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Even before the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority’s Tri-Rail trains began carrying passengers into downtown Miami in January, safety has been a top priority along the route, Public Affairs Director Victor Garcia told Miami Today this week.
The Tri-Rail corridor operates on an advanced Positive Train Control (PTC) safety system, which uses GPS, wireless communication and onboard computers to monitor and control train movements, according to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
PTC is a specific type of Automatic Train Control system that typically involves a combination of trackside equipment and onboard train systems that communicate with each other.
The systems monitor and control train movements to ensure safety and efficiency. They are designed to prevent accidents caused by human error, such as speeding or failure to obey signals.
PTC is designed to automatically stop a train before certain types of accidents occur, such as collisions, derailments due to excessive speed, or train movements through misaligned switches, the FRA explains.
It also provides features like worker protection, temporary speed restrictions, and route validation.
The $70 million, tax-funded link to downtown originally was scheduled for a 2017 launch. Blockages from exposed rebar to negotiations with Brightline and the Florida East Coast Railway stalled the project, Miami Today reported last September.
Mr. Garcia said dynamic signs were placed at road and railroad crossings.
“They were posted throughout all the train testing, during our soft launch and the first week of service,” he said. A dynamic sign refers to a type of sign that is capable of displaying changing or interactive content.
“We are now getting ready to launch a safety campaign alerting the community of the additional train activity, including in Spanish and Haitian-Creole media outlets.
“We make sure to include safety outreach in our marketing plan every year, so this will not be the end of our efforts,” Mr. Garcia added.
Early on, Tri-Rail trains rolling safety into downtown Miami centered on the issue of integrating grade-level tracks with passenger vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
At launch, Mr. Garcia told Miami Today last year, Tri-Rail “deployed additional employees at the crossings equipped with train safety information.
“We have worked very closely with our partners to ensure that all tests were conducted with a variety of safety precautions,” he said, “and we were successful in completing all tests safely and without incident.”
Richard Battin
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