How Centralized Traffic Control makes rail traffic more efficient

Typically trains move in one direction on each line of a section of double track. Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) and crossovers allow trains to travel on both lines of double track in either direction, increasing the network's capacity.

[@jimholder6656]

Great job! Quite understandable illustrations & explanations.

[@krismccoy8581]

Excellent. I finally remembered to google this since the initial thought 6 weeks ago.

[@illinoisrailfanningproductions]

Love this video! Very informative. Too bad they didn't use CTC in the Unstoppable Yard. Keep up the work BNSF.

[@bear4353]

The place is full of rats and cowardly management

[@yankeesforlife24]

Ctc and ptc wouldn’t have helped. The brake lines were off

[@cuteswan]

As if I wasn't having enough trouble figuring out when Train B will catch up with Train A, now this! ;) Seriously though, I'd love to see rail make a comeback where it is more efficient in cargo and much less troublesome for long-distance travel… if the trend of doing everything "faster" instead of sustainably ever calms down.

[@marioxerxescastelancastro8019]

Just do the infinite sum, like von Neumann.

[@akshat20021996]

Learn something from Indian railways We are operating soo many trains on existing network,be it premium, super fast,express, slow passenger and several goods trains. All on same track with not so advanced technology,but the responsiveness among the employees are awesome

[@lewismuirhead9803]

I love BNSF its my favourite train company

[@Torontotootwo]

It's about time.

[@user-cf7it6up5e]

Wonderful salutes to you ❤❤❤😂❤

[@pikminlord343]

great to see

[@southernNMRail-Refuse18]

Where I live the railroad tracks are TWC controlled by bnsf

[@evil_reflection]

Я в телевизоре

[@joemc111]

Is there an app to use so we can see a section of track

[@frankym274]

Sweet

[@UniverseGOD2525]

I like trains

[@arunavadasgupta2147]

Mosiac Type Control panels And Circuit Diagram

[@TrainTrackTrav]

I thought CTC was obsolete now with PTC being put in place.

[@JonRRoma]

+TrainTrackTrav, CTC is hardly obsolete. CTC is, quite simply, a means of controlling switches remotely and conveying movement authority by signal indication. PTC is a means of enforcing that trains don't exceed their movement authority, run through a switch not properly line, pass through a speed restriction in excess of the maximum safe speed, or enter a designated roadway work zone - these four functions being the ones specified in federal law. In general terms, though CTC has safety benefits, it is more about maximizing efficient use of the infrastructure - as shown by this film. The aim of PTC is to prevent human errors. PTC can be applied in both CTC and track warrant territory to enforce whatever underlying authority system is in use, along with the other functions mentioned.

[@jovetj]

CTC is creme-of-the-crop. PTC is an overlay to CTC.

[@jovetj]

Nice video. But... 4:05 Interlocking failure! Oops.

[@stephenh.cummings2987]

is there a difference from DTC

[@jovetj]

Yes. DTC is like TWC but with named blocks instead of location points.

[@firefox5926]

4:22 or you know you could just build a 3ird bi directional trace and install by directional signals on the other to running lines...

[@firefox5926]

4:29 yes because heaven forbid you actuality build more of it ...

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

*two - it's bad enough seeing people mix up 'to and 'too'!

[@jovetj]

Apparently you have no grasp of how expensive a proposition that is.

[@jonhenry3913]

BNSF best Railway company in the world.

[@stukolied5191]

What does bnsf stand for

[@jovetj]

Burlington Northern Santa Fe (Railway)

[@burdizdawurd1516Official]

Actually, track warrants (such as the superior Form D of mighty eastern railroads) can be obtained without being in presence of a signal. NORAC Form D is versatile and can be used to protect against crossings, reverse lined junctions, other trains or track cars, and whatever is in box 13 "other." Copying a form D over the radio can be done while in route with a crew of 2. See, western railroads don't even know how CTC works. Trains still need track warrants, but they are internal to the computer system. It just saves time by interlocking the signals to a computer. Traditionally, symbols out west are a bunch of gibberish letters. What's Z-OALAT? UP and BNSF tend to make their symbols descriptive of origin and destination with cargo, but to me it's just a bunch of extra trains not on a timed schedule. This makes sense: Q436. It's a Manifest (Q) in the northern division of CSX (400) and it operates from Selkirk to Framingham daily. It's a train on a timetable, not an extra seven letters and a dash. From symbols to control it's better by the Atlantic. Here in the east we use such a wide variety of control systems that mesh together you don't even need physical signals. From ATC to ACSES, which still did not prevent the wreck of 601 surprisingly, the east will beat the west any day.

[@arunavadasgupta2147]

16 Bit input data highway

[@rickg1598]

lol when it works right

[@brandonmcginnis4610]

That woman dispatcher was cute.

[@Lebenspiel]

Welcome in 21st century, Murican railways...

[@jovetj]

CTC has been around for over 100 years. This isn't new. It's just very expensive to implement so it isn't found everywhere.

[@finnk1289]

70mph isn't all that fast... European mainlines often reach speeds over 200km/h (over 120mph)

[@Lebenspiel]

In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France is travel speed of freight trains about 75-100mph.

[@deadfreightwest5956]

Finn K - on freight?

[@seraphina985]

+Dead Frt West Some light containerised freight could probably run that fast I have seen trains full of containers moving at the same speed the pax trains do over a section of track that's posted at 95 mph here in the UK. Course no real way to know by looking at it what is in a shipping container could have been empty containers for all I know though logistics planning software tends to try to optimise those out as much as possible for obvious reasons.

[@nywangphantom]

But European freight trains have much less capacity due to this. Most sidetracks in Europe can only accomodate trains less than 600 meters, whereas trains in the States can be Miles long. US also have wider clearance, so a single train car can hold two standard containers. Also, US lines are mostly dedicated to freight, whereas European tracks are usually shared with passenger trains, leading to a higher cost. There is a reason that freight trains in the US have a higher share of total fright shipments compared to that of Europe, despite the fact that European rail networks seems more advanced.