When talking about San Francisco, two main images come to mind: the famous bridge and nearby Silicon Valley. The city has another characteristic element: the tram that climbs the steep streets. The network also covers other modes of transport, such as light rail. And it has a surprising feature given how technological the region is: San Francisco Light Rail continues to operate with floppy disks. 3.5 inches.
Circulation is essential. San Francisco introduced the floppy disk system in 1998, the same year Apple removed the floppy drive from its iMac G3. When the computer market began to turn its back on it, floppy disks were essential for the San Francisco Light Rail.
Floppy disks and floppy drives used to control the San Francisco Light Rail. Photo from SFMTA
The floppy drive-based system, called the Automatic Train Control System, continues to operate today, as recently as 1998. Every morning, operators have to manually load the software by inserting floppy disks into the mainframe Despite looking old, this system works reliably. The problem is twofold: that magnetic media runs the risk of data loss, and since the 1990s the number of programmers specializing in languages has been low.
A dinosaur goodbye. To modernize its infrastructure, the San Francisco transportation entity has been immersed in a plan for years. After starting the project in 2018, the company approved a contract with Hitachi Rail in 2024 for about $212 million in a modernization plan worth about $700 million. In addition to renewing the transport network, the plan envisages replacing the operating system entirely with floppy disks.
The new architecture will say goodbye to floppy drives to include a train control system based on wireless communication. The technology will be common in railway networks: it will use Wi-Fi signals and mobile networks to monitor the exact location of each car. Manual data loading, which still works every day, will disappear after more than three decades of operation
Estimated Date of Modernization of San Francisco Light Rail. Photo from SFMTA
up to 2034. The municipal agency plans to start testing the new technology in 2027 and start replacing the subway system starting in 2028. That’s when the farewell to floppy disk will begin. Then it will be the turn of the lines operating at street level: the complete modernization of the network has a horizon of 2034.
Through this Gamestar
Cover image Montage with photos by Ivan Linares
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