MTA’s Prendergast at NGTC: “Nothing more important than CBTC and PTC”

As an agency with extensive rapid transit (New York City Transit) and regional/commuter rail (Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North) networks, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is deeply involved both with CBTC (communications-based train control) and federally mandated PTC (positive train control).

The MTA is a $1 trillion asset that handles more than eight million people every day, about six million alone on NYCT’s 700-plus-mile system. NYCT “is running out of capacity,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast, addressing the Railway Age/Parsons Next Generation Train Control conference on Sept. 15 in Alexandria, Va. “The only way to address that is through CBTC.” Prendergast is known as a firm believer in advanced-technology signaling and train control, and is an important advocate, based on his position as CEO of one of the world’s largest transit agencies as well as chairman of its board of directors.

In terms of increasing capacity and improving reliability and safety on all three systems, “nothing is more important than CBTC and PTC,” said Prendergast. On NYCT, historic ridership growth—61% since 1992, a lot of it for off-peak-hour use—has created overcrowding conditions. Much of NYCT’s signal system dates back to 1930s, a reality underscoring that 66% of the MTA $29.5 billion 2015-2019 capital program is allocated for SOGR (state of good repair) projects. As well, the network operates 24/7, presenting formidable challenges for installing, testing and commissioning advanced-technology train control.

“There is a need to pick up the pace of CBTC,” Prendergast noted. “ Our main CBTC challenge is finding ways to accelerate this expensive, complex implementation.” For PTC, “we’re fortunate that there is a more reasonable deadline,” he said. Aided by a $1 billion RRIF loan for PTC, “we’re on track to meet the [Dec. 31] 2018 deadline. We’ve fully accepted PTC and are committed to getting in done.”

Prendergast noted that the operating environment is far different than when he started his career in the 1970s. In terms of safety, “we are taking into account evolving health issues for train operators,” he said, noting the negative effects of inadequate rest and new and more prescription drugs. Also difficult is achieving a work/life balance.

Obtaining public buy-in to closing lines to install improvements “invisible” to the public such as CBTC is equally challenging, Prendergast noted. For example, on NYCT’s Canarsie Line, the first NYCT line to have CBTC operational, two tunnels will need to be shut down for extensive repairs.

Resiliency, specifically, “storm-proofing” MTA’s rail systems, is also an issue. In an era when storm intensity is increasing—witness the flooding and extensive damage on NYCT in Lower Manhattan resulting from Superstorm Sandy—the MTA is using technology such as submarine-grade cables and train control/signaling equipment room doors to prevent damage from water inundation. All MTA equipment specs now mandate resiliency.

In conclusion, Prendergast noted that the industry is trying to strike a balance between the European safety strategy of collision avoidance vs. the U.S./FRA/FTA strategy based largely on crashworthiness and survivability.