MTA tests out safer signal system on several LIRR lines

Customers exit a LIRR train in Rosedale, a station on the Far Rockaway Branch. Select trains running on the branch have been equipped with Positive Train Control. Eagle file photo by Jonathan Sperling.

By Jonathan Sperling

The LIRR is getting safer — we’re positive.

That was the MTA’s message on Wednesday as it announced that it had commissioned select trains on four Long Island Rail Road branches to be equipped with Positive Train Control, a signal system enhancement that reduces the possibility of human error on LIRR routes.

Positive Train Control — also known as PTC — was first commissioned on the Port Washington Branch in December 2018, impacting trains along the 16-mile stretch of tracks between Woodside and Port Washington, Long Island. PTC will now be deployed on select trains operating on the Far Rockaway, Long Beach, Oyster Bay, and West Hempstead branches. That includes many stops in Eastern Queens.

“The successful and on-time launch of Positive Train Control on these branches continues our forward progress on this critical initiative,” said LIRR President Phillip Eng. 

PTC is a federally mandated safety system that builds upon existing LIRR systems, such as in-cab signaling and automatic speed enforcement, that can monitor and stop trains determined to be moving too fast. This helps reduce the chance of train collisions, derailments and trains running through misaligned switches.

For example, if a train operator runs a train through a red signal or too fast of a speed, PTC kicks in automatically, slowing the train down to a complete stop if necessary. The MTA further explains PTC in a YouTube video posted on the agency’s channel.

The federal deadline to install PTC is Dec. 31, 2020.

“Meeting this milestone reinforces my confidence that we will complete systemwide roll-out of Positive Train Control on time by the end of the 2020,” Eng added.