Trainers in Fort Worth, Texas, are being instructed to use train-signal detectors that would detect the presence of a new train.
The Fort Worth station is one of the stations to get a new warning system that would allow them to use the system to warn the train operator when they have spotted the train heading towards their station, a station spokeswoman said Monday.
Trainers have been instructed to wear helmets, beep their horns or emit an audible warning when they see a train approaching the station, spokeswoman Katie Zolinski said.
If a train comes within 10 miles of the station on a weekday, the train will automatically be delayed for five minutes while the station is inspected.
If it comes within 30 miles, the station will automatically lock the doors and wait for the train to come through the station before the doors open, Zolinsky said.
Train-signalling detectors have become popular in the United States in recent years, including at train stations in New York and Washington, D.C.
The sensors are activated by the train’s horn, which is connected to a microphone mounted on the train and has a small LED screen that flashes when the train passes.
The train will then be stopped and the sensors will notify a supervisor.
If the train comes through the train-stop, the alarm will sound and the supervisor will notify the operator.
If the train doesn’t come through, the signal detector will send out a “clear” signal, Zominski said, and the operator will let the train pass.
The station’s new system is expected to cost $1 million, but the district is not yet sure how many stations will get the new technology, she said.
The district began installing the devices last year and is looking at how many more stations will have them.
The installation is part of a pilot program run by the district to test the technology in a few train stations.
The district has installed the technology at more than 3,000 stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Chicago; and San Diego, California.
The District has installed more than 1,000 detectors in the last year, Zolinowski said.