
[00:16:49.679]Today, an important focus in TTCI's passenger rail research,
[00:16:54.840]and in freight as well, are crash-worthy cars,
[00:16:58.031]designed to protect riders and crew.
[00:17:01.046]We had six sensors on the car, we had two video cameras.
[00:17:05.025]That moves 40 miles an hour!
[00:17:07.904]Crash energy management systems are intended
[00:17:10.776]to dissipate the energy involved in a crash.
[00:17:14.401]The forces involved when the car hits the barrier
[00:17:18.609]can be in the millions of pounds.
[00:17:23.832]Standards for improved crash-worthiness for passenger cars
[00:17:27.251]came out of this work.
[00:17:33.141]FAST, it's where some of TTCI's
[00:17:35.796]most advanced testing takes place.
[00:17:38.912]FAST is the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing,
[00:17:41.413]and the name really says it all.
[00:17:43.120]The facility gives us a place where we can test
[00:17:44.739]rail and track components in an accelerated manner,
[00:17:47.700]over a 2.70 mile loop.
[00:17:49.972]And around that loop at FAST
[00:17:51.883]are arranged some of the world's most cutting-edge
[00:17:54.107]track side detectors.
[00:17:56.227]The railroad industry really has made
[00:17:58.989]a tremendous leap forward, it's a game-changer
[00:18:01.499]to have these wayside devices out on the track.
[00:18:04.529]Railroads can essentially perform a CAT scan
[00:18:07.842]of the cars, online without ever removing
[00:18:10.701]the cars from service.
[00:18:12.902]FAST offers a unique environment
[00:18:15.041]for controlled, repeatable, and secure testing
[00:18:17.623]of railway components.
[00:18:19.447]That's measurement frames there...
[00:18:21.233]Railroads and suppliers from around the world
[00:18:23.527]bring their innovative technology here
[00:18:25.353]for developing and testing.
[00:18:28.975]At a different TTCI test site,
[00:18:32.775]a track side detector showing great promise
[00:18:35.123]uses ultrasonic technology to find
[00:18:37.844]internal flaws in rail wheels.
[00:18:41.733]And the U-Rail system is a detector on the move.
[00:18:44.826]It uses high-energy lasers to generate ultrasonic signals
[00:18:48.394]that inspect rails for hidden flaws.
[00:18:53.054]With its technology, its people, and its mission,
[00:18:58.759]TTCI is System activated.
[00:19:01.314]Where the future of rail is being written.
[00:19:05.223]There are things being done here nobody else is doing.
[00:19:08.618]As far as freight technology is concerned,
[00:19:10.513]we have the leaders in the world.
[00:19:12.337]I just see this place as being the hotbed of research
[00:19:15.902]for the rail industry for the next 50 to 100 years to come.
[00:19:19.393](bright music)
[00:19:28.496]Many of you, if you decide
[00:19:30.217]to join the rail industry, will ultimately want to go
[00:19:33.184]to TTCI to take a look and visit and participate
[00:19:37.463]and share in the research.
[00:19:39.275]Almost everything that you've seen,
[00:19:42.049]including what we're gonna talk about next,
[00:19:45.064]did not exist when I started my railroad career.
[00:19:48.140]So the wisdom and knowledge of the senior people
[00:19:52.909]that are there will be departing,
[00:19:55.207]and we need young people to fill in this gap.
[00:19:58.516]And we know that we have many, many bright people
[00:20:01.029]who are going to do that.
[00:20:02.792]Let's take a few minutes and talk
[00:20:04.140]about the largest initiative in the railroad industry today,
[00:20:08.273]and it's called positive train control.
[00:20:11.173]And let's, it's gonna take a few minutes,
[00:20:12.715]but let's walk through it, and I think
[00:20:14.346]it will clearly explain what it is that we're trying to do,
[00:20:17.372]which is unparalleled in transportation.
[00:20:20.541]Positive train control is an automated,
[00:20:22.308]highly complex system, which provides
[00:20:25.114]the following features.
[00:20:27.438]It is a communication-based system
[00:20:29.654]of functional requirements
[00:20:31.540]for monitoring and controlling train movements
[00:20:34.324]to provide increased safety.
[00:20:36.950]The system will prevent train-to-train collisions,
[00:20:40.553]whether they are overtake, train following another train,
[00:20:44.192]head-on, head-on collision, or converging,
[00:20:47.744]two trains from the side.
[00:20:49.699]It will prevent trains from exceeding speed limits,
[00:20:52.433]whether they be permanent speed limits,
[00:20:54.586]due to the train type, one train can go
[00:20:56.860]faster than the other.
[00:20:58.828]The track geometry, which is a curve,
[00:21:00.936]or through a turnout or a switch
[00:21:02.675]from one track to another.
[00:21:04.378]It will also enforce temporary speed limits.
[00:21:07.714]And this could be for a track gang,
[00:21:09.705]a maintenance of way slow order,
[00:21:11.690]where we slow the track down to do construction.
[00:21:14.340]And it will prevent incursions into maintenance work zones,
[00:21:18.216]so that an employee who's on the railroad
[00:21:20.653]can no longer be at risk by a train
[00:21:23.191]that should have stopped but didn't stop.
[00:21:26.575]Some positive train control systems
[00:21:28.995]have the ability to do grade crossings pre-start
[00:21:32.568]and health monitoring, but not the system
[00:21:34.792]that we're gonna talk about today.
