No, the floppy disk hasn’t disappeared. Now and then, we are treated to examples like these, where old hardware continues to manage “lives”. According to the San Francisco Transportation Agency, the city’s train control system was implemented in 1998 and has never been updated since. As such, evolving a system that still relies on old floppy disks will take a decade and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Not many years ago, we learned that for critical software updates for a Boeing 747, a 3.5″ floppy disk is used. It wasn’t long ago either that the US Department of Defense stopped using floppy disks to control nuclear weapons.

Therefore, unbeknownst to us, the world, in various sectors, may still be dependent on this old hardware.

Floppy disks are a component of one of our systems. The system that automatically controls our trains in the tunnels. However, the system operating throughout the city incorporates many other components.

These words from Mariana Maguire, one of those responsible for managing the San Francisco train control project (USA), aim, unsuccessfully, to be reassuring. However, they reveal something surprising: without this archaic storage system, the city’s trains would not operate.

No update until a catastrophic failure occurs

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) installed the current train control system in the city in 1998, and floppy disks, as we have just seen, are a fundamental part of its infrastructure. It is surprising that, despite the numerous advances in computing over the last two and a half decades, such an important installation continues to use such an old storage medium, but it does.

The smooth operation of San Francisco’s trains depends on a few floppy disks.

Jeffrey Tumlin, director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, confirmed that the current control system has been in place for no less than 26 years, surpassing the originally planned operating period of 20 to 25 years. According to Tumlin, everything has been functioning well so far, but it should not be forgotten that floppy disks are magnetic media and, as such, cannot safeguard information forever.

Tumlin himself acknowledges that this is the greatest risk facing the institution he directs:

It’s a risk management issue. Currently, the system works well, but we know that, with each passing year, the risk of degradation of the data stored on the floppy disks increases, and at some point, there will be a catastrophic failure.

Surprisingly, the director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency speaks of a “catastrophic failure” in managing such an important mode of transportation with little or no concern.

Floppy disks: 80s technology on rails

We hope that his apparent calm is based on the fact that if such an incident were to occur, the damage would be limited to the computer system and would not seriously affect train users. In any case, Tumlin confirmed that the technological update will take a decade and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Our ultimate goal is to develop a single train control system for the entire infrastructure. It will be able to monitor train movement and operations throughout the city much more easily with the help of an autopilot.

Concluded the director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

We only wish that the aforementioned tragedy never occurs and that the technology launched in the 80s never fails!