Outside CTC, in dark territory and on many ABS lines, the dispatcher grants movement authority by reading out a track warrant, a numbered form with boxes checked to give limits between two points, speed restrictions and other instructions. The crew copies it word for word, repeats it back, and acts on it only once the dispatcher gives an OK time. When the train has cleared the far limit, the crew releases the warrant so the track can be given to someone else.
Copy track warrant 412, box 2, proceed from Lakota to Ellis on main track, repeat it back and I'll give you an OK time.
Good dispatchers read warrants at a steady pace and spell station names on a bad radio, because one wrong box can put two trains on the same track.
Also heard as
- warrant
- TW
Do not mix it up with
- DTC: DTC grants authority by fixed, named blocks, while a track warrant spells out its own limits each time.
Related terms
TWC
Track warrant control: running trains outside CTC on dispatcher-issued warrants with fixed limits.
DS
Dispatcher, as said on the radio: the person who controls train movements over a territory.
MP
Milepost: the numbered marker that fixes every location on a railroad by distance along the line.
DTC
Direct traffic control: authority granted by named blocks of track on unsignaled lines.