Track Warrants
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A track warrant is a set of instructions issued to a
train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
crew authorizing specific train movements. The system is widely used in North America. The warrant is issued by the
train dispatcher A train dispatcher (US), rail traffic controller (Canada), train controller (Australia), train service controller (Singapore) or signaller (UK), is employed by a railroad to direct and facilitate the movement of trains over an assigned territory, ...
and delivered to the train crew via radio. The train crew copies the instructions onto a pre-printed paper form and reads back the warrant to ensure that nothing was misunderstood.


Operation

Track warrants are issued granting main track use between two named points (i.e.
milepost A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...
sign, station, and/or any fixed physical point, such as a
switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
). The dispatcher may also issue time constraints (known as "Box 6" on a standard form), although the track warrants remain in effect until cleared by a member of the receiving crew. Track warrants are sometimes used in conjunction with a
block signal Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormou ...
system to provide rear-end protection against following trains. Track warrants usually allow a train to move in one direction only—a "Proceed" instruction. Sometimes a train may also be given authorizing movements in either direction, called a "Work between" instruction. However, only one train can have a section of track at one particular time if moving in the same direction. If there are two trains moving in the same direction, the leading train must give up the track before the trailing train can obtain a track warrant for that territory. For example, if Train 56 has a track warrant to proceed in the northbound direction from MP (milepost) 14 to MP 77 and there is a train following, then Train 56 must give up a portion or all of its warrant before the following train can be issued the track that Train 56 has already cleared. Many times this is accomplished by the dispatcher asking the leading train for their milepost location and then issuing a warrant up to that point to the trailing train. Continuing the previous example, if Train 56 is clear of MP 50, the dispatcher can issue a warrant to the trailing train up to MP 50, but not beyond it. Once a train has received a new track warrant or has left track warrant territory they will release the entirety of their warrant back to the dispatcher.
Maintenance of Way Maintenance of way (commonly abbreviated to MOW) refers to the maintenance, construction, and improvement of rail infrastructure, including Railway track, tracks, ballast, grade, and lineside infrastructure such as Railway signal, signals and sign ...
crews receive track bulletins (usually called "Form A", "Form B" or "Form C") in order to perform track work that would otherwise be interrupted by passing trains. This is done by providing the maintenance crew with a form or protection, or allowing work to be done behind a passing train.


Comparison with Direct Traffic Control

Track Warrant Control is similar to yet distinct from the concept of
Direct Traffic Control Direct traffic control (DTC) is a system for authorizing track occupancy used on some railroads instead of or in addition to signals. It is known as "direct" traffic control because the train dispatcher gives track authority directly to the train ...
(DTC), appearing later as railroads migrated fully from older forms of
Train order operation A train order is "an order issued by or through a proper railway official to govern the movement of trains". Train order operation is the system by which trains are safely moved by train orders. It is distinguished from other forms of train opera ...
. DTC was designed to facilitate the movement of trains using concepts of blocks and sidings previously used with Train Orders. DTC is only a mechanism to transfer movement authority and can only work within an arrangement of predefined blocks. Track Warrant systems appropriate the remaining responsibility of Train Order systems to notify operating personnel of safety directives that include things like temporary speed restrictions, tracks out of service, etc. and combines them with the movement authority function of DTC. Furthermore, Track Warrants are not limited to fixed blocks and can be issued and released from almost any explicitly identified landmark along the rail line.


Standard instructions used in track warrants

Most track warrants in the U.S. follow a standard
form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...
as suggested by the
General Code of Operating Rules The General Code of Operating Rules (GCOR) is a set of operating rules for railroads in the United States. The GCOR is used by Class I railroads west of Chicago, most of the Class II railroads, and many Short-line railroads. Some railroads in nort ...
, consisting of several standard instructions to mark specific notes or conditions for a warrant. These vary from temporary speed restrictions to rules regarding meeting other trains. * Box 1. Void on a previous warrant. * Box 2. Proceed from point to point. * Box 3. Proceed from point to point (cont.) * Box 4. Work between certain limits. * Box 5. Not in effect until ____ . * Box 6. Authority expires at ____ . * Box 7. Not in effect until after the arrival of ____ at ____ . * Box 8. Hold main track at last named point. * Box 9. Do not foul limits ahead of ____ . * Box 10. Clear main track at last named point. * Box 11. Between ____ and ____ make all movements at restricted speed: limits occupied by train. * Box 12. Between ____ and ____ make all movements at restricted speed: limits occupied by men or equipment. * Box 13. Do not exceed ____ mph between _____ and ____ . * Box 14. Do not exceed ____ mph between _____ and ____ . * Box 15. Flag protection not required against following trains on same track. * Box 16. Track bulletins in effect. * Boxes 17 and 18: Other specific instructions. Some railroad systems, such as
RailAmerica RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it t ...
, use additional boxes: * Box 18. Joint with _____ between ____________ and _____________ . * Box 19. Expect to find the following switch(es) lined and locked in the reverse position: _________ . * Box 20. The following switch(es) may be left lined and locked in the reverse position: _________ . Non-GCOR Track Warrant systems include the NORAC Form D Control System (DCS) which was later partly adopted by CSX to supplant its older DTC system.


