Amtrak Shutting Down Several Route Sections 12/31/2018

BandA wrote:Would "form D on steroids" electronic enforcement of track warrants require replacement of the present IETMS or ASCES systems in the locomotives on those routes?

I haven’t had access to any PTC systems firsthand so I couldn’t say for certain, but I feel like the systems would include sufficient memory to save some instructions while temporarily out of radio range. These systems may require a major software update & possibly a hardware memory upgrade to store, check, and use an entire subdivision’s worth of instructions.

BandA wrote:Would "form D on steroids" electronic enforcement of track warrants require replacement of the present IETMS or ASCES systems in the locomotives on those routes?

I-ETMS should be able to handle the challenge. While the system would not have communication with wayside devices (verifying switch positions and broken rail and signal aspects) without adding the appropriate interfaces it could still act as a Virtual Conductor monitoring and enforcing speed and track authority. Any communication problem could be handled as it is currently. No movement without authority. It would be important to make sure communication was available in key locations, such as passing segments where another train would be waiting and unable to move until the system saw that the line was clear. But with a minimal level of equipment a "PTC lite"/"form D on steroids" could be created.

PTC can work on dark territory. In my mind that means it can work on any track, regardless of traffic control system.