Sound Transit taps Wabtec for PTC

Wilmerding, Pa.-based Wabtec Corp. said Monday, Dec. 16, 2013 it has signed a $34 million contract with Seattle's Sound Transit to design, install, test, and commission a Positive Train Control (PTC) system on the agency's regional rail line.

Sound Transit’s 82-mile line links Everett, Wash., Seattle, the state’s largest city, and Tacoma, and carries nearly 3 million passengers annually. It connects with Sound Transit light rail transit operations in Seattle and with the agency’s streetcar line in Tacoma.

Under the contract, Wabtec will provide its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I-ETMS®) equipment and installation for 16 locomotives and 18 passenger transit cab cars. Wabtec said it will also provide signal design and communications, mapping, and systems integration. The Sound Transit system will be fully interoperable with PTC systems being implemented by Class I railroads.

Several Wabtec divisions are involved in the project: Wabtec Railway Electronics, Wabtec Global Services, Xorail, and Bach-Simpson.

“As transit agencies around the U.S. continue to deploy PTC over the next several years, Wabtec has the capabilities to continue to play a significant role,” said Wabtec Chariman and CEO Albert J. Neupaver.