Rail industry, regulators debate feasibility of PTC

US rail industry officials and federal accident regulators have disagreed about the viability of a looming mandate that most US railways be equipped with automated control systems by the end of next year. Congress is requiring that most major railroad companies install automated systems known as positive train control (PTC) by December 2015. Automated train systems have gained renewed attention after a spate of high-profile accidents on passenger and freight railways, including most recently a Decem
March 10, 2014 Read time: 3 mins

US rail industry officials and federal accident regulators have disagreed about the viability of a looming mandate that most US railways be equipped with automated control systems by the end of next year.

Congress is requiring that most major railroad companies install automated systems known as positive train control (PTC) by December 2015.

Automated train systems have gained renewed attention after a spate of high-profile accidents on passenger and freight railways, including most recently a December derailment of a freight train in North Dakota that resulted in 400,000 gallons of crude oil being spilled.

The law requiring the implementation of automated train control systems by 2015 has been on the books since 2008.

However, Association of American Railroads President Ed Hemberger told members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that the automated systems have proven to be more difficult to install than regulators imagined.

"PTC is an unprecedented challenge, both in terms of the technologies to be used and the integration of those technologies," Hemberger told the panel in testimony submitted before Thursday's hearing.

"The railroad industry began working several years ago with the 2115 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to licence the wireless spectrum necessary for PTC,” he said.  However, under the FCC’s interpretation of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), railroads must ascertain, on an antenna-by-antenna basis, if the antennas will negatively impact areas of historic, cultural, or religious significance.

Hemberger said the railroads were in agreement with federal regulators about the importance of installing automated train control systems to boost safety.  But the rail association chief said the only solution to the challenges facing the train industry was to push back the 2015 deadline for them to automate.

"The bottom line is that without further changes to the FCC approval process, the timeline for ultimate deployment of PTC will be delayed significantly," Hemberger said.

5628 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Vice Chairman Chris Hart said the safety benefits of automating trains should outweigh the rail industry's technical concerns.

"Implementation of PTC systems was included on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List when the list was First published in 1990 and has remained on the list almost continuously since that time," Hart said. "We may never eliminate human error from the railroad system, but PTC provides a level of redundancy to protect trains and those on board when human factors, such as distraction or fatigue, might otherwise set an accident sequence into motion." 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Tolling industry celebrates the 20th anniversary of e-ZPass
    August 2, 2013
    In 1993, toll facilities in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania helped usher in regional toll interoperability in North America. Twenty years later, on 3 August, International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association’s (IBTTA), together with the rest of the tolling industry, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG). Talking about the creation E-ZPass twenty years ago, IBTTA executive director and CEO, Patrick D Jones said: “One of the most transformative events in the his
    Read More
  • Call for RFID tags on European trains
    September 9, 2015
    According to Juliette van Driel of Dutch government organisation ProRail, who is to speak on the subject at the Rail Technology Conference in Paris in November, there is a requirement for identification tags on European trains. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags enable the monitoring and tracking of the separate components of a wagon, such as axles and wheels, over time. This enables the early identification of locomotive, carriage and wagon defects and the prevention of derailments. “It’s imp
    Read More
  • Driver Ahead conference: more training needed on driverless cars
    October 12, 2017
    Driverless cars can create confusion unless training meets the fast pace of change and helps drivers cope with a whole new set of demands, according to a conclusion reached by industry experts at London’s ‘Driver Ahead’ conference in London. The IAM RoadSmart/ RAC Foundation/ Pirelli event consisted of over 100 industry experts who set out to map a safe route for driverless cars. Guest speaker Victoria Coren-Mitchell opened the conference by introducing the “death by code” concept
    Read More
  • e-Call emergency service doesn't go far enough
    January 30, 2012
    eCall misses the point and is only a tacit acknowledgement that the road safety issue has not yet been adequately addressed, according to FEMA's Aline Delhaye. According to the Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations (FEMA), the European Commission's (EC's) ambitions for eCall implementation are premature and fail to take account of all road users' needs or of technological progress elsewhere.
    Read More

Highlighted Content