$60M Contract to Power Positive Train Location System from SAIC

The Federal Railroad Administration and the North American railroad industry have been developing various elements for a Positive Train Control (PTC) system. The industry is now focusing on train length data accuracy and positive determination of train location through PTL projects.

The first phase of the project uses the ISIS ICE, a rugged sub-system based on the low power, high performance ISIS single board computer, which was certified last year as one of two hardware reference designs for PTC applications. The ISIS ICE offers fanless diskless operation, combined with wireless communications, GPS options and flexible PC/104 I/O and communications expansion. The ongoing deliveries for this SAIC contract consist of the Eurotech computer on module, Catalyst TC, with custom board set and enclosure.

“We sought out an extremely rugged and reliable hardware platform for our PTL system that will be deployed on trains,” said Judith Decker, Vice President, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, SAIC. “The Eurotech ISIS is certified and meets our stringent requirements for operations in harsh environments. The next phase of this project will greatly improve the safety of U.S. railroads, and we look forward to serving our customers with an innovative PTL system.”

“Eurotech’s ISIS ICE is very well suited to asset monitoring and control applications, as well as in-vehicle control, and this alignment helped us meet the challenging specifications for this exciting PTL project,” said Greg Nicoloso, Chief Executive Officer for Eurotech in North America. “Contributing to the U.S. railroad industry’s initiative on train safety is quite gratifying, and we look forward to a long lasting relationship with SAIC.”