Speeding up track authorities: Union Pacific is using a state-of-the art wireless traffic management tool to improve communication between roadway workers and dispatchers

Railway Age, Feb, 2004

It's a broiling 95 degrees F on a busy morning in mid-summer. The main line of your railroad is scheduled for some heavy tonnage today. You, a track inspector, are waiting at a grade crossing to move your hi-rail vehicle onto the rails to conduct a routine FRA mandated inspection on 10 miles of right-of-way.

But things are far from routine: Yesterday, a heat kink snarled traffic for several hours, so the operating people are under pressure to work the scheduled trains back to as close to normal as possible. "Here we go again," you think. "I've got to call in to request authority. I hope the phone lines aren't busy. I hope I don't have to wait too long for a response. I know the rail road is extra busy today, and I need to know exactly where all those trains are moving."

The dispatcher has similar thoughts: "I've got a ton of trains to move across this territory. I need the railroad, but there's a bunch of inspections scheduled for today that can't be postponed. I need our track inspectors to get back to me as soon as possible once they've finished their work."

The time-honored--and time-wasting--process of verbally obtaining Track & Time (T&T) authority is being challenged on Union Pacific's Roseville District in California by modern electronics. The railroad is evaluating a more efficient way for mobile track personnel and dispatchers at UP's Roseville control center to communicate. It's called Electronic Authority Exchange, or eAX[TM]. Developed by Digital Concepts, it's tied directly into Roseville's DigiConequipped Digital Traffic Control system, eAX[TM] is part of DigiCon's Wireless Traffic Management[TM] technology, which provides mobile users with access to information traditionally available only to office personnel through real-time graphical views of dispatcher screens. Among these views are train locations, authorities in effect, and switch/signal status. A Tabular Overview feature provides train information and characteristics (power, loads, empties, tons, length, crew).

eAX[TM] automates the authority issuance process for roadway workers and other mobile personnel who require T&T authorities. It eliminates radio and telephone verbal exchange errors by delivering the authority directly to the user's display screen while providing visual feedback of authority limits via real-time graphical displays.

The benefits for m/w personnel include reduced waiting time and improved safety, because the electronic authority transfer eliminates the possibility of errors from copying or repeating authorities incorrectly. Dispatchers benefit from reduced workload, fewer telephone conversations, the ability to quickly issue authorities, and fewer train delays waiting for authority releases. "It all translates into improved productivity," says DigiCon President Dale Roddy.

A recent T&T Productivity Study conducted by UP for the Roseville District comparing traditional radio/telephone communications with eAX[TM] found that eAX[TM] reduced the average number of attempts to receive a T&T authority from five minutes to one and the average time to issue an authority from three minutes to one. It slashed the average time spent to contact the dispatcher to release a T&T authority from about seven minutes to one minute and the average time spent actually releasing the authority from two minutes to 30 seconds. UP's data indicates that roadway workers waste an average of 20 minutes trying to determine where trains are located. Using eAX[TM], the process takes about a minute.

UP currently has two wireless eAX[TM] units in use in the Roseville area communicating with one dispatcher in Roseville who is fully integrated into the Omaha, Spring, and San Bernardino dispatching centers. BNSF is also using eAX[TM], mostly in the territory controlled by its San Bernardino dispatching center. Systemwide, BNSF is issuing an average of 100 T&T authorities (about 4%) with eAX[TM].