[00:21:37.415]What is it?
[00:21:38.546]Well, it's three components, and we'll get into each
[00:21:42.449]of these just a little bit,
[00:21:43.847]but I wanted to give an overview.
[00:21:46.347]The three components are the office segment,
[00:21:49.414]which is like the train dispatcher and that crowd.
[00:21:52.471]There's the wayside segment, which is the physical signal
[00:21:57.719]location or switch location throughout the United States.
[00:22:01.735]And also the locomotive segment,
[00:22:03.579]so there's three parts, and they communicate wirelessly.
[00:22:08.484]Interoperable-Electronic Train Management System, or I-ETMS.
[00:22:12.721]This is the positive train control system
[00:22:14.608]that the freight carriers have elected to install.
[00:22:18.356]It is an overlay train control system
[00:22:21.170]to the nation's freight railroad existing signal system.
[00:22:25.596]It is designed to prevent the collisions,
[00:22:27.807]over-speed, civil speed enforcement, roadway workers.
[00:22:31.648]And it uses unique braking algorithms
[00:22:34.215]for both passenger trains and freight trains,
[00:22:37.132]'cause they brake differently.
[00:22:38.896]Long coal trains that we see brake differently
[00:22:41.788]than the fast intermodal trains.
[00:22:44.166]So they all have different braking algorithms,
[00:22:46.472]and all of these were created by industry,
[00:22:49.398]with a lot of the work being done, of course, at TTCI.
[00:22:53.314]It is a GPS based system, and this system
[00:22:56.324]does not use transponders.
[00:22:59.008]The office system, the back office server,
[00:23:02.178]is associated with the train dispatch centers.
[00:23:06.268]It must authenticate all of the servers,
[00:23:09.674]all of the systems and personnel who are using the system.
[00:23:15.282]It is an, it interfaces with numerous enhancements
[00:23:18.442]to the train dispatching system.
[00:23:20.569]It provides security application for message integrity.
[00:23:24.342]And we're gonna talking about the messaging.
[00:23:26.065]Just imagine the millions of messages that are gonna
[00:23:29.063]go on constantly, that have to be secure,
[00:23:32.239]so that no one can hack into it.
[00:23:33.758]It also provides an interoperable train control
[00:23:37.300]messaging system, we're gonna talk about that.
[00:23:40.169]And we've developed a brand new 220 MegaHertz data radio
[00:23:44.976]for base communication.
[00:23:47.290]We communicate switching network and interoperable
[00:23:51.110]back office communications, all of this is brand new.
[00:23:54.734]We're gonna talk about the wayside locations
[00:23:56.569]where we saw those little signals.
[00:23:58.859]This system will tell us what position each turnout is in,
[00:24:03.803]whether it's normal or reverse.
[00:24:06.269]We have both integrated and stand-alone
[00:24:09.043]Wayside Interface Units.
[00:24:11.425]We have wayside database data network now,
[00:24:16.360]which contains over 200 characteristics
[00:24:19.327]of track and trackside assets,
[00:24:21.886]and this has been over 500,000 points
[00:24:25.317]throughout the railroad system that have been integrated
[00:24:27.838]into this master database.
[00:24:30.314]The wayside system also uses this brand new
[00:24:33.183]220 MegaHertz data radio, for both switch
[00:24:37.074]and signal communication.
[00:24:39.149]On the locomotive side, we have a train management computer.
[00:24:43.283]This is an interactive display,
[00:24:44.837]and we'll show a picture of this.
[00:24:46.680]We have, as a part of the train management system,
[00:24:50.264]brand new software that was just developed.
[00:24:53.184]We also have a 200 MegaHertz data radio for each locomotive.
[00:24:58.280]And onboard the locomotive, we have these computer
[00:25:01.386]display units, GPS sensors, crash hardened memory module,
[00:25:06.451]and this brand new antenna array for all data transmissions.
[00:25:10.380]None of this existed a few years ago.
[00:25:14.172]I'm not gonna get into the real specifics,
[00:25:16.107]but if you can look at this and just imagine
[00:25:18.152]that all of this stuff is now new,
[00:25:20.970]and it's onboard the locomotive.
[00:25:23.046]So all of these new boxes had to be created.
[00:25:26.240]All of them are integrated and tied in.
[00:25:28.729]And all of them have to work together on the locomotive,
[00:25:31.729]plus communicate with the back office,
[00:25:33.819]plus communicate with the wayside signaling system.
[00:25:37.846]This is one of the boxes that's onboard,
[00:25:40.619]or the Electronic Train Management Computer.
[00:25:43.940]It tells a little bit about all the good stuff there,
[00:25:46.349]it has wires that go in and out,
[00:25:48.585]and it's really one of the brains of the operation.
[00:25:52.523]But it's crash hardened, and it's made
[00:25:54.606]for a rough industrial environment.
[00:25:58.107]On the locomotive segment, there's a whole array
[00:26:00.507]of different boxes that we have,
[00:26:02.651]all these brand new computer things.
[00:26:05.001]Data radio, the train management computer,
[00:26:07.348]and by God, we have to be able to talk
[00:26:09.441]to the locomotive engineer, so we had to develop
[00:26:11.939]a new locomotive engineer display unit.
