“New” hardware wanted: U-Bahn only runs with Windows 98

Since 1975, the Bay Area Rapid Transport subway and light rail system has transported passengers in San Francisco. Transportation system workers are increasingly encountering problems, reports The Mercury News. The main difficulties are the maintenance of the trains. In this context, Windows 98 and a DOS program are also mentioned.

What does a train system need Windows 98 for?

Windows 98 will be used for the trains’ diagnostic functions, the report said. Either PCs with Windows 98 that are more than 20 years old or more recent PCs with Windows 10, on which a Windows 98 environment runs as a virtual machine, are used. In the early days of the Bart system, the competent authority had its own system developed by aerospace engineers. The transport company relies on a train control system with many in-house developments. A gradual switch to the standardized CBTC system has only been taking place for a few years. Here one works together with Hitachi.

The problem is that the employees are now looking for new hardware on Ebay in order to be able to keep the outdated trains running. In the future, the old trains will be decommissioned and replaced with modern means of transport replaced by Bombardier. However, the first batch should not be able to be used in the Bart system until spring 2023, reports the daily newspaper Mercury News from San Francisco.

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Collection for the subway with Windows 98:

• Trains that depend on Windows 98 and a DOS program are still running in San Francisco. Employees have even had to buy new components on Ebay to keep the trains running.
• The background is an in-house development of the train control system. A gradual switch to the standardized CBTC system has only been taking place for a few years.
• Step by step, it will be replaced with newer Bombardier models in the future.

Sources: Mercury News (1), Mercury News (2), golem