U.S. warns railroads on new safety system deadline

[mahatmakanejeeves]

U.S. warns railroads on new safety system deadline

November 19, 2015, 6:04 AM
By Richard Wronski, Chicago Tribune
[e-mail]
@richwronski

The federal government is warning the nation's railroads, including Chicago's Metra, that it intends to "aggressively enforce" a new deadline for installation of a high-tech safety system.

In a letter Thursday to freight and commuter railroads, Federal Railroad Administration leader Sarah Feinberg said her agency will issue fines and take other action if railroads fail to meet the timetables and requirements called for by legislation Congress passed Oct. 28.

The safety system, known as Positive Train Control, was supposed to be in place by the end of this year. It is intended to prevent crashes such as the Amtrak derailment in May that killed eight people in Philadelphia. ... But with railroads behind schedule and complaining that they would have to shut down if the Dec. 31 deadline was not extended, Congress gave them three more years, with extensions possible until 2020.

In her letter, which the Tribune obtained, Feinberg said railroads must submit revised PTC implementation plans by Jan. 27. Those plans must spell out detailed schedules for activating their PTC systems