During the first phase of the contract, Wabtec will install its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I-ETMS) PTC on Virgin Trains USA’s existing 107km corridor between Miami and West Palm Beach, including a back-office system.
Wabtec will also install PTC on 69 Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) locomotives and Virgin Trains USA’s 21 Siemens SCB 44 trains.
Phase two entails the installation of I-ETMS along Virgin Trains USA’s 273km West Palm Beach - Orlando corridor, which is currently under construction. Wabtec will conduct the complete design, material integration, construction, system integration, project management, and train control implementation, and deploy a wireless crossing activation system for high-speed trains.
I-ETMS, an on-board geographic database and global positioning system, provides an additional safety overlay by continuously calculating warning and braking curves based on train and track information including speed, location, movement authority, speed restrictions, work zones and consist restrictions.
“Virgin Trains USA is the only privately owned and operated inter-city passenger rail service in the country,” said Mr Rajendra Jadhav, president of Wabtec’s Signaling, Communication and Wayside business. “Our PTC solution provides a robust path for Virgin Trains to meet its project schedule and goals.”
“Safety is our number one priority and PTC is a critical part of that mission,” says Mr Michael Cegelis, Virgin Trains USA executive vice-president, rail infrastructure. “Wabtec’s PTC technology has an impressive track record in the rail industry, and this was the right solution to support the safe operation of our growing rail network. In addition, the simplicity of accommodating new and modified infrastructure to the system, and train operational efficiencies were features that were influential in selecting the I-ETMS technology.”
