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 Rail Standards within the LTD have been very busy. VTS is the sole sponsor for many important Standards and Guidelines that are used by the rail and transit industries for specifying, constructing and maintaining rail systems in every electrical discipline. Anyone interested in working on these committees can contact me for more information.
The Overhead Contact Systems and Traction Power working groups have been updating all of the standards documents. These meetings—as with all of the working groups and committees—are a focal point for Transit Agencies, Consultants, Suppliers, Constructors and academics.
Most groups meet two to three times per year, with additional sub group conference calls to ensure progress on the related documents. The full group meetings are an excellent networking opportunity for all VTS members.
The Communications Based Train Control Working Group now meets regularly and is looking for new members. Other active working groups include Vehicle Interface as well as a new Systems Dynamics group based in China. Our working groups are at the forefront of standards and practices for the rail industry, and additional standards are always under development
I would also like to announce the creation of an Ad Hoc committee on railway infrastructure, the result of a recent action of the VTS Board of Governors. The committee covers the technology and systems relating to high speed rail, urban transit, heavy haul freight, metro, fixed guideway transit, and electric railway systems, including the components and systems used in both automated and non-automated systems.
The committee will cover topics such as:
- Communications
- Train control
- Cybersecurity
- Simulation and modeling
- Traction power and distribution
- Overhead contact systems and other feeding systems
- Power systems
- System safety
- Reliability
- Environmental and system requirements
The committee’s leadership includes Chair Jianghua Feng (CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Company) and Vice Chair Pable Arboleya (Associate Professor at the University of Oviedo). This committee will benefit the technical community by combining resources and experts from IEEE technical activities, knowledge sharing, collaboration, and networking.
One of the first activities of the Ad Hoc committee will be to organize the first IEEE Conference on Electric Railway Systems. The topics for this conference will consider technologies and systems for high speed rail, urban transit, heavy haul freight, metro, fixed guideway transit, and electric railway systems.
Sound interesting? If anyone is interested in the committee and its operation, please feel free to contact me at thurston@ieee.org. | 
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