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The Southern California Regional Rail Authority, which oversees Metrolink, recently awarded Parsons a $120 million contract to design, procure and install positive train control (PTC) technology on the agency’s 512-mile commuter-rail system.

The contract is the first to be awarded for a PTC system that will be in compliance with the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which mandates that more than three dozen U.S. freight and passenger railroads install PTC by 2015’s end, according to Parsons.

The firm will design, install, document, test, integrate and commission the system. In addition, Parsons will lead the overall radio frequency infrastructure development, manage the development of the network management system and replace the dispatching system. Metrolink’s PTC system will be fully interoperable with PTC systems used by Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway Co., which own the track over which Metrolink trains operate.

Metrolink’s PTC program calls for installing a back-office system, replacing the current computer-aided dispatch system on 57 cab cars and 52 locomotives, installing stop enforcement system at 476 wayside signals, and implementing a six-county specialized communication network to link the wayside signals, trains and centralized dispatch office.