Posted by Bruce Gray, engineer of Metrolink 100:

See this is the problem appointing those who have little or no experience with railroading and are more political than 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.

My 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 placed 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 placed 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 will automatically set a full service application of the brakes in what is known as a penalty application. Yes a mouthfull 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, most of whom know nothing about railroading either, feel as if Metrolink is doing everything it can to make them safer as they commute. So what about the red signals, like at Chatsworth? IIATS has nothing whatsoever to do with preventing a train from running a red signal. That is ATS, which is associated with the signal system. But again, this was not installed. Oh and by the way, ATS itself would not keep a train from running a red signal as has been reported. Sure, with ATS, the inductors are associated with the signals and the aspects they display, but it doesn't stop the engineer from blowing a red signal. Yes the alarm sounds as he or she passes a signal that displays indications less favorable than green. And yes, the engineer must acknowledge the alarm and press the reset button within 8 seconds. But once he or she does that, he or she is 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?