US senators announce positive train control legislation

Following unacceptable delays in adoption of life-saving technology, US Senators Charles Schumer and Richard Blumenthal have announced the Positive Train Control Safety Act. This major rail safety bill ensures railroads are moving forward swiftly to install positive train control technology (PTC), following repeated delays in implementation of this critical technology. The bill also takes important steps to improve rail inspection practices, and enhance safety at grade crossings and work zones following rep
April 22, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Following unacceptable delays in adoption of life-saving technology, US Senators Charles Schumer and Richard Blumenthal have announced the Positive Train Control Safety Act. This major rail safety bill ensures railroads are moving forward swiftly to install positive train control technology (PTC), following repeated delays in implementation of this critical technology. The bill also takes important steps to improve rail inspection practices, and enhance safety at grade crossings and work zones following reports of lax inspection and oversight, and numerous fatal and catastrophic accidents. Senators Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and Kirsten Gillibrand are also sponsors of the bill.

PTC is a communications and signalling system that can be used on railroads to prevent collisions caused by excessive speed and human error. The 5628 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found dozens of passenger and freight rail accidents over the years could have been prevented through the use of PTC, including the 2013 Spuyten Duyvil crash in the Bronx in which four lives were lost and a 2008 crash in southern California that killed 25 commuters.

The Positive Train Control Safety Act would establish a timeline for and increase transparency of implementation of Positive Train Control, as well as evaluate the effectiveness of PTC at grade crossings and ensure trains carrying crude oil or ethanol run on tracks with PTC. The legislation would also require increased coordination between government agencies, protect employees in work zones, improve opportunities for railroad employees to report safety deficiencies, and improve commuter railroad inspection practices

“Once fully implemented, positive train control will help prevent fatal crashes, like the one that occurred at Spuyten Duyvil as well as derailment of oil cars, and so, it’s of the utmost importance that all railroads quickly install this life-saving technology,” said Schumer. “ The Positive Train Control Safety Act will not only require railroads, both passenger and freight trains, to implement PTC by 2018, it will also ensure PTC be installed on routes carrying dangerous crude oil or ethanol, which will help prevent future explosive accidents. The legislation makes sure railroads are transparent about their efforts and requires regular status updates on implementation.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Funding shortfall for US Interstate upgrades
    May 11, 2012
    Andrew Bardin Williams investigates tolling on the federal Interstate system as maintenance and upgrade requirements increasingly outpace funding The I-95 corridor through North Carolina is one of the most heavy trafficked interstates in the US, seeing upwards of 46,000 vehicles per day in some stretches-and North Carolina’s Department of Transportation (NCDOT) estimates this number will to rise to 98,000 vehicles per day by 2040. Along with the rest of the federal interstate system, the North Carolina str
    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
  • Fluor: here's how to fix US infrastructure
    June 14, 2018
    US president Donald Trump’s comments about the country’s ‘crumbling infrastructure’ led many in the ITS sector to spot an opportunity to help with other solutions. David Seaton of Fluor ponders the scale of what’s required and considers some projects which have boosted mobility We can no longer wait for future generations to address this nation’s crumbling infrastructure. We need to act now. The problem is substantial, to say the least. The American Society of Civil Engineers predicts that failing to clo
    Read More
  • Advanced ITS truck screening aids border control
    March 14, 2012
    State-of-the-art ITS technologies are being deployed for tracking of commercial vehicles at the US-Mexico border in Arizona, reports Pete Goldin. The border between the US and Mexico may be the epitome of America's wild west, but this remote desert frontier is being tamed by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) with a state-of-the-art ITS system. A comprehensive port-of-entry (POE) screening system is being deployed at the Mariposa Port of Entry – one of the busiest land ports in the nation – at
    Read More

Highlighted Content