[00:26:14.841]Inside the locomotive, the FRA has said that all members
[00:26:18.573]of the train crew will have an unobstructed
[00:26:20.805]view of the screen.
[00:26:23.332]So if you have people on both sides of the locomotive,
[00:26:26.584]they either have to be able to see one screen,
[00:26:28.496]or we have to put in two screens.
[00:26:30.925]The Locomotive Interface Gateway, another new brain
[00:26:33.856]that was recently developed, provides integration
[00:26:36.687]of PTC functionality to over 30 different existing
[00:26:40.934]locomotive configurations.
[00:26:42.838]This is all done through RF.
[00:26:46.761]There are 18,000 locomotives which have to be equipped.
[00:26:50.524]All of these locomotives have to come out of the pool,
[00:26:53.543]and they have to go back in the pool, at least twice.
[00:26:57.059]18,000 locomotives represents approximately 75%
[00:27:01.881]of the mainline operating fleet throughout the nation.
[00:27:05.473]4,000 installations have been started.
[00:27:08.189]And if you can imagine, with all these locomotives,
[00:27:10.571]about 1700 miles of wire have to be installed
[00:27:16.023]and correctly configured.
[00:27:19.191]This is what a locomotive engineer sees
[00:27:21.416]when he or she sits down at the cab.
[00:27:24.038]The seat is just directly in front of us.
[00:27:26.701]On the right hand side, that's kind of like
[00:27:29.456]the display that they look at that says how fast
[00:27:32.904]am I going, and a little bit more
[00:27:35.249]about what my locomotive does.
[00:27:38.379]The center screen also is one of the operational displays
[00:27:43.449]that tells about the locomotive itself.
[00:27:46.465]The blue thing that you see in the lower,
[00:27:48.296]that's like the gas pedal.
[00:27:50.764]And then, on the left hand side
[00:27:52.896]is this new positive train control locomotive display
[00:27:56.592]that the engineer is gonna look at.
[00:27:58.705]Yeah, those buttons on the front,
[00:28:00.042]they're the horn and that kind of stuff, also.
[00:28:03.241]This is a little bit about that cab display unit
[00:28:05.823]that we talked about, it has a lot of information built in.
[00:28:10.234]It is interactive with the locomotive engineer,
[00:28:13.082]and there's gonna be a lot of training required,
[00:28:15.333]because this is a new box on the locomotive.
[00:28:18.589]This is what the locomotive engineer is going to see.
[00:28:21.953]Up at the top, you can see, we'll talk a little bit
[00:28:24.129]about it for a minute.
[00:28:25.649]It says 32 miles an hour, that's how fast
[00:28:27.709]the train is going.
[00:28:29.663]The maximum authorized speed is 49 miles an hour.
[00:28:33.720]If you look on the left hand side, you'll see
[00:28:35.666]that white series of boxes, that's the train.
[00:28:40.094]The train is at milepost 17.
[00:28:42.856]You can see the nose of the train
[00:28:44.331]on the right of the little boxes,
[00:28:46.833]and it's proceeding towards milepost 18.
[00:28:50.224]It's slightly downhill right now,
[00:28:52.355]it's gonna be going uphill, and then it has
[00:28:54.089]a long downgrade to the right hand side of the screen.
[00:28:57.986]You'll see these two lines in front of the locomotive.
[00:29:01.723]The one is, the first red line
[00:29:04.101]is where the locomotive must stop if it has a problem.
[00:29:09.396]The next yellow line is kind of like a warning message
[00:29:12.438]that's going to be given to the locomotive engineer.
[00:29:15.821]So the locomotive engineer will be able to see
[00:29:17.668]the railroad that's in front of them,
[00:29:20.740]what it looks like, where they are
[00:29:23.176]with respect to the railroad.
[00:29:25.034]You can see that green and yellow and red bar,
[00:29:27.425]that's actually what the track structure looks like
[00:29:29.597]in front of him, and you can see the signal.
[00:29:31.389]You can see the siding, and the siding
[00:29:33.323]has a red bar on it, might be occupied by a train.
[00:29:37.023]And then the green bar is where they're gonna operate.
[00:29:39.695]So there's a lot of information that's conveyed
[00:29:42.055]to the locomotive engineer, and this is what PTC does.
[00:29:46.461]Now, the locomotive engineer is always in charge
[00:29:50.469]of their train, they can always operate it.
[00:29:53.527]But if they're incapacitated, or they fail to react
[00:29:56.280]to a warning, PTC will issue a brake enforcement,
[00:30:00.908]and it will stop the train.
[00:30:03.058]If the train gets too close to another train, it'll stop.
[00:30:07.579]If the train is entering a curve at a high rate of speed,
[00:30:11.131]it will stop.
[00:30:12.665]If the train enters a work authority, it will stop
[00:30:16.394]before it gets there.
[00:30:17.912]All of these things are predictive, and will happen
[00:30:20.655]before the train enters a restricted area.
[00:30:24.734]This is some of the things that we do
[00:30:26.688]in the railroad industry for ourselves.
[00:30:29.136]This is a radio spectrum analysis of Chicago.
[00:30:33.593]On the right hand side is Lake Michigan.
[00:30:35.737]On the left hand side is
[00:30:38.514]throughout the metropolitan area of Chicago.
[00:30:41.392]You can see these little black spots in the middle
[00:30:45.193]of each of those red zones, those are antennas.
[00:30:48.444]The red field are the largest propagation
[00:30:52.057]of our radio frequencies.
