Senate Dems ‘demand’ railroad accountability for PTC

A group of 15 U.S. senators sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation leadership asking the agency to hold the nation’s railroads accountable for expeditiously implementing the proper levels of operations safety on their tracks.    A group of 15 U.S. Democratic senators is “demanding” that U.S. Department of Transportation leadership hold the nation’s railroads accountable for expeditiously implementing the proper levels of operations safety on their tracks.
   Specifically, the senators want a status report of railroads’ implementation of positive train control (PTC) technology across their networks. Congress mandated the implementation of PTC for the nation’s railroads by the end of 2018, just one year away.
   “It is imperative that railroads complete implementation before the deadline,” said the senators in a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, following the recent deadly Amtrak train derailment at DuPont, Wash. “They must clearly understand that the consequences of failure will be stringent and prompt.”
   Senior senators who signed the letter include Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington and Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, as well as Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; Bob Menendez, D-N.J.; Kamala Harris, D-Calif.; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
   The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended the imposition of PTC technology since the 1970s. Congress mandated implementation of PTC in 2008 for all U.S. railroads by Dec. 31, 2015, but later extended the deadline to the end of 2018.
   Supporters of the system claim it will drastically improve railroad safety, but the railroads have complained that PTC, which relies on GPS, wireless radio and computers, is complicated and expensive to install. The deadline extension to 2018 included a provision under which railroads could petition the DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration for an extra two years to implement PTC.