MetroRail: Still working out the kinks

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Just as Capital Metro started night time testing for the MetroRail trains Monday, the agency is still in the middle of a nearly $1 million reprogramming of its train-control system for the delayed MetroRail project.

The agency must completely retool its "vital logic" system, which controls trains along the 32-mile line from Leander to Downtown. Agency officials said the night-time testing should not interfere with the reprogramming of the train control system, and that the system is safe while testing.

The reprogramming comes as a result of Federal Railroad Administration testing which found errors in the system in early 2009.

That testing delayed the project even longer after officials declared a March 2009 launch date implausible.

Capital Metro officials said the reprogramming should be complete by January, which will allow for a full re-test of the system.

Capital Metro originally tried to have two train control systems on one track, allowing for "freight" and "passenger" modes.

"The new mode of programming will allow both to exist on one system," said Capital Metro Vice President Elaine Timbes and Director of Rail Operations Bill LeJeune.

At the same time, officials with the transit authority are trying to make final fixes to crossing arms that have failed throughout the summer of testing.

LeJeune said Tuesday the agency had no reported systemic problems at the crossing arms within the past week.

Contrary to public opinion, they said, the crossing arm system is different from the vital logic system.

The crossing arms are triggered when a train approaches a crossing through conductivity on the tracks.

LeJeune said the system is working as it should, but needs minor adjustments to make sure drivers are not spending too long at crossing arms.

Transit agency leaders continue to claim the MetroRail will open in the first quarter of 2010, which would make the project two-years behind original projected schedules.

That timeline depends on a more strict round of testing, however, after all of the reporgramming takes place, LeJeune and Timbes said.

Capital Metro will also undergo a strict revamp of its board of directors in January 2010, conduct a nationwide search for a new president and try to keep a budget with declining sales tax revenue under check.