The quoted costs for positive train control just seem astronomical for what is actually being achieved; > Under RSIA08, PTC is required on about 60,000 miles o

The quoted costs for positive train control just seem astronomical for what is actually being achieved; > Under RSIA08, PTC is required on about 60,000 miles of railroad track. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) estimates full PTC implementation will cost approximately $14 billion. [1] I understand that everything looks simple from the outside, and these have to be rugged, reliable, redundant, and failsafe, but that’s a lot of dollars per mile for sensors. > PTC uses signals and sensors along the track to communicate train location, speed restrictions, and moving authority. If the locomotive is violating a speed restriction or moving authority, on- board equipment will automatically slow or stop the train. A more expansive version of PTC, called communications-based train control (CBTC), would bring additional safety benefits plus business benefits for railroad operators, such as increased capacity and reduced fuel consumption. However, CBTC is not currently being installed by any U.S. railroad, due to the additional cost and the challenge of meeting implementation deadlines. So we’re talking about basically AEB (automatic emergency braking) for trains, and it costs $200k per mile to deploy? I don’t get it. > Based on analysis of past PTC-preventable incidents, the FRA estimated in 2009 that $90 million in annual safety benefits will be realized after full implementation of PTC. Oh good, breakeven without accounting for any time value of money in only 155 years. The only word that comes to mind is boondoggle. [1] - https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42637.pdf https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42637.pdf