North County Transit District advances PTC demo

The North County Transit District (NCTD) in San Diego, California, next month will enable positive train control (PTC) on all of its Coaster commuter trains.

The agency will implement the technology on the trains over several weeks in December.

The move marks the start of an extended revenue service demonstration for PTC. In July, NCTD began the initial demonstration, which involved enabling PTC on certain trains at certain times.

To enter the extended phase, RTD was required to perform 30 consecutive trips without a critical failure of the PTC system. 

"With every new Coaster train that enters Extended RSD, NCTD rail service becomes a safer, more controlled environment," said NCTD Deputy Chief Operations Officer of Rail Systems Eric Roe in a press release.

To complete the extended demonstration and enter into full revenue service implementation, all trains must operate under PTC, all engineers must operate PTC, and the Federal Railroad Administration must approve NCTD's PTC safety plan.

NCTD remains on track to complete full PTC implementation by the federally mandated deadline of Dec. 31, 2018, agency officials said.