ASLRRA, Wabtec to offer PTC solution for short lines

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) and Wabtec Railway Electronics Inc. have agreed to provide positive train control (PTC) support to association members via the WabtecCloud Multi-Tenant Back Office solution.

The cloud-based Wabtec service will enable railroads to receive real-time information on train movement, speed restrictions, train position and speed, as well as the state of signal and switch devices to be shared between trains, wayside devices and back office applications.

Through the agreement with Wabtec, the association can offer PTC back-office support at a price that is "more reasonable" for short lines and regionals, said ASLRRA Chair Judy Petry in a press release.

"The implementation of PTC is one of the most complex and challenging projects to be mandated for the U.S. rail system, particularly for our short-line members, who often do not have the technical staff and expertise, but have a complicated role to play, integrating with multiple Class I systems," said Petry.

Wabtec's solution will enable railroads to reduce the risk and costs in testing and deploying an overall PTC system across multiple railroads, said Rajendra Jadhav, president of Wabtec's electronics group.

The Wabtec solution is the latest of PTC support options offered by ASLRRA to its members.