PATH Tackles PTC and Sleep Apnea In Wake Of Hoboken Train Crash

The Port Authority’s PATH train system – which conducts more than 76 million passenger trips per year in New Jersey and New York – continues to make crucial upgrades to its security policies in the wake of a tragic NJ Transit train crash that claimed the life of a woman and injured more than 100 others.

On Tuesday, Port Authority officials announced that the centerpiece to their upgraded safety procedures – the installation of Positive Train Control (PTC) in its PATH trains – is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

In addition, PATH officials will continue their policy of testing current and prospective employees for sleep disorders that “may compromise train safety and affect job performance,” such as sleep apnea, a condition that may have played a role in the September crash at the Hoboken Terminal that killed 34-year-old mother Fabiola Bittar De Kroon.

• See related article: Hoboken Train Crash: Family Of Killed Woman Plans To Sue

“PATH’s number one priority remains the safety of our passengers and employees,” Director and General Manager Michael Marino stated Tuesday. “While we perform rigorous safety checkpoints on a regular basis throughout the system, given recent events, we’re going the extra mile to enhance our safety programs as an added precaution.”

POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL

The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration states that PTC uses communication-based/processor-based technology to help prevent train-to-train collisions, overspeed derailments, incursions into established work zone limits and the movement of a train through a main line switch in the wrong position.

In 2008, the U.S. Congress required Class I Railroad mainlines handling poisonous-inhalation-hazard materials and any railroad main lines with regularly scheduled intercity and commuter rail passenger service to fully implement PTC by the end of 2015.

In late 2015, Congress extended the deadline by at least three years to Dec. 31, 2018, with the possibility for two additional years if certain requirements are met.

PTC’s supporters say that the system has the potential to save lives and reduce injuries by using GPS, wireless radio and computers to monitor trains and automatically enforce speed limits, especially important in light of the allegations that the ill-fated Hoboken train was traveling more than twice the station’s speed limit.

• See related article: Investigators Release Details In Hoboken Crash Probe

According to the Port Authority, about 91 percent of PATH employees have already been trained in PTC. And as part of PATH’s overall Communications-based Train Control (CBTC) program, equipment has been installed on 216 of 230 passenger cars through the end of December.

"We’re ahead of much of the rest of the rail industry in adapting PTC to our system," Port Authority spokesman Scott Ladd told Patch. "We completed a five-month program of weekend service outages on our 33rd Street PATH line last month - on time - and expect to have our system fully activated by the end of 2018."

NJ Transit officials also say that the agency is working towards implementing Positive Train Control (PTC) in order to meet the 2018 federal deadline.

“We are aggressively tackling the challenges posed as PTC is being designed, developed and deployed simultaneously,” NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Steve Santoro said in September.

But some of PTC’s detractors say that the super-expensive technology is ineffective and already obsolete.

Software industry expert David Black wrote that PTC “is built on computing technology that belongs in a museum, not supposedly protecting our lives” in a Huffington Post blog.

“Clearly the people who designed and mandated PTC came from the same school of thought that dominates military procurement,” Black wrote. “Remember $640 toilet seats?”

“Whenever there is lots of money made from government procurement, companies and officials will collude to make all sorts of special requirements that standard equipment can’t meet, so that the companies that play the game can make the ‘special’ versions of whatever and have big revenues with bigger profits,” Black continued. “Sadly, that’s exactly what’s going on with PTC. It’s a bad system. It’s many generations obsolete. It doesn’t work. And it’s hundreds of times more expensive than it needs to be.”

SLEEP APNEA, OTHER SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS

In addition to the PATH’s march towards PTC, officials will continue to screen all PATH engineers for potential sleep apnea during the pre-employment process and annually during regular physical exams.

“Engineers believed to be at risk for sleep apnea are referred for evaluation, and if confirmed are held out of service until cleared by medical professionals following in-depth, overnight sleep analysis,” Port Authority officials stated. “These employees must undergo treatment and are regularly monitored for compliance.”

There are currently no specific regulations or laws in effect relative to train engineers and sleep apnea, Port Authority officials stated Tuesday.

• See related article: Hoboken Train Crash: Engineer Had Sleep Apnea, Attorney Says

Port Authority spokesman Scott Ladd told Patch that the agency's updated policies about sleep apnea were not a direct response to the Hoboken crash or any other accident blamed on sleep apnea specifically.

"We’ve been testing our engineers for sleep apnea for quite a while," Ladd said. "It was in place before then. Our Office of Medical Services has been ahead of the curve in recognizing and evaluating our people to ensure that the highest safety standards are established and maintained."

OTHER SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS

PATH officials are also increasing the number of inspections the agency conducts under an existing rule that mandates engineers approaching bumping blocks should be traveling eight miles per hour or less.

In 2016, PATH examiners conducted nearly 140 observational tests through the rule, with 100-percent compliance, Port Authority officials stated.

This year, PATH will use data recorded in the cars to gauge compliance with this safety requirement, while relying on additional observational techniques to help measure compliance, officials stated.

Photo: National Transportation Safety Board

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