In an effort to prevent train accidents on a new $2.3-billion, 10-mile-long extension line in San Francisco, the Berryessa-Valley Transportation Authority/Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) team is installing a railroad intrusion-detection system (RIDS) that uses warning devices originally developed for protecting shipping ports from break-ins.
“We’re testing the system on a 5.2-miles stretch of track that runs parallel to the Union Pacific Railroad,” says Matt Shipman, systems engineering manager for PGH Wong Engineering Inc., San Francisco. Working on the project as part of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority team, Shipman says this is the first application using a combination of tilt sensors on barrier fences and infrared cameras for intrusion detection on railroad track.