The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has released a status update on Positive Train Control (PTC) that highlights the need for more Congressional funding to assist commuter railroads in implementing PTC.
PTC prevents certain train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zone limits and trains going to the wrong tracks because a switch was left in the wrong position. The new status report underscores the need for railroads to implement PTC as quickly and safely as possible.
In 2008, Congress mandated PTC implementation by December 31, 2015, on certain railroad main lines where railroads transport poisonous-by-inhalation hazardous or toxic-by-inhalation hazardous materials or any line where a railroad provides regularly scheduled passenger service. Last October, Congress extended the original deadline to at least December 31, 2018.
“The official deadline for Positive Train Control may be years away, but the urgency for railroads to activate it is now. Every day that passes without PTC, we risk adding another preventable accident to a list that is already too long,” stated FRA Administrator Sarah E. Feinberg. “FRA will continue to push railroads to stay focused on implementation and urge Congress to fund this life-saving technology.”
Recently, the FRA awarded nearly $25 million in grants to help railroads complete full PTC implementation. Many of the awards will help railroads achieve interoperability among the different PTC systems that railroads are deploying.