In early 2020, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) needed to upgrade the highway/rail grade crossing warning systems on its Tri-Rail rail corridor as part of an OSSI (On-Site Signal Improvement) project. The authority tasked its O&M (Operations & Maintenance) contractor Transdev to find and test products that could provide the best options.
Among the many issues facing TransDev were improving surge protection and installing rugged Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and other automation products that could handle Florida’s increasingly extreme weather. TransDev conducted research, development and testing with several suppliers with specific criteria in mind: seamless integration with the existing system, reliable performance and overall maintenance cost reductions.
A local vendor recommended WAGO technology. WAGO Railway Industry Managers DJ Neimic and Brian Ley and Regional Sales Manager Gabriel Fernandez devised and demonstrated a solution. “We listened to their team to understand their goals, which included the capability to remotely monitor and enunciate issues before they became failures,” Neimic stated. “They wanted to move from reactionary to proactive in their maintenance philosophy This meant implementing a Health Monitoring System (HMS) at all crossings. We knew a WAGO system could provide a better overall connection than the traditional AAR post and ring lug method.”
“Transdev evaluated WAGO products in a signal house in the Hialeah, Fla. rail yard, where replacement gate mechanisms are built and tested,” explained Ley. “As soon as TransDev understood all our advantages—ease of installation, reduced footprint, improved reliability and cost savings—they decided to deploy a main line application.”
The project got under way in December 2020 with a gate mechanism junction box assembly. Fernandez noted WAGO “helped TransDev create this project in our online configurator. We ordered samples based on the initial design. This first project was an improvement for a crossing application, but we wanted to go further. The second version of the junction box assembly dove deeper into each component and its use. The HMS was also improved upon, as we continued developing a system of reading and detecting any failures at a given site. We worked with TransDev to ensure these systems were properly installed. Our application engineers helped program the PLCs and I/O System, which included HMS touch panels.”
The improvements, WAGO noted, “proved a tremendous success. TransDev obtained SFRTA’s approval to implement these projects along the entire rail corridor. Multiple sources of capital funding for these OSSI projects were provided based on the technology put together by TransDev and WAGO.
“We will continue to utilize WAGO products in our applications and have started to expand use of their products,” said TransDev Senior Manager of Signals/Project Manager Marlon Soto. “This includes innovative ways to ensure that WAGO products are available to TransDev as needed.”
