Herzog Technologies, Inc. (HTI) has formally announced the availability of Herzog PTC Hosting to all North American railroads implementing Positive Train Control (PTC). Herzog PTC Hosting provides PTC messaging capabilities, Back Office software as a service, and a variety of other PTC services to help railroads meet PTC requirements without large up-front capital investments or lengthy set up timelines.
Herzog PTC Hosting provides full Interoperable Train Control Messaging (ITCM) connected to the Interoperable Train Control federated network at both the MPLS and messaging layers. Herzog PTC Hosting also includes the Herzog PTC Back Office Server (BOS) and Herzog Key Exchange Server (KES) software running on the HTI infrastructure. HTI describes the service as “Back Office software agnostic,” able to run software from any combination of vendors to support each customer’s unique needs. HTI provides 24/7 monitoring and support to Herzog PTC Hosting customers.
This solution was developed by HTI with internal research and development funding as part of their ongoing commitment to simplifying PTC. Herzog PTC Hosting was designed and implemented by HTI in partnership with Red Hat Consulting, Meteorcomm Communications, and other key technology partners. Herzog PTC Hosting simplifies PTC, allowing railroads to offload complicated ITCM and BOS responsibilities to experienced HTI staff.
“The idea of ‘hosting’ started as a solution to an internal problem,” said Jim Hanlon, vice president of Rail Systems for HTI. “We maintain several railroads, and realized the cost of
PTC messaging and the back office software alone, let alone staffing, would be a big financial hit to our customers. From there, we realized this internal solution could be applied externally and help railroads we don’t currently maintain. Herzog PTC Hosting is the solution that brings the infrastructure and experts together. We can continue to invest heavily in reliability, skilled staff, and around-the-clock support. Then every hosted railroad gets the benefits at a fraction of what it would cost them to do it individually.”
Herzog’s hosting infrastructure is located in geographically diverse, state-of-the art commercial data centers. Real-time system monitoring, configuration management, and a test lab increase the reliability of the HTI solution. Herzog PTC Hosting is federated as a Tier 1 ITCM peer under the HTIX SCAC.
“Herzog has been in the rail industry since 1972,” said Brad Lager, president of HTI. “We know that PTC is complicated, and we’re happy to partner with both freight and commuter clients to reduce the burden on our customers. Just as we have served the rail industry for nearly 35 years, we are in this for the long haul.”