[00:30:54.361]And then the yellow areas, it gets less complex,
[00:30:57.671]and the green, finally it reaches the white area,
[00:31:00.439]where we don't have any radio coverage.
[00:31:02.942]If one can imagine the millions and millions
[00:31:05.727]of transmissions that are gonna have to occur,
[00:31:09.095]many of them simultaneously, that we can't interfere
[00:31:12.387]with the myriad, the thousands of trains
[00:31:14.421]that operate in Chicago.
[00:31:17.173]25% of the nation's traffic, freight traffic
[00:31:21.302]moves through Chicago on a daily basis.
[00:31:24.491]So we had to come up with a new radio system
[00:31:26.690]that allowed us not only to communicate
[00:31:28.584]with voice communication, which is separate
[00:31:30.944]from the positive train control.
[00:31:33.185]So no matter what you're into, if you're into radios,
[00:31:34.774]or if you're into marketing or logistics or whatever,
[00:31:39.524]we have a role for you in the railroad industry.
[00:31:43.355]Well, we talked a lot about the complexities of it,
[00:31:47.776]but how complex is it?
[00:31:51.012]The first sentence says it all.
[00:31:52.689]It is the most expensive and technically
[00:31:54.853]complex initiative in railroad history.
[00:31:58.025]75% of all of the locomotives, mainline locomotives
[00:32:02.108]will be equipped.
[00:32:04.487]1,700 miles of new locomotive wiring has to be installed.
[00:32:09.807]96,000 miles of railroad tracks must be equipped
[00:32:14.071]with positive train control.
[00:32:16.095]And we have mapped about half a million wayside elements.
[00:32:19.465]A wayside element is the beginning of a bridge,
[00:32:21.800]the beginning of a curve, the location of a turnout,
[00:32:25.556]a grade crossing.
[00:32:27.840]Anything associated with the railroad has been mapped.
[00:32:31.736]50,000 wayside units, that's these communication units
[00:32:35.568]at each signal will have to be installed.
[00:32:39.910]About 150,000 people,
[00:32:44.641]or 75% of the entire railroad
[00:32:47.405]employment service today, will receive training
[00:32:52.207]on this complex system.
[00:32:54.363]If one can imagine, it's not just the locomotive engineer
[00:32:57.557]that has to be trained on how to operate
[00:32:59.363]positive train control.
[00:33:01.788]We need our signal maintainers, their supervisors.
[00:33:05.738]We need the people who maintain the locomotives.
[00:33:08.949]We need the people who work on the tracks.
[00:33:11.272]All of their supervision, train dispatchers,
[00:33:14.499]all of these people have to understand the system
[00:33:17.249]before we turn it on.
[00:33:19.074]Today, it's about an $8 billion initiative,
[00:33:22.521]and one of the interesting things about it,
[00:33:24.556]because it's mandated by Congress, this initiative
[00:33:28.564]must be internally funded by each of the freight railroads.
[00:33:32.389]There is no federal money or state money being given
[00:33:35.688]to any of the railroads for PTC.
[00:33:38.202]Commuter railroads are receiving some government funding.
[00:33:41.620]So it's what we call an unfunded mandate.
[00:33:44.643]You will do this, and you will have it done,
[00:33:46.797]and you will pay for it, and you'll have to find the money.
[00:33:49.636]Good luck.
[00:33:51.316]Now, the hard part.
[00:33:53.170]PTC is a new technology.
[00:33:55.457]Yes, there's one PTC system in Michigan,
[00:33:57.897]that's been in existence for 10 years.
[00:34:01.104]It was basically developed for Amtrak.
[00:34:03.913]I happened to be project manager on that project.
[00:34:06.961]It's worked successfully for 10 years.
[00:34:08.727]I'm very proud of it, but it is a new technology.
[00:34:12.365]New nationwide standards are being developed
[00:34:14.962]by all of the people that you saw
[00:34:17.172]on these committees earlier.
[00:34:19.546]It's members of the railroad industry
[00:34:21.628]that are developing these nationwide standards.
[00:34:24.226]The freight application is well underway.
[00:34:26.367]Locomotives are having the equipment installed.
[00:34:28.772]Thousands of wayside signal system appliances
[00:34:31.421]have been installed.
[00:34:32.732]Train dispatching computer systems are being modified,
[00:34:35.876]and normally, each railroad can do their own thing.
[00:34:39.389]Burlington Northern can do what they want on their railroad.
[00:34:41.828]Union Pacific can do what they want.
[00:34:43.562]Canadian National can do what they want.
[00:34:45.620]But, now this system has to be interoperable
[00:34:48.245]between all of the railroads.
[00:34:51.160]So even though the locomotives must be fully capable
[00:34:53.625]of operating on their own railroad,
[00:34:56.127]now they have to be absolutely completely capable
[00:34:59.108]of operating on everybody else's railroad.
[00:35:01.722]This is what we call interoperability,
[00:35:04.016]or remember the I-ETMS.
[00:35:06.786]Commuter railroads also operate
[00:35:08.579]across freight railroad tracks.
[00:35:10.103]So they have to be interoperable
[00:35:11.602]with the freight railroads that they run on.
[00:35:14.429]And if one can imagine that you have to know
[00:35:16.656]where every piece of equipment is, all the time,
[00:35:19.897]what version of software and hardware has been installed,
[00:35:23.222]what version of software wants to be installed.
