The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) is energizing the nearly 5 miles of track that cover its Rail Operations Center.
The energization of the 750 volt system in the yard will allow systems and trains to be tested under power. Before today, train cars were moved manually throughout the tracks at the operations facility. The maintenance yard will eventually be a fully automated driverless operation where the first systems will be tested and safety certified.
The entire Rail Operations Center and rail yard is a secure, limited access facility. Tracks should be considered energized at all times. Unauthorized access is extremely dangerous and will not be tolerated. All safety precautions must be taken to avoid serious injury or death.
HART provided advance notification of the energization to both the Waipahu High School and Leeward Community College communities, whose properties border the Rail Operations Center in Waipahu.
“Safety is our highest priority,” said HART Executive Director and CEO Andrew Robbins. “We have taken extra steps to ensure that everyone is aware of the unique nature of this facility and the safety precautions that must be taken.”
The energization of the rail yard is a significant milestone in the Project development. The yard represents a “mini” system implementation where operating elements such as the rail signals, traction power, and communications can all be tested as an integrated system. System testing will then continue to branch out from there until the system is fully ready for interim passengers operations in late 2020.
Late last year, HART energized a portion of the rail system’s track on the elevated guideway in order to conduct dynamic testing of its rail cars. That testing is ongoing and will continue for several more months.