Minutes prepared by: Dr. Alan F. Rumsey

 Vic Grappone (LIRR) welcomed the participants to this fourth meeting of the CBTC Peer Group.

Minutes of CBTC Peer Group Meeting #3 held at PATH on September 29/30, 1997 were reviewed and accepted as written.

Alan Rumsey summarized discussions at the last Rail Transit Vehicle Interface Standards Committee (RTVISC) meeting held in Washington on October 8, 1997, at which the following motions were tabled and approved:

• The interoperability standards effort by WG2 shall be put on hold indefinitely. The WG2 chair shall revisit this decision at every RTVISC full committee meeting as part of his report. 
• WG2 is redirected in the meantime to develop CBTC functional and performance standards with a goal of having a standard ready for ballot within 18 months (February 8, 1999) 

The Peer Group confirmed that minutes of the CBTC Peer Group meetings could be posted on the IEEE web site, and on the web site maintained by Tom Sullivan (www.tsd.org), provided the minutes had been reviewed prior to posting.

The Peer Group confirmed that its mandate was to provide a forum for transit agencies to share knowledge and past experiences, and discuss future plans, with respect to implementation of CBTC, to include for example: procurement strategies, system verification/validation, safety certification etc. 

The CBTC Peer Group meetings also provide a means for transit agencies to explore common operational needs, and operational differences, which may influence CBTC standardization initiatives.

The Peer Group re-confirmed their commitment to actively support IEEE RTVISC Working Group #2 in developing a CBTC performance/functional requirements standard, and to promote the use of such a standard in future CBTC procurements. 

John LaForce (SEPTA) tabled a news report from the Philadelphia Inquirer and advised that SEPTA have negotiated a deal with Adtranz to implement an "off-the shelf" CBTC system on the City Light Rail Subway Surface Trolley Tunnel, in lieu of receiving liquidated damages from Adtranz with respect to a separate new car procurement contract. The deal is currently with the FTA for final approval. 

A scope document has been jointly developed by Adtranz and SEPTA, with a 30 month implementation schedule; 115 vehicles will need to be equipped. As the LRV vehicles are single ended, operating on a loop track, no reverse running is required.  

The CBTC system will interface to one existing interlocking. All of the existing track circuits will be removed, except at the interlocking. There will be no "fall back" system. In the event of CBTC equipment failures, vehicles will operate at an enforced restricted speed (15 - 20 mph), on line-of-sight. 

The CBTC system will need to support 30s to 1 min headways, with multiple berthing in stations. 

Victor Grappone (LIRR) advised that LIRR’s grade crossing pilot project, with a tie in to an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) to provide effective preemption of traffic signals, is continuing on schedule. GRS are the contractor for this project and a functional demonstration (not safety certified) is planned for late 1998. Safety verification of the system is expected to be complete approximately 12 months later, with active control of the three grade crossings at New Hyde Park. Between 3 and 6 trainsets will be equipped. 

LIRR are also continuing to participate in Phase I of the NYCT Canarsie Line project.

Nabil Ghaly (NYCT) summarized the status of the Canarsie Line Signal Modernization Project, New York City Transit’s Pilot Project for Communications-Based Train Control. The project is proceeding on schedule and the RFP was advertised on October 31, 1997. The pre-proposal conference is scheduled for November 20, and technical proposals are due on January 9, 1998. 

Key changes in requirements during the final design stage included:

• Auxiliary Wayside System (AWS) has been simplified through the elimination of all intermediate signals and grade time signals between interlockings.
• With respect to interlockings, although the RFP will call for new relay-based interlockings, suppliers will be able to propose solid state interlockings as an option.
• NYCT had been proposing to use double rail track circuits for AWS, but based on a more detailed cost/benefit analysis had now decided to remain with single rail power frequency track circuits.

Since the last Peer Group meeting, Harmon/Hughes and Andrew have conducted separate RF tests on NYCT property.

The new R143 car procurement contract has be advertised with a procurement schedule that parallels the Canarsie Line CBTC procurement.

