Ceres Magazine Issue 2 - Winter 2016 | Page 91

Ceres Magazine is dedicated to promoting awareness on commuter safety and security issues. We examine concerns, such as safety around tracks, and suicide prevention campaigns. What has been done and what is still in the works? We asked Metrolink Executives: Elissa Konove (Deputy Chief Executive Officer), Patricia Torres Bruno (Chief Administrative Officer), and Scott Johnson (Assistant Public Affairs Officer), to share their insights with us.

Ceres: I know that the crowd that rides the train is different than the crowd that rides the bus, but are there any security concerns that you are aware of?

Elissa: Only that on the lines where security and safety have been an issue, we have added a second conductor to enhance safety, and people's sense of safety. There's been an improvement and some good results. Otherwise, I haven't heard anything about safety concerns of the conductors.

Patricia: I think having the second conductor helps, and they also check the tickets before the passengers get on the train.

Scott: We also have sheriff's deputies and security guards at our stations. But as you said, it's a

different demographic that rides Metrolink.

(To find out more about the safety measures that Metrolink has taken to assure the safety of the crews and passengers, visit: http://www.metrolinktrains.com/howtoride/page/title/safetyandsecurity)

Ceres reading: "Metrolink is Southern California’s premier regional passenger rail system and is dedicated to providing the safest railroad possible for our passengers, employees and the communities we serve. In our ongoing efforts to implement the latest in technology, Metrolink has become the leader in commuter rail safety in the country. As part of its commitment to safety, Metrolink was the first railroad in the nation to install inward facing video cameras to monitor activities in its locomotives, is the first commuter railroad to place passenger cars with advanced energy absorption features (called Crash Energy Management, or CEM technology) and will be one of the first to implement the latest advancement in train stopping technology (called Positive Train Control, or PTC) by 2012 – three years before the deadline for national implementation."

Let's talk about those new technologies.

Metrolink Safety, Security and

INNOVATIONS

What is (PTC) Positive Train Control?

“Positive Train Control (PTC) refers to technology that is capable of intervening and automatically stopping a train and therefore preventing train-to-train collisions. This predictive collision avoidance technology is also designed to protect passengers, train crews and railway workers and prevent incidents such as, speeding and over-speed derailments, incursions into track work zones and movement of a train through a switch left in the wrong position. Relying on sophisticated new technology, PTC is designed to keep a train under its maximum speed limit and within the limits of its authorization to be on a specific track."

PTC Schematic used with the permission of Metrolink.

91 - Ceres Magazine - Winter 2016