Use of track warrants on specific railroads

The
BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
uses track warrants on its
El Paso Subdivision The El Paso Subdivision is a railroad line of the BNSF Railway extending from Belen, New Mexico, to El Paso, Texas. The entire line is dark territory and movements are controlled by Track Warrant Control. Description The route begins in Belen at ...
which runs from
Belen, New Mexico Belén (; es, Belén) is the second most populous city in Valencia County, New Mexico, Valencia County, New Mexico, United States, after its county seat, Los Lunas. The population was 7,360 at the 2020 Census. Belén is Spanish language, Spanish ...
to
El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
, with the dispatcher in
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
. There are no electrical signals on the route. BNSF also uses TWC (Track Warrant Control) between Williams, AZ (
Seligman Subdivision Seligmann is a name meaning "blessed man" in German and Yiddish. It may refer to: Places * Seligman, Arizona * Seligman, Missouri Other uses * Seligmann (name), for a list of people bearing the surname * Seligman Crystal, an award of the Interna ...
) to Phoenix, AZ ( Phoenix Subdivision), Forsyth Subdivision between Jones Jct. (a suburb of
Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...
) and
Hysham, Montana Hysham is a town in and the county seat of Treasure County, Montana, United States. The population was 276 at the 2020 census. Geography Hysham is located at (46.290535, -107.229929). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a ...
. Unlike the El Paso Subdivision, ABS is used. And on the Madill Subdivision between Denison, TX and Irving, TX with an ABS signal overlay on the northern ten or so miles between Denison and Sherman, TX. Track Warrant Control is also used in many other lower to medium traffic volume sections of the BNSF system, sometimes with an automatic block signal system overlay, and on the other class one railroads as well. Some smaller
Class II railroad In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...
s, such as the
Iowa Interstate Railroad The Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Class II regional railroad operating in the central United States. The railroad is owned by Railroad Development Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. History The railroad was formed on November 2, 1984, u ...
, and many
Class III railroad In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...
s are dispatched completely by track warrant. Canadian railways use a similar system called ''Occupancy Control System'' (OCS), in which movements are controlled via clearances issued over the radio from the Rail Traffic Controller to the train. The system is in wide use on lines that aren't installed with
centralized traffic control Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system con ...
(CTC). In Australia & NZ: The New South Wales Country Regional Network (CRN) uses electronic track warrants (train orders) on 2,400km of track. Functionality includes 'proximity' warnings and 'out of authority' alarms to improve driver situation awareness. The Australian Rail Track Corporation (www.artc.com.au) uses track warrants on several thousand kilemtres of single track line.
KiwiRail KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise responsible for rail operations in New Zealand, and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, KiwiRail is the largest rail ...
in New Zealand also uses track warrants; in 2008 they were required on , or 56% of KiwiRail's tracks.


See also

*
Dark territory Dark territory is a term used in the North American railroad industry to describe a section of running track not controlled by signals. Train movements in dark territory were previously handled by timetable and train order operation, but since t ...
(North American terminology for unsignaled tracks) *
Direct traffic control Direct traffic control (DTC) is a system for authorizing track occupancy used on some railroads instead of or in addition to signals. It is known as "direct" traffic control because the train dispatcher gives track authority directly to the train ...
*
Radio Electronic Token Block Radio Electronic Token Block is a system of railway signalling used in the United Kingdom. It is a development of the physical token system for controlling traffic on single lines. The system is slightly similar to North American Direct Traffic ...
*
Rail terminology Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...
*
Train order A train order is "an order issued by or through a proper railway official to govern the movement of trains". Train order operation is the system by which trains are safely moved by train orders. It is distinguished from other forms of train opera ...


References


GCOR Rulebook Sixth Edition
* Trainweb.com

General Code of Operating Rules. Accessed 2010-05-28. * Carsten S. Lundstein (1998)
''Illustration of Track Warrant Control''
{{Railwaysignalling Data transmission Railway signalling block systems