A series of end-of-track collisions occurred in passenger terminals because of noncompliant actions from disengaged or inattentive engineers, resulting in significant property damage and casualties. Compared with other types of accidents, end-of-track collision has received much less attention in the prior research. To narrow this knowledge gap, this paper firstly analyzes the safety statistics of end-of-track collisions, then develops a fault tree analysis to understand the causes and contributing factors of end-of-track collisions. With the objective of mitigating this type of risk, this paper discusses the potential implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) for the passenger terminal. This paper primarily focuses on the enforcement of the two most widely implemented systems, the Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System (ACSES) and the Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I-ETMS). For each implementation scenario, the Concept of Operations (ConOps) is proposed that depicts high-level system characteristics for the proposed PTC system enforcement at stub-end terminals. Ongoing work is being carried out by the authors to fully evaluate the cost-effectiveness and operational impacts of enforcing PTC in terminating tracks to prevent end-of-track collisions.
Movable railroad bridges, consisting of lift, bascule, or swing bridges have been used by American rail tracks that cross usable waterways for over a century. Although custom made, movable bridges share many common components and designs. Most of them use weight bearing towers for the movable span using electric or electro-hydraulic systems lift and/or rotate these movable spans. Automated locks hold the bridge in place as soon as the movement stops. The bridge operation, train and ship signaling systems work in synchrony for trains and waterway traffic to be granted safe passage with minimal delay. This synchrony is maintained by using custom-made control systems using Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) or Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). Controllers located on the movable and the static parts of the bridge communicate using radio and/or wired underwater links sometimes involving marine cables. The primary objective of this paper is to develop a framework to analyze the safety and security of the bridge operating systems and their synchronous operations with railway and waterway systems. We do so by modeling the movable physical components and their control system with the interconnected network system and determine the faults and attacks that may affect their operations. Given the prevalence of attacks against PLCs, FPGAs and controllers, we show a generic way to determine the effect of what if scenarios that may arise due to attacks combined with failures using a case study of a swing bridge.
End-of-track collisions at passenger terminals have raised safety concerns because of their potentially severe consequences such as infrastructure and rolling stock damage, service disruption, and even casualties. As introduced in the previous study sponsored by the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration, the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) systems at passenger terminal stations could potentially prevent end-of-track collisions. As the second phase of that project, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the proposed concept of operation via quantitatively identifying the safety benefits, incremental costs, and operational impacts associated with PTC enforcement on terminating tracks. The benefit-cost analysis indicates that the safety benefits may exceed the incremental costs over a 20-year period under specified circumstances and assumptions. In addition, the preliminary results disclose that the operational impact in PTC enforcement should be negligible, except for the rare occurrence of wayside interface unit (WIU) failure or radio failure in the Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I-ETMS)-type PTC system that would result in a stop well short of the targeted point and potentially delay both onboard passengers and inbound/outbound trains. Both benefit-cost analysis and operational impact assessment methodologies are implemented in a decision tool that can be customized for different terminals with heterogeneous infrastructure and operational characteristics and be adapted to other transportation modes.
Mechanical and electrical components of movable bridges are engineered to move heavy concrete and steel structures in order to allow water traffic and rail and/or vehicular traffic to pass many times a day despite harsh weather conditions, storm surges and earthquakes. The bridge spans must also support varying rail and/or vehicular traffic loads.This chapter considers known and theoretical risks posed by movable bridge system attacks and faults in a single stochastic model based on attack-fault trees. Risks associated with railroad swing bridges are presented, along with the attack-fault tree model and the analysis results.
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