Amtrak had the means...but not the will

[PRR 60]

Do the SEPTA trains using this very same track have the same issue that Amtrak trains do? If so, I guess that just because they haven't been involved in an incident at the same location and direction they get a pass?

The new restriction being installed at this and other curves will affect to all traffic - Amtrak, SEPTA and any others.

 

[DryCreek]

Do the SEPTA trains using this very same track have the same issue that Amtrak trains do? If so, I guess that just because they haven't been involved in an incident at the same location and direction they get a pass?

The new restriction being installed at this and other curves will affect to all traffic - Amtrak, SEPTA and any others.

Yes, I understood that part - but does SEPTA currently have some form of PTC (eastbound) at the same spot where the incident occurred? If not, why are they getting a pass on the issue? Can those commuter trains achieve the same speed as one pulled by a Sprinter? If not, that may be one reason to keep their (SEPTA's) feet out of the fire - but if they are just as capable of exceeding the speed limit in that same curve, then the media needs to bring that fact up too - instead of making it look like Amtrak is the sole outlier in train safety here.

 

[PRR 60]

Do the SEPTA trains using this very same track have the same issue that Amtrak trains do? If so, I guess that just because they haven't been involved in an incident at the same location and direction they get a pass?

The new restriction being installed at this and other curves will affect to all traffic - Amtrak, SEPTA and any others.

Yes, I understood that part - but does SEPTA currently have some form of PTC (eastbound) at the same spot where the incident occurred? If not, why are they getting a pass on the issue? Can those commuter trains achieve the same speed as one pulled by a Sprinter? If not, that may be one reason to keep their (SEPTA's) feet out of the fire - but if they are just as capable of exceeding the speed limit in that same curve, then the media needs to bring that fact up too - instead of making it look like Amtrak is the sole outlier in train safety here.

No, I don't think you did understand what I said.
The track is used by Amtrak and SEPTA, but is owned by Amtrak. The signal system is Amtrak's.

The modification is being made by Amtrak to their signal system. Any train (Amtrak, SEPTA, NJ Transit) that comes up on that curve that is not slowed by the engineer to the proper speed, will be automatically slowed by the signal system working with the system on the train itself. All trains that operate on the NEC, including SEPTA, have that system in place and will be affected. So, SEPTA will have the exact same speed restriction imposed on its operation as Amtrak.

Note: this is not Positive Train Control (PTC). This speed restriction is being applied by the existing Automatic Train Control system. PTC will not be operational on this section of the NEC until the end of the year. When it is, Amtrak, SEPTA and all others operating on the NEC will have it in place.

 

[Guest]

(NOTE: for some reason I was blocked from accessing this forum for

some time after the first post in this thread. I have been told that somebody

may have thought that it was written by an impostor!

It is a fair assumption as your posting here seems awkward at best. On Trainorders, you publicly dismissed Amtrak Unlimited as a bunch of "Amtrak cheerleaders." And so it seems awfully strange that you would come post here and seek affirmation from the very same people you publicly disparaged from your Trainorders pulpit.

Seems nonsensical. Can you help us understand?

 

[jis]

Actually ATC will not automatically slow anything. It will just force a penalty brake application to stop if the Engineer does not react to the over speed warning. That is why the fix is to the advance signal prior to Shore instead of the Home Signal at Shore. There isn't enough distance between Shore and the curve for all this warning followed by penalty to slow a wayward train down to safe speed for the curve.