Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker, P.A. obtained an important rule waiver from the Federal Communications Commission for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority to enable the MTA to implement a Positive Control System.
Railroads such as the Long Island Railroad and Metro North Railroad (both part of the MTA) must implement PTC by the end of 2015. The system is designed to prevent rail accidents and requires the use of wireless frequencies for communications with trains. Previously, Shulman Rogers successfully negotiated the acquisition of PTC compatible spectrum for the MTA. However, existing FCC rules limited the amount of power that could be used for these frequencies, insufficient for PTC design purposes.
Along with technical expertise supplied by the engineering firm of Pericle Communications, Shulman Rogers drafted and submitted the waiver on the MTA’s behalf, which the FCC has now granted. A copy of the FCC’s order can be found here:
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0228/DA-14-269A1.pdf
Shulman Rogers is the leading law firm working on commuter rail PTC spectrum issues, and is working with a number of railroads on PTC and other issues.
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