Delphisonic has completed the installation of its onboard condition-monitoring system on a Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) PA-5 railcar, marking a milestone in the company’s proof-of-concept partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). The installation took place on June 12 at PATH’s Harrison Car Maintenance Facility in Harrison, New Jersey.
The deployment equips one PA-5 bogie with six DS-Track vibration and temperature sensors, a bogie-mounted gateway, an in-cabin control panel, and roof-mounted GPS/cellular antennas. The system monitors four axlebox locations and two reaction rod points tied to the bogie’s gearbox load paths, streaming vibration and temperature data through an independent cellular and cloud pathway that operates without any connection to PATH’s own network infrastructure.
The installation method was designed around a core constraint set by PATH: no permanent modification to vehicle structures. Sensors are mounted to bonded aluminum plates rather than drilled directly into the bogie frame, and every cable is routed through existing trays and channels rather than left free-hanging, an approach that keeps the system fully reversible at the end of the proof-of-concept period.
Part of a Broader Transit Innovation Effort
The PATH installation follows Delphisonic’s selection in May as one of 18 companies chosen for the Transit Tech Lab’s 2026 cohort, a public-private program run jointly by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Partnership Fund for New York City. The Lab evaluated 138 applicants across its two 2026 challenge tracks before selecting its finalists; Delphisonic was named to the Advanced Infrastructure Challenge, paired with PANYNJ’s PATH division as its lead agency partner.
What Comes Next
With installation and commissioning complete, the PA-5 proof of concept moves into its data collection and evaluation phase. Over the coming weeks, the system will stream vibration and temperature readings from the monitored bogie components, with Delphisonic and PATH engineering teams jointly reviewing performance, data quality, and alerting accuracy before any decision on a longer-term pilot.
Delphisonic will continue to share updates on the PATH as the program progresses.
