Dispatchers line routes, issue authorities, set up meets and decide which train waits, all from a desk that may sit hundreds of miles from the track. Crews address the dispatcher on the radio as DS or by desk name, and the dispatcher's calls on priority shape every crew's day. A good DS keeps the hotshots moving and knows which sidings will actually hold a given train.
DS, UP 7731 east, we're stopped at the west switch at Ogallala with a red signal, what's the plan?
Also heard as
- dispatcher
- train dispatcher
- the DS
Related terms
CTC
Centralized traffic control: signals and switches controlled remotely by a dispatcher who routes every train.
Track warrant
A written authority from the dispatcher, copied by radio, that lets a train occupy a set stretch of main track.
OS
On sheet: a report of the time a train passed a station, or the act of reporting it.
Hotshot
A high-priority train on a tight schedule that dispatchers move ahead of almost everything else.