[00:35:25.881]We have to be able to manage the configuration
[00:35:28.441]of millions of pieces of equipment.
[00:35:32.128]The schedule.
[00:35:33.131]Each railroad is working diligently
[00:35:35.002]to install PTC on their own systems.
[00:35:38.752]The railroad industry has had to retain
[00:35:40.664]specialized employees, and have hired thousands
[00:35:43.862]of new employees and contractors
[00:35:45.842]to assist with this deployment.
[00:35:47.962]Manufacturing of wayside, locomotive, and back office
[00:35:50.853]equipment is proceeding to support installation.
[00:35:53.805]And each locomotive, wayside installation, and back office
[00:35:57.769]needs to have a completely new communications infrastructure
[00:36:03.206]developed from scratch.
[00:36:05.022]This must be completed, by law, by December 31st, 2015.
[00:36:11.237]It is a monumental undertaking.
[00:36:14.761]I think that there will be some relief.
[00:36:18.113]We are hoping that's the case for a couple years.
[00:36:20.985]It may be one year at a time.
[00:36:23.011]But we are proceeding today as if it must be done,
[00:36:26.341]and of course, it's not done yet.
[00:36:28.800]This is an unfunded mandate.
[00:36:30.821]The common principle is find your own money and get it done.
[00:36:37.209]And so, I have two summary slides.
[00:36:40.545]About, on the technical side,
[00:36:43.009]honestly, you know, I've worked in the industry
[00:36:45.096]for 37 years.
[00:36:47.451]The industry has devoted the best and the brightest
[00:36:49.700]to this effort, thousands of employees,
[00:36:53.085]not only from the railroads but with support
[00:36:55.434]from manufacturers and consultants,
[00:36:57.361]in helping to make this initiative.
[00:36:59.719]To install it, to test it and make sure it works.
[00:37:02.263]To maintain it, it is extremely complex.
[00:37:05.763]It is a simultaneous undertaking
[00:37:08.399]by the entire railroad industry.
[00:37:10.666]The railroads are fierce competitors,
[00:37:12.878]but absolutely cooperate in a manner
[00:37:15.834]unprecedented, I think, in the United States.
[00:37:19.133]It involves all the major railroads,
[00:37:21.087]all the commuter railroads, the authorities,
[00:37:23.136]and some smaller railroads.
[00:37:24.769]And it requires billions of dollars
[00:37:26.743]of railroad funded investment.
[00:37:29.133]Now, my challenge to you.
[00:37:31.885]We need talented people.
[00:37:34.837]We cannot do these things on our own.
[00:37:37.755]The Class One freight railroads need talented people,
[00:37:40.908]regional railroads need talented people,
[00:37:43.773]short lines and terminal companies, commuter rail agencies,
[00:37:46.822]Amtrak, consultants, manufacturers, suppliers.
[00:37:50.375]We can't do it without good people.
[00:37:53.683]I want to encourage undergrads and grad students to explore
[00:37:57.433]a myriad of technically and financially challenging
[00:38:00.982]opportunities in the railroad industry.
[00:38:03.435]It doesn't matter if you are interested in radios,
[00:38:07.782]you're interested in logistics,
[00:38:09.575]you're interested in marketing.
[00:38:11.458]You have a degree in law, doesn't make any difference.
[00:38:14.348]We need all of these people.
[00:38:16.859]We have a lot of people like me, a little older,
[00:38:19.739]looking forward to retirement.
[00:38:21.385]There's gonna be a lot of, yeah, I'm real old.
[00:38:23.495]Lot of opportunity for people to take our place.
[00:38:27.926]And lo and behold, you know,
[00:38:31.033]you can have a good career, these are good jobs.
[00:38:34.060]They pay well, they have great benefits.
[00:38:36.927]And you will be exposed to and experience more things
[00:38:41.353]in many diverse areas than you ever thought possible.
[00:38:44.572]For those that decide to join the rail industry,
[00:38:47.032]I promise you that whatever you think you're gonna do,
[00:38:50.185]you will start, you will end up somewhere else,
[00:38:52.831]you will do something that you never thought possible.
[00:38:55.220]I think my career is, starting out as a civil
[00:38:57.481]and doing all this stuff that I don't know or understand,
[00:39:00.289]is a good testament to the fact that you can have
[00:39:03.461]a really, really wonderful career.
[00:39:05.995]So I hope that I've encouraged you to take a hard look
[00:39:09.203]at this industry, it, as one of my friends says,
[00:39:12.482]it takes a ton of technology to move a ton of freight.
[00:39:16.750]And it's true, and we're doing a better job that we ever.
[00:39:19.803]It's a great industry, please take a look at it
[00:39:21.919]in your careers, and we welcome you aboard with open arms.
[00:39:25.340]Dr. Larry, thank you.
[00:39:27.017]That's great, thank you.
[00:39:28.414](applause)
[00:39:34.402]Alright, do we have any questions
[00:39:36.492]from the audience, either online or here in person?
[00:39:41.313]Don't be shy.
[00:39:44.576]Not all at once.
[00:39:55.542]Hi, I'm,
[00:39:57.396]I have a question about train active warning system.
[00:40:01.788]Right now, on the track,
[00:40:04.984]the track, the active warning system
[00:40:07.118]is using the track circuit to get the train.
