MBTA chooses Railway Equipment Co.’s winter switch protection technology

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has partnered with Railway Equipment Company of Minneapolis and system operator Keolis Commuter Services to install gas hot air track switch heater systems and fiberglass covers at critical track switches throughout the commuter rail system.

Within the past three years, Boston was hit by historically large snowstorms that disrupted public transit on the MBTA. Railway Equipment’s Gas Hot Air Blowers and Sno-Net® will assist the MBTA in reducing downtime for the system’s 13 lines during winter weather events, part of MBTA and Keolis’ commitment to investing in upgrades and improvements,

Sno-Net® is a remote monitoring system capable of monitoring individual track switch heaters and local conditions. Data is sent directly to management and maintenance personnel via a web portal and email notifications. Through the web portal authorized individuals are able to control the track switch heaters as if they were on-site, reducing the need for field visits during adverse winter conditions. Remote monitoring also allows MBTA management to perform predictive and preventive maintenance along with root- cause analysis on individual units within the system.

To find out more about track upgrade projects, visit IRJ Pro.