Three Class I railways to miss 2018 PTC deadline

CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway and Canadian National Railway, along with a handful of passenger railroads, will need until 2020 to implement positive train control, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.    Three Class I railways will not meet the initial 2018 deadline for implementation of positive train control (PTC), according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
   Railroads were required last week to report their implementation plans and progress to the FRA, and CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway and Canadian National Railway, along with a handful of passenger railroads, said they will need until 2020 at the earliest.
   The other four Class I freight railways — Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway Co., Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern — all told the FRA they would meet the 2018 deadline.
   The deadline for the implementation of PTC, a wireless communication system that can override a conductor to slow or stop a train to prevent an accident, was Dec. 31, 2015, but Congress extended it in order to avoid a potential shutdown of major cargo and passenger service.
   Supporters of the system claim it will drastically improve railroad safety, but railways have complained that PTC, which relies on GPS, wireless radio and computers, is complicated and expensive to install. When railroads realized last year they would fail to meet the deadline, many threatened to shut down entirely rather be subject to steep fines and increased liability.
   The deadline extension to 2018 also included a provision under which railroads could petition the FRA for an extra two years to implement the intricate system. At the time, FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg warned railroads they should aim for 2018 and that the administration would not grant extensions easily.
   “We are encouraged that many railroads have submitted plans to meet, some even to beat, 2018,” Feinberg recently told the Associated Press. “But we remain concerned that several other freight and passenger railroads are aiming for 2020.”
   Unlike in other cargo shipping industries, railroads are almost entirely responsible for the maintenance, upkeep and safety of its tracks and bridges. The Association of American Railroads estimates freight railroads have already spent about $6 billion on PTC implementation and that figure will grow to $10 billion by the time all is said and done.