[00:40:11.454]So I wondered, after the positive train control
[00:40:16.952]system is being used,
[00:40:19.722]how to integrate the new system
[00:40:22.457]to the traditional warning system,
[00:40:26.229]and are they using together, or,
[00:40:30.128]and is there a transition period,
[00:40:34.338]to test these two systems?
[00:40:36.683]Let me try to answer that as good as I can.
[00:40:40.633]There will be, and always will be,
[00:40:43.098]an existing signal system.
[00:40:45.289]The positive train control system is going to be,
[00:40:47.585]I call it icing on the cake.
[00:40:49.137]It's gonna be an overlay system to the cake.
[00:40:51.882]It's gonna be icing around the cake.
[00:40:54.029]Positive train control system will use the existing
[00:40:56.405]signal system as its roots.
[00:40:59.067]So that technology will always be there.
[00:41:03.502]PTC will take that technology,
[00:41:05.945]and predict where the train is going to be.
[00:41:09.521]So it, and it will, through that prediction,
[00:41:12.615]it will enforce a safe stop, if a train is going to exceed.
[00:41:17.813]Today, there aren't many ways that we can stop a train
[00:41:21.298]before it reaches a stop sign or stop signal.
[00:41:24.928]But positive train control will allow us
[00:41:27.922]to predict where that train is going to be,
[00:41:30.082]if that train is going to stop in time,
[00:41:32.906]and we will enforce braking so the train does stop in time.
[00:41:36.870]Okay, that, does that answer your first question?
[00:41:40.453]And I wanna make sure that I address your second one.
[00:41:44.281]And the second one is...
[00:41:52.416]The second one is,
[00:41:55.020]is there a transition period that, to test this new system?
[00:41:59.494]Yes, but that's a good question.
[00:42:01.922]How do we transition this?
[00:42:04.349]Each railroad has divided their railroad
[00:42:08.536]into smaller segments, we call them subdivisions.
[00:42:12.563]And they can be 100 miles long,
[00:42:15.349]or they can be several hundred miles long,
[00:42:17.446]depending on the complexity of the individual railroad.
[00:42:21.772]Each railroad will go out and they'll make sure
[00:42:24.327]that an individual interlocking, the switches and signals
[00:42:27.881]or an intermediate location, works.
[00:42:31.499]And they'll test it and test it and test it,
[00:42:34.598]then they'll take a small subdivision,
[00:42:36.899]and they'll turn it all on and make sure that it works.
[00:42:39.984]The difficult part is, you can imagine, an employee
[00:42:42.741]comes out, is operating this big, heavy train
[00:42:45.481]over a long distance, and they see the normal,
[00:42:48.715]regular signal system that they've seen
[00:42:50.465]for the last 20 years.
[00:42:52.552]Then, we turn on this other switch.
[00:42:54.716]Now we've got this new box on the locomotive
[00:42:57.061]that's telling them all kinds of stuff.
[00:42:58.902]So there will be kind of a burn-in period, okay,
[00:43:02.528]for each person to see, and then at some point,
[00:43:06.094]we'll make the decision on a railroad by railroad basis,
[00:43:09.304]and a subdivision basis, to throw the switch.
[00:43:12.724]And then, from that point on,
[00:43:14.151]positive train control is gonna control the trains.
[00:43:16.614]So that's an excellent question.
[00:43:18.320]I would imagine that there are going to be
[00:43:21.239]in the neighborhood of maybe 500 of these times,
[00:43:25.279]that we have different burn-ins
[00:43:27.407]throughout the United States.
[00:43:28.849]There are 50,000 locations which have to be tested
[00:43:31.815]before we can start turning on a subdivision.
[00:43:35.940]So yes, there's two parts to that.
[00:43:37.777]One is the technical and the other is the human part.
[00:43:41.026]So it's an excellent question, and it's gonna take
[00:43:42.525]some time to do it, and we still have to have it done
[00:43:45.453]in a very short period of time
[00:43:47.101]with many, many thousands of people.
[00:43:49.238]Excellent question, thank you, thank you.
[00:43:52.131]I'd like to ask a followup question,
[00:43:53.779]if I could, on that.
[00:43:58.396]So I understand about the trains being in communication
[00:44:01.290]with each other, but is there gonna be an ability
[00:44:03.846]to see that there's something stuck on the tracks,
[00:44:06.062]at a grade crossing, would this technology,
[00:44:08.278]do you see that as being part of it?
[00:44:10.240]I mean, we just had that accident in West Texas,
[00:44:13.854]as an example.
[00:44:15.873]Positive train control is not designed
[00:44:19.292]in this rollout to detect a vehicle stuck on the track.
[00:44:24.240]It is not intended to do that.
[00:44:26.095]This is intended to keep trains
[00:44:27.588]from running into each other.
[00:44:29.577]Of course, what we're always trying to do
[00:44:32.521]is to educate the public, and tell them that, you know,
[00:44:37.677]don't drive through the gates,
[00:44:38.713]don't drive around the gates.
[00:44:40.564]And be careful when you're operating a motor vehicle
[00:44:42.706]over a grade crossing.
[00:44:44.643]The other thing that we're also trying to do is to eliminate
[00:44:47.517]grade crossings, and trying to provide
[00:44:49.407]better warning protection, and warning devices
[00:44:51.787]at each grade crossing,
[00:44:53.519]as well as enforcing the rules,
[00:44:57.944]and there has to be a penalty for someone
[00:44:59.981]who drives around the gates.
