Public Safety, Customer Service & Operations Committee

August 2016

• Criteria- A train is considered late if it arrives at the Terminal Station 5 minutes or greater from it’s scheduled arrival time

• Negative Impacts to OTP − Major

Failed Axle Counters (root cause) Train Bunching in Central Business District (CBD)- 3 Minute

Rule (spreading the issue) − Minor

Failed Signaling Equipment Incidents and Accidents

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What is an axle counter? • Device bolted to the rail

designed to detect the wheels of the Train

What is its function? • Train Tracking • Train Detection • Inputs to Train Signaling

Equipment • Inputs to Traffic Cabinets

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Failures (false occupancies) are caused by two anomalies:

• Foreign Debris (Gum Wrapper, Tin Foil, Ketchup Packet, etc.)

• Axle Counter Mis-Counts (i.e. 12 axles enter block and 8 axles leave block)

– 95% of False Occupancies are due to axle counter miscounts

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• Highest Failure Rate Occurs between the hours of 12pm & 6pm on Sunny Days • June OTP AM Peak- 92%

• June OTP PM Peak- 58%

• July OTP AM Peak- 90%

• July OTP PM Peak- 39%

• RED indicates a Failed Axle Counter

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The Good all Green and Clean

The BAD

• Increase Run Time • Train Bunching • Trains are not able to be automatically routed −Trains are talked past “Red Signals” to

continue −Switches are manually thrown by field

personnel −Disruption to Service

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• Major − Failed Axle Counter Circuits

Increase Train Run Time

Train Delays at the Interline. Manual Process, Operators have to perform a Bypass of the Train Signal when authorized by Control

Trains are Delayed between Burnett and Northline due to the Traffic Signals in a re-call status

Trains have to stop at the affected intersections and wait for their signal to upgrade

Result is an increased run time, 8-10min for each Train

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• Major − COH Traffic Timings in the Central Business District

New traffic timings were installed to prevent Trains from closing in on one another

This typically occurs when the Axle Counters Circuit’s are down in the interline causing trains to be delayed

Trains will bunch and have to wait multiple traffic cycles for the train ahead to advance along the alignment

Trains will stop at most intersections

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• Failed Axle Counter Circuits are the greatest single factor affecting OTP on the “Red Line” − METRO continues to work with HRT to resolve the

axle counter failures

• COH traffic light timing spreads the issue − METRO continues to work with the COH to reduce or

eliminate the spread

• We will keep the METRO Board apprised of future actions and timelines

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HRT Procurement HRT Design

HRT Pre-Wiring HRT Cutover HRT Closeout

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METRO concurrence with HRT recommendation to proceed with Frauscher Axle Counter System to address issues with current system.

Negotiate agreement. Execute agreement. Issue Notice to Proceed. Delivery of Materials

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Design for each section is developed by engineer of record and reviewed by Frauscher. Design includes writing unique logic for each section of the axle counting system.

Estimated timeline for final design is 8-12 weeks. Wires are installed at locations where there is room available

alongside the existing cabling. Example of a pre-wired wiggle box:

These activities do not affect the customer experience and may be

performed while trains are operating.

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Cutover involves the actual mounting of the wheel sensor to the rail and can only be performed when trains are not operating.

Customers will experience: Rail service suspension at various locations supplemented by bus bridge from

October 2016 to April 2017.

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• HRT will be replacing the existing axle counters with a new technology

• HRT has provided the following draft schedule: − Downtown (Hobby Center to Hamilton EADO)

Begin design July 28th with completion November 13th

− Green Line Begin design August 18th with completion December 18th

− Purple Line (Chartres to Storage Facility) Begin design September 15th with completion March 19th

− Red Line Extension (Burnett to Northline) Begin design October 13th with completion April 30th

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