Canarsie Line Project Status

April 21, 2003  

Introduction

NYCT selected the “CBTC Joint Venture” of Siemens Transportation Systems Inc. (formerly MATRA Transport International), Union Switch & Signal, Inc. and RWKS Comstock to be the Lead Contractor for Phase II of the NYCT Canarsie Line Communications Based Train Control Project. A 5-year contract worth $133 million was awarded in December 1999. 

 Phase II of the Canarsie Line project involves resignaling the entire Canarsie Line (22 track miles) and furnishing CBTC equipment for 212 new R143 cars.  Siemens is responsible for the design and supply of the carborne and wayside CBTC subsystems (including the data communications system); an Automatic Train Supervision subsystem and overall project management and systems integration. US&S is responsible for the design and supply of Auxiliary Wayside System (AWS) including six relay-based interlockings, track circuits, wayside home and approach signals and automatic train stops.  RWKS Comstock is responsible for equipment installation and associated  equipment room construction.

 The CBTC system proposed by the Joint Venture for the Canarsie Line is based on the RATP Meteor Line system that successfully enter service in October 1998. The major changes are those required to accommodate NYCT's specific operating environment (e.g. Meteor Line is driverless - Canarsie Line is not; Meteor Line uses inductive loop - Canarsie Line uses radio). NYCT's objectives are to maximize the reuse of the Meteor Line design in order to minimize new software development and associated safety re-certification risks. The Meteor Line system was specifically developed to support mixed-mode operations which was one of the attractions for NYCT.

 Key Milestones

Progress To Date

During the Preliminary Design Phase, NYCT has worked closely with the CBTC Joint Venture to establish final system and subsystem requirements and interoperability interface  specifications.  This includes approval of the System Functional Specifications and the System Design Document which are intended to freeze the system functional requirements and lead to the designs for each subsystem. Some new functional requirements have been identified in this process, including the addition of CBTC protection in yards, a traffic interlock for RM mode and detection of wrong-side track circuit failures.  These functions will be introduced as a later software version in 2005.

The Design Review process is about 97% complete. A majority of the system hardware and software documentation has been submitted to NYCT with the the remaining design submittals being related to testing and system safety. The development of typical circuits for AWS to CBTC interfaces has been completed.  NYCT is now attending First Article Inspections for each subsystem’s hardware and Factory Acceptance Tests are scheduled for June.

The development of a system cutover plan/schedule and field integration test plan continues with general agreement on the sequence and scope of each stage of the cutovers. This is closely linked to the training schedule in order to have sufficient training of train operators and conductors prior to the first section going into revenue service.  A final draft of CBTC Operating Rules is being circulated for Approval and the development of operating procedures for CBTC is app. 50% complete.

The carborne CBTC equipment will be installed by NYCT forces on new R143 cars currently being procured from Kawasaki. These cars feature AC traction, full width cabs, and wide use of train networks. The CBTC interfaces to the cars has been carefully co-ordinated so that the cars will be “CBTC ready”.  This means that space, power and all interface wiring for CBTC is provided, making equipment installation a relatively simple task.  The first of these units, made of 4 car semi-permanently coupled cars, was delivered in May 2001 and the 30 day acceptance tests were completed Jan 2002.  There are currently 13 eight car R143 units accepted for operation on the Canarsie Line.

The CBTC Joint Venture has installed a set of “prototype” CBTC equipment on a 4 car unit to be used in testing the radio network and car interfaces, including simulation of ATO.  Several months of this testing  has taken place on the Chauncey Middle Test Track (adjacent to East New York shop) which  also includes some CBTC wayside equipment; this testing is now completed.  The 1 year revenue testing of the OSMES optical positioning and speed sensing subsystem began in early February.

The installation of conventional wayside signal equipment is progressing. Construction of relay and CBTC rooms is 90% complete. The new interlocking at Rockaway Parkway was placed in service (pre-CBTC) in Nov 2002, on schedule, including a revised track layout to allow direct movements into all yard tracks from the mainline.

The CBTC Joint Venture will also establish Interoperability Interface standards for future CBTC systems on NYCT (Phase III). The objective of Phase III is to successfully develop and validate Interoperability Interface Specifications so that multiple contractors are pre-qualified to bid on future NYCT CBTC equipment procurements (both wayside and carborne).  Phase III is also not, in any way, a consensus standard development effort; the system architecture, functional allocations, interfaces and protocols are defined by the Leader.  The Follower contracts were awarded to Alstom and Alcatel  for $13 to $16 million each and will involve demonstrating interoperabilty on the Culver Test Track.  These demonstrations will take place in late 2003 to early 2004.

The Preliminary Interoperability Interface Specifications were delivered in March 2002.

A substantial update to these specifications was delivered in December 2002. These are substantial documents (now over 600 pages) and are being thoroughly reviewed by NYCT and the Followers. 

Interoperability for NYCT primarily means cars equipped by one CBTC contractor can operate with wayside systems supplied by another contractor and vice versus.  Interoperability is also required between coupled 4 car sets equipped by different contractors, and between adjacent wayside territories by different contractors.  NYCT is not looking to achieve interchangeability of subsystems or subsystem components.