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CSX problem causes delays
CSX's bulletin system crashes, causing delays for some morning Virginia Railway Express trains
By KELLY HANNON
Date published: 7/23/2008
By KELLY HANNON
Virginia Railway Express trains were delayed yesterday when CSX Corp. was unable to send train orders for several hours.
Trains 306 and 308 were delayed, and Train 310 was canceled on the Fredericksburg Line.
The CSX system failure affected five commuter train services on the East Coast, including MARC in suburban Maryland, said VRE spokesman Mark Roeber.
Roeber said such a widespread network failure is a rare occurrence.
"Those people that are new to our system, it will probably make them nervous. I think anybody who's been riding with us for a while realizes this is something beyond our control," Roeber said.
CSX owns the tracks used by VRE trains, and it controls train dispatching.
Trains cannot operate until they receive orders from CSX, which include track information and speed restrictions.
Evening and midday train service was not affected by the communication disruption, which was fixed by 7:40 a.m. Early morning VRE trains 300, 302 and 304 departed Fredericksburg before the disruption.
The glitch was a setback for VRE, which saw ridership grow to an average of 15,627 passengers a day in June, the highest average number of riders in a year.
On Monday, VRE recorded 15,852 passengers, the highest numbers of riders for a Monday ever.
On-time performance dipped in June on the Fredericksburg Line, though, with 69 percent of trains arriving on time.
Before June, the on-time rate for Fredericksburg trains had consistently been in the upper 70 percent and 80 percent range for a year.
CSX was doing signal repairs in June, which contributed to delays. With that work concluded, VRE trains on the Fredericksburg Line were arriving on time 86 percent of the time in July, until yesterday.
In a statement passed along to riders through VRE, CSX said it "regrets the inconvenience the problems caused commuters."
Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com
Date published: 7/23/2008
Most recent reader comments:
Just one more piece
(posted by
Ron_C
, July 23, 2008 12:42 pm)
That illustrates why Spotsy is right to refrain from joining VRE.
No CSX Redundant Back-up System?
(posted by
biosco
, July 23, 2008 12:24 pm)
Why didn't CSX have a redundant back-up system for this mission-critical operation? Think about it. The only answer to fix VRE's CSX problem is for the legislature to take control of the CSX tracks during the rush hour. It could be done with eminent domain. Then VRE & AMTRAK could have exclusive use of the rails during rush hour "bands". All other times CSX could run freight outside of the rush hour "bands". Is it really a problem if garbage from NJ is late getting to the landfill in King George?????
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