NYCT have received four proposals in response to their RFP for an Independent Safety Consultant, and anticipate making an award in December.

Fred Childs (PATH) advised that PATH’s plans for new car procurement, and associated consultant ATC studies, were being scaled back and in the short term PATH were looking at a smaller procurement of around 12 vehicles to test newer technologies on the line, such as ac propulsion. PATH expect to have a consultant onboard around mid-to-late 1998 for test car procurement and initial operations and cost/benefit analysis re ATC tasks. 

Harmon/Hughes have expressed an interest in conducting CBTC RF tests on PATH and Fred Childs advised that other companies were also welcome to make contact. 

John Lewis (MBTA) advised that MBTA were proceeding with plans for new car procurements for the Blue Line, with new cars to be equipped with CBTC. Car deliveries are anticipated in the 2004 timeframe. 

Rob McHugh (SkyTrain) advised that the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (GVTA) had tentatively endorsed BC Transit’s 10-year development plan for expansion of the SkyTrain (ALRT) fleet from 150 to 190 cars by 2006, for development of a light rail transit (LRT) system in the Broadway-Lougheed-Coquitlan corridor by 2005, and for a subsequent extension of the LRT from Lougheed to New Westminster SkyTrain station by 2008. 

No update available for this meeting. 

No update available for this meeting. 

 Alan Rumsey summarized the agenda for the Working Group #2 meeting to be held at LIRR’s Hillside Support Facilities on Friday, November 7, 1997. A "strawman" Table of Contents for the proposed CBTC performance requirements standard was also tabled for discussion. The following specific comments were noted: 

• Although it was recognized that there would be differences in the complexity of CBTC systems for various applications, the suggested categorization of CBTC systems into "simple", "medium complex" and "complex" systems was felt to be unnecessary. Instead, it was recommended that the standard address basic or "core" functions, and optional functions, depending on the specific application and operational requirements. Specifically, it was recommended that all ATS functions be considered optional, for example. It was suggested that the objective should be to achieve modularity, using a "cook book" approach to the standard. It was also suggested that there may be advantages in attempting to establish a hierarchy of CBTC functions.
• The cultural differences between commuter rail and heavy/light rail were highlighted, and the importance of coordinating CBTC standardization initiatives in rail transit with similar initiatives on the freight railroads was stressed. It was suggested that consideration should be given to expanding the transit agency peer group to include freight railroads, and possibly to also include international participation. 

• It was suggested that the conventional definitions of "headway" may become obsolete for CBTC systems, given that theoretically, CBTC systems are capable of safely supporting any feasible headway that can be achieved within the constraints of the specific track configuration/alignment, train performance capabilities and platform dwells. Possibly of more relevance is the relationships between achievable headways and achievable station-to-station run times. It was also suggested that there may be some advantages of categorizing CBTC applications into high capacity, medium capacity and low capacity systems.
• It was recommended that the proposed standard also address issues such as initialization, failure recovery and back-up systems. 
• Environmental criteria for CBTC equipment should specifically include EMI/EMC requirements. 
• A "standard" CBTC system should be capable of providing bi-directional train protection. 
• A "standard" for commanded speed limit resolution of 1 mph should be acceptable to meet operational requirements. 

 It was agreed that the CBTC Peer Group meetings should continue to be scheduled to coincide with IEEE RTVISC Working Group #2 meetings, although it was also agreed that it was not necessary for the Peer Group to meet as frequently as Working Group #2. 

The next meeting of Working Group #2 will be held in January, 1998. 

It was suggested that the following Working Group #2 meeting, and the next CBTC Peer Group meeting, be scheduled to coincide with the ASME/IEEE Joint Rail Conference to be held in Philadelphia on April 15-16, 1998. John LaForce agreed to host and act as chair for the next CBTC Peer Group meeting. 

In concluding this meeting, Vic Grappone and the Long Island Rail Road were thanked for their hospitality in hosting the meeting.