Metrolink has begun installing Automatic Train Stop systems (ATS) at strategic points along its lines. The system is meant to stop a train that has blown through a signal. This was prompted, of course, by the Chatsworth Metrolink crash when the engineer ran a red signal and 25 people were killed. This system would do nothing, however, to prevent tragedies such as the Glendale crash, when a car is blocking the track.
Here is a Daily news article about the ATS.
Friday, October 30, 2009
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See this is the problem appointing those who have little or no experience with railroading and are more political then industry savvy. Those in charge of making the operating decisions for Metrolink have simply tried to make it look like they are doing everything they can to make passengers and their railroad look and feel safer.
ReplyDeleteMy point is this; they did not install ATS, they installed IIATS. This stands for Inert Inductor Automatic Train Stop. These are Wayside inductors that are place forward or in front of permanent speed restrictions. In other words, when a train is required to make a significant speed reduction, say because of a curve, these inductors are place at a distance in front of the curve so that if the engineer fails to reset the alarm that sounds after passing the inert inductor, the train while automatically set a full service application of the brakes in what is known as a penalty application. Yes a mouth full but very simple.
Speaking of simple, it is so simple that once the engineer depresses the reset button after the alarm sounds and does nothing else, you probably guessed right, the train will not stop prior to the curve. Now there is money well spent for added safety.....NOT!!!!! This is a political public ploy to make the public, whom by the way the majority of know nothing about railroading either, feel as if Metrolink is doing everything they can to make them safer as they commute. So you are asking what about the red signals this article was wriiten for in the first place, say like at Chatsworth? IIATS has nothing what so ever to do with preventing a train from running a red signal. That is ATS which is associated to the signal system, but again, this was not installed. Oh and by the way, nor would ATS it's self keep a train from running a red signal by the way contrary to what is reported. Sure with ATS, the inductors are associated with the signals and the aspects they display, but it doesn't stop you from blowing a red signal. Yes the alarm sounds as you pass a signal that displays indications less favorable then green, and yes the engineer must acknowledge the alarm and press the reset button within 8 seconds. But once they do that, they are free to run right by the next signal at full speed with no other protection device to stop or slow the train. But again they didn't install ATS, they installed IIATS.
Anybody feeling safer yet?