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Union Switch & Signal Inc. (US&S) recently obtained a re-signaling contract from Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway (QNS&L) and deployed railroad dispatching software for Alaska Railroad Corp. (ARRC).

US&S will replace relay-based interlockings with MicroLok® II-based systems with MicroTrax track circuits along QNS&L’s 260 track miles. The company also will provide an enhanced remote monitoring package, which will enable the railroad to monitor interlocking equipment status, and run diagnostic and maintenance tools for all Internet Protocol-addressed MicroLok® II locations from an operations control center.

“The CTC system on our railway was installed in 1954 and needed to be replaced to increase the reliability of the signalization system and reduce train circuit time,” said Mario Boudreau, project engineer with Iron Ore Co. of Canada — which owns QNS&L — in a prepared statement.

US&S will replace interlockings at six locations by year’s end, at 42 other locations by 2007’s end and 55 other locations by 2008’s end.

Meanwhile, the company is developing the second phase — a positive train-control system — for ARRC’s “next generation” dispatching system.

In May, US&S completed the first phase, which included Direct Traffic Control software that allows the railroad to authorize trains occupying controlled track according to a forthcoming revision to the General Code of Operations.