FRA to award $25m in PTC grant funds

The Federal Railroad Administration is accepting applications for $25 million in grant funding available to railroads, suppliers, and local governments for implementation of Positive Train Control as part of the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act.    The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will award $25 million in competitive grants to railroads, suppliers, and state and local governments for implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC), according to a statement from the agency.
   The money is being made available as part of the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which funds the U.S. Department of Transportation. FRA will be accepting applications for the grants until May 19, and officials said the administration will give preference to projects that would provide the greatest level of public safety benefits.
   PTC is a federally mandated wireless communication system that can override a conductor to slow or stop a train to prevent an accident. The original deadline for implementation of the safety program 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 included a provision under which railroads could petition the FRA for an extra two years to implement the intricate system.
   Three Class I railways – CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway and Canadian National Railway – along with a handful of passenger railroads, told the FRA in February they will need until 2020 to install PTC across their networks. Kansas City Southern, Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway Co., and Canadian Pacific all said they would meet the 2018 deadline.
   The FRA has posted on its website a full list of when railroads predict that they will achieve full PTC implementation.
   “These funds will help us get closer to implementing PTC, and I encourage applications that can make these limited dollars go as far as possible,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said of the FRA grants.
   “Any congressional funding and investment to make positive train control active on our nation’s railroad network is a worthwhile investment,” added FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg. “But it will take even more significant funding to achieve this important, life-saving goal. We look forward to working with Congress to find these resources and encourage railroads to submit strong applications.”
   To support implementation of PTC, FRA has since 2008 provided more than $650 million in grant funds to passenger railroads; issued a nearly $1 billion loan to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority to implement PTC on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad; built a PTC testbed at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado; worked directly with the Federal Communications Commission and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to resolve issues related to spectrum use and the approval process for PTC communication towers; and established a dedicated PTC task force.