FCC Agrees to Update Rail Safety Waiver
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved modifications to existing waivers sought by PTC-220, a consortium of the nation’s seven Class I freight railroads, to enable the deployment of additional, nonpositive train control safety systems. “Today’s action will enable U.S. freight, intercity…
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passenger (including Amtrak), and commuter railroads to deploy life- and property-saving safety systems using PTC-220’s extensive 220 MHz Band spectrum holdings across the nation,” the bureau said Thursday. The order cites other uses for the spectrum, including systems, “which control, or provide critical messages for, train operations including End-of-Train (EOT) devices and distributed power systems” and detectors and other trackside support systems. PTC-220 railroads also deploy advanced grade crossing technologies in the 220 MHz band. For example, railroads currently use 450 MHz spectrum to control additional locomotives remotely from a lead locomotive, the bureau said: “Although the 450 MHz Band has up to 13 channel pairs totaling 325 kilohertz of available spectrum for use by the railroad industry, these channels are not fungible. … PTC-220 states that more flexibility to utilize the 220 MHz Band for distributed power and other safety systems would mitigate engineering challenges where the rails have exhausted 450 MHz Band capacity.”