The method of communicating and routing through base stations needs to be flexible, because the base station will have to communicate straight to the train. In parallel with communicating to a wayside device, which would communicate data to a train through a different channel or through some other train-to-wayside technology, the back office server could have some vital component to it – especially when dealing with a speed restriction, removal of speed restriction or information initiated at the control office that ultimately needs to be correctly transmitted to the wayside and also to the train. That type of communication would travel to the computer based interlocking (CBI signal box) and then communicate toward the train in one manner. The back office server communications to and from the train would be less vital data: train location information and maybe some train orders and other data.
Flexibility in the system is key. Flexibility is created by having an open architecture to your communications design; being able to support multiple protocols and multiple functional command sets or even the ability to translate protocol and rail information to and from an adjacent railroad. The back office system cannot be a total off-the-shelf solution. The hardware might be standard and based on a certain type of computer or operating system, but the software needs to be flexible. Ultimately, railroads need something that is interoperable with the other railroads with very high availability and fail-safe technology.
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In a PTC enabled railroad there is a need to shuttle mounds of data to and from your wayside signaling, on-board, centralized train control system, and with adjacent railroads' systems for continuity of safe train travel.
The primary function of the back office (or control center) for PTC would be to communicate and coordinate Crew Sign-in/off, Bulletins, Train orders, Track Authorities, Speed Restrictions, and Train Information (Consist, Location, Operating and Health Status, etc) and other specialized data to and from the wayside, and train specific to the operational and most importantly safety aspects, to help with the safe and efficient movement of trains. The command center would normally coordinate the train movements and routing through interaction with the wayside signal system, in a traditional CTC manner, but critical information about track use, such as track out of service, speed restrictions, service bulletins, movement authorities will need to be added. Now, there is the need to safely guarantee that the flow of critical information between the sub-systems occurs, and the back office server (BOS) is tasked to provide this functionality.
