I have no idea how PTC works but when you listen to all the excuses for why it has not been rolled out everywhere and the general technical specs you get the sense that it is another outdated approach that should be scrapped.
We now have self driving cars and we can't control a train that is moving on a fixed track??
Seems to me that the solution should be pretty simple. Outfit each train engine with a system that constantly uses GPS to know it's exact location. Then, based on the location, use the control application to know what the maximum speed limit is for that location and force the train to slow down to that level if necessary and report the over speed condition to train management on a real time basis so they can decide it it's necessary to contact the engineer. (Being 2 miles over not so big a deal, 25 over, red flag)
Mapping all the train routes with the max speed would seem to be a trivial task by having a Google type train that travels each route and establishes the maximum speed. In fact I suspect you could define that simply by monitoring radius of a turn and pitch of the tracks.
Think about it... you can buy a Garmon GPS for under $100 that shows you the speed limit for almost every road you travel on. Mapping that for train tracks should be easy.
Congress could fix this by simply mandating the solution by 2020 but of course our dysfunctional government will not do anything because they want the big contributions (bribes) from the railroad industry.
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