[00:45:01.885]But in answer to your question,
[00:45:02.945]positive train control is not, this rollout,
[00:45:05.979]does not address a vehicle stuck on the track.
[00:45:10.560]And just a followup on that.
[00:45:13.600]It would seem to me that, you know,
[00:45:15.053]with all this technology we have, with smartphones
[00:45:16.738]and that, that there'd be an app for that.
[00:45:20.204]Do you see that as being something that's coming in,
[00:45:22.355]where you would allow this kind of information
[00:45:25.559]to go to commercial vehicle operators,
[00:45:27.688]trucks, school buses, ambulances,
[00:45:30.085]that would know when there's a vehicle, or I'm sorry,
[00:45:32.868]a train coming into the vicinity
[00:45:34.484]of that grade railroad crossing?
[00:45:36.102]It's an excellent question.
[00:45:37.654]We were talking about this morning,
[00:45:39.787]there is an effort underway
[00:45:45.220]with both the Federal Highway Administration
[00:45:47.935]and the Federal Railroad Administration
[00:45:50.316]to look at exactly that.
[00:45:54.248]It's still in the discovery, the concept period.
[00:45:57.847]By no means has it started to roll out,
[00:46:00.095]or any kind of further definition been provided.
[00:46:03.231]But what I ultimately think will happen
[00:46:05.444]is that the grade crossing will broadcast a message
[00:46:08.532]to a unit inside a vehicle.
[00:46:10.850]And it's like, you know,
[00:46:12.666]the car that, your seat vibrates when you back up.
[00:46:16.603]Some sort of a message will be given,
[00:46:19.024]whether it's a visual message, and a visual audio,
[00:46:22.178]or whatever that might be, that a train
[00:46:24.244]is approaching the crossing and you're getting too close,
[00:46:26.643]and you better brake.
[00:46:27.855]I predict something like that will happen in the future.
[00:46:34.921]I had a quick question regarding the control.
[00:46:37.198]So the only control then right now is stopping the train,
[00:46:40.223]or is it possible to slow down the train or change it?
[00:46:44.279]You know, is it just stop, or...
[00:46:45.814]That's a good question.
[00:46:47.211]You remember the red line and the yellow line?
[00:46:50.997]We always want the locomotive engineer to be responsible
[00:46:54.034]to operate their train.
[00:46:55.964]If for some reason, they're incapacitated,
[00:46:58.382]the yellow line gives that warning to the train crew
[00:47:01.476]that there's a problem and you'd better pay attention
[00:47:03.548]and do something.
[00:47:04.796]The red line is, if they do nothing, the train will stop.
[00:47:08.624]So by providing not only the information on the screen
[00:47:11.668]that we saw,
[00:47:13.063]so that's kind of like, here's where we are,
[00:47:15.531]here's where we're going.
[00:47:17.050]Maintain control of your train the right way.
[00:47:19.795]Just provides more information to the locomotive engineer.
[00:47:22.550]The yellow line that we saw provides a warning,
[00:47:25.592]so that they can be proactive and do something
[00:47:27.746]before the brake enforcement comes in.
[00:47:30.341]The last resort, absolute last resort
[00:47:32.499]is the brake enforcement.
[00:47:34.471]We always want the locomotive engineer
[00:47:36.644]to be in control of his or her train.
[00:47:39.517]Good question.
[00:47:43.023]I have a quick question.
[00:47:44.483]How does one get an internship or a tour,
[00:47:48.533]or what's the best way?
[00:47:50.039]If there's a student that says, you know,
[00:47:51.455]I really would like to see this facility.
[00:47:53.555]What's the best way to get in contact with them,
[00:47:55.897]or to look at internship options,
[00:47:58.066]or do they do that kind of thing?
[00:48:00.623]I'm sure that TTCI would always entertain internships.
[00:48:05.606]It's kind of a tough place to get to.
[00:48:08.895]We deliberately, we.
[00:48:11.434]Like the federal government and the AAR.
[00:48:14.147]This place is positioned in the middle of nowhere,
[00:48:16.835]on purpose.
[00:48:18.530]We don't want prying eyes driving out there
[00:48:20.764]and looking at things, and frankly,
[00:48:22.588]some of the things that we do are for customers,
[00:48:26.006]and they don't want prying eyes.
[00:48:27.883]So it's a difficult place to get to.
[00:48:30.737]But yes, I know that they would value internships.
[00:48:34.409]I'm sure by contacting TTCI,
[00:48:36.420]and we can provide that information.
[00:48:39.182]The other thing, folks, is that I really encourage you
[00:48:42.264]to look at the different railroads,
[00:48:44.240]different commuter rail authorities,
[00:48:46.402]the passenger agencies.
[00:48:48.454]Also, if you're interested in the manufacturing
[00:48:50.762]or design of these things, consultants offer internships,
[00:48:54.537]manufacturers offer internships, and railroads do.
[00:48:57.790]So the entire industry, we need talent.
[00:49:02.585]And it depends on company by company,
[00:49:05.752]but I'm sure that we would embrace an intern.
[00:49:10.476]Tough jobs, tough jobs, good jobs.
[00:49:14.251]Are there any other questions?
[00:49:19.411]Just one more question
[00:49:21.925]on the positive train control, actually two.
[00:49:26.153]So the first one, it's a pretty big undertaking.
[00:49:28.663]Who owns the intellectual, is this like open source,
[00:49:31.190]is this, does someone actually own
[00:49:33.039]the intellectual property, do they sell it
[00:49:35.023]to other countries or other things like that?
[00:49:37.714]And then the second one, sort of the related,
[00:49:40.411]who has the liability on this side of things?
[00:49:42.926]If something doesn't go quite right with the,
[00:49:45.064]because it obviously is a very complex system.
[00:49:48.323]The railroads, two parts to that.
[00:49:50.227]Yes, there is intellectual property that's developed.
[00:49:53.771]It's Wabtec that has and owns the box
[00:49:58.827]that they are manufacturing.
[00:50:00.486]These are developed to a standard.
[00:50:02.188]Same thing on the other side, the radio communication,
[00:50:05.040]there's proprietary information there.
[00:50:07.654]I don't see it, I don't wanna see it,
[00:50:09.786]don't wanna know what's in it.
[00:50:12.360]They own it, they can sell it.
[00:50:14.350]The railroads are also involved in the fact
[00:50:16.937]that they help create the standards,
[00:50:19.916]so that if you wanted to open up a company,
[00:50:22.714]you certainly can do that.
[00:50:23.788]All you have to do is design
[00:50:25.076]and build your system to those standards.
[00:50:27.318]So it's open architecture from the standpoint of,
[00:50:30.326]yes, you have the right to compete,
[00:50:32.855]and the standards and specifications are open for all,
[00:50:37.323]but yeah, you can believe that they have a lot
[00:50:41.334]of investment made in these, a lot of these boxes
[00:50:44.392]that you see, and the same thing
[00:50:46.245]with the locomotive suppliers, the same thing
[00:50:49.045]with other signal equipment suppliers.
[00:50:51.686]A lot of I-P is out there.
[00:50:56.202]We have a question from the online audience.
[00:50:58.670]Curious if they hire international students
[00:51:00.652]as well as permanent residents and U.S. citizens.
[00:51:04.148]Good question, I can't answer it.
[00:51:06.150]I think it's on a company by company basis.
[00:51:09.041]But I'd certainly ask them, you know.
[00:51:11.651]I've never known them to turn any talented individual away.
[00:51:16.421]We need talent.
[00:51:19.847]Okay, and one final question is how
[00:51:21.301]is cybersecurity handled, you know,
[00:51:23.254]obviously all radio transmission.
[00:51:25.383]You know, if the box is open source
[00:51:27.708]and the architecture is standard,
[00:51:29.760]how is that being addressed by the railroad industry?
[00:51:33.192]I see a number of different opportunities
[00:51:35.242]for terrorism and those kind of things
[00:51:36.744]with this environment.
[00:51:38.220]Yeah, the cybersecurity is a big deal.
[00:51:42.876]We actually have a real supersecret network of communication
[00:51:47.026]that goes on between the railroads.
[00:51:50.528]When a railroad is hacked or whatever, everyone is notified.
[00:51:56.470]I know that there are encrypted messages
[00:51:58.943]that are gonna be a part of this whole PTC process.
[00:52:02.273]If I tried to hack in, I couldn't.
[00:52:04.552]I don't think there's a way,
[00:52:05.770]I don't think it's worth trying.
[00:52:07.383]Certainly is not a research opportunity for someone
[00:52:10.521]to try to hack in.
[00:52:12.640]We have some of the best and the brightest security people
[00:52:15.943]who have been assigned to this, and I'm absolutely convinced
[00:52:20.511]that no one's ever gonna be able to hack in.
[00:52:23.572]They've done a wonderful job
[00:52:25.250]of creating this source,
[00:52:28.502]and it's created in such a way that
[00:52:32.218]you'd waste a lot of time trying to even entertain
[00:52:34.816]trying to hack into it.
[00:52:36.180]I hope that answers it a little bit,
[00:52:37.911]but yeah, it's pretty secret stuff, pretty high-tech.
[00:52:42.050]Well, then, yeah.
[00:52:43.422]Alright, does anybody have any other questions?
[00:52:45.703](woman coughs)
[00:52:47.368]Alright, well, I'll turn it over to Larry to close it out.
[00:52:51.966]Well, thanks, Bob, I appreciate that a lot.
[00:52:53.736]I think everyone enjoyed your talk.
[00:52:55.216]For the folks in Nebraska, we're gonna have a dinner
[00:52:58.275]and you have a lunch, and you'll have a chance
[00:52:59.939]to ask other questions. Sure.
[00:53:01.436]And to do some followup stuff.
[00:53:02.891]But again, thank you very much for coming out here
[00:53:04.487]and showing this stuff, it was very interesting.
[00:53:06.408]It's been a delight.
[00:53:08.023]This is a wonderful forum that you have.
[00:53:10.559]It simply, I'm not aware that it exists anywhere else,
[00:53:13.942]so, I know the railroad industry, and I'm sure
[00:53:16.656]a lot of different industries appreciate
[00:53:18.432]just the opportunity to share some thoughts,
[00:53:20.879]and to encourage people to join us.
[00:53:23.023]Thank you, thank you so much.
[00:53:25.280]Thank you.
[00:53:27.270](applause)

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2012 MATC Fall Lecture Series: Robert Kollmar

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