Oregon’s First Commuter Rail in Revenue Service

Oregon’s first commuter rail line, Westside Express Service (WES) began revenue service February 2, 2009.

Rail Systems Solutions, Inc. (RSS) was selected in early 2006 to design, furnish and install the train control system for the Washington County Commuter Rail (WCCR) corridor in Portland, Oregon. The signal system is implemented on live Portland and Western Railroad (P&WRR) right-of-way. RSS scope also included retrofitting the entire P&WRR fleet of locomotives with system-compliant cab signal equipment. During this project RSS was trained by the railroad, became rules qualified, and thus approved to perform their own Employee-In-Charge activities. RSS completed the train control work on this project on budget and on time.

Wayside construction and field-level pretest was completed in the spring of 2008. Dynamic testing was successfully performed jointly between RSS, TriMet and P&WRR. As a result, absolute block signaling with full dispatch control was placed into service on June 15, 2008. Upon full verification of the carborne system, P&WRR locomotives began revenue service under the new cab signal system October 25, 2008.

One of the few suburb-to-suburb commuter rail lines in the nation, WES is approximately 17 miles in length, includes 5 stations, 10 interlockings and 37 grade crossings, and is signaled for a top commuter train speed of 60 mph. This cab signal system actively monitors the performance of trains and warns operators if they exceed allowable speeds. Additionally, the system stops the train if warnings to the operator are not responded to in the allowable time.

Utah Transit Authority’s FrontRunner Begins Revenue Service

Rail Systems Solutions (RSS), Inc. is proud to announce that it has completed the train control work on UTA’s FrontRunner Commuter Rail System, which began revenue service on April 26, 2008. RSS has executed this important project in conjunction with its joint venture partner MJG, Inc. from Orem, Utah. The joint venture, Rocky Mountain Signal Services (RMSS), executed the entire project safely with no reportable incidents.

This project was a very successful application of the two-phased Construction Manager/General Contractor process. In Phase I, RMSS worked closely with the owner, general contractor, and suppliers to define a system to meet the owner’s unique signaling needs while minimizing cost. Phase II saw the completion of the commuter rail line ahead of schedule and on budget.

UTA’s newly completed FrontRunner commuter rail line from Salt Lake City to Pleasant View is approximately 43 miles in length, consisting of wayside and cab signal territory, and is a 79 mph cab signal system. The line is built on a narrow rail corridor between the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) mainline and I-15 with track centers as close as 15 feet. The project includes multiple tie-ins with UPRR track and provides eight new stations, a control office, 24 interlockings, 27 cut sections, and 28 grade crossings, the warning systems of which interface with UPRR crossing systems. The project includes 23 sets of carborne cab signal equipment on UTA’s fleet of locomotives and cab cars. RSS also provided maintenance training for signaling, crossing, and carborne cab signal equipment.

We would like to express our appreciation and our congratulations to the Utah Transit Authority for developing this project and bringing another key piece of their overall transit plan to fruition. Additionally, we would like to thank our partners at Commuter Rail Constructors, Inc., a joint venture of Stacy & Witbeck and Herzog, for their leadership and for fostering a truly team-oriented approach to the execution of this project.