Bill introduced in US Senate to extend positive train control deadline

Four US senators have introduced the bipartisan Railroad Safety and Positive Train Control Extension Act in an effort to extend the deadline for full implementation of positive train control (PTC) on US railroads to 2020. Missouri has 4,400 miles of main rail track that are operated by 19 different railway companies. PTC is a technology designed to automatically stop or slow a train before certain collisions. The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 mandates that PTC must be installed by31 December 2015. PT
March 6, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
RSSFour US senators have introduced the bipartisan Railroad Safety and Positive Train Control Extension Act in an effort to extend the deadline for full implementation of positive train control (PTC) on US railroads to 2020.

Missouri has 4,400 miles of main rail track that are operated by 19 different railway companies.

PTC is a technology designed to automatically stop or slow a train before certain collisions. The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 mandates that PTC must be installed by31  December 2015. PTC is mandated on tracks that carry passenger rail and certain hazardous materials, and will cover around 60,000 tracks in total nationwide.

The bill was introduced by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt and co-sponsored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, Ranking Member Bill Nelson, and US Senator Claire McCaskill, who claim the delay would help ease the regulatory burden and costs for passenger and freight railroads

“We must work to do everything we can to improve train safety and accident prevention without burdening our nation’s freight and passenger rail industry," said Blunt. "Unmanageable deadlines could result in higher costs and a disruption of service. This bipartisan bill will help ease the Positive Train Control deadline to give railroads in Missouri and nationwide enough time to fully and safely implement this new technology.”

Related Content

  • Santiago metro contract awarded
    January 20, 2014
    Spain’s Isolux Corsán has been awarded a US$100 million contract for the construction of a section of line 3 of the Santiago Metro in Chile. The project, part of the Metro Project, aims to improve the entire underground network in Santiago includes the construction of a 3.7 kilometre tunnel under the Chilean capital and includes the construction of three stations, five circular shafts and two rectangular shafts over a period of 28 months. It is expected to start operating in 2018.
    Read More
  • Reducing Los Angeles’ traffic woes
    March 20, 2013
    According to city engineers in Los Angeles, they have achieved a major milestone in their efforts to ease traffic congestion in the city; every one of its nearly 4,400 signalised intersections is now monitored and synchronised for more efficient traffic flow. Loop detectors installed under the road surface monitor traffic, providing speed, traffic volume and queue data, while more than 400 cameras each monitor up to twenty intersections, all coordinated by the city’s Automated Traffic Surveillance and Contr
    Read More
  • Intersection collision avoidance system trial
    January 31, 2012
    Although much of the emphasis of research into intersection management has tended to concentrate on the needs of urban locations, there remain specific issues pertaining to rural intersections which need to be addressed. Here, Rebecca Szymkowski and Greg Helgeson, Wisconsin DOT, Todd Szymkowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Craig Shankwitz and Arvind Menon, University of Minnesota detail progress on an intersection collision avoidance system for more remote locations.
    Read More
  • Future of US cooperative infrastructure networks
    July 31, 2012
    Peter H. Appel, the new Administrator of the USDOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, on his vision of the US's future cooperative infrastructure networks. Peter H. Appel comes to the post of Administrator of the US Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) from a background in transportation-related work which stretches back over 20 years. Most recently with management consultancy A. T. Kearney, Inc., where he focused on busin
    Read More

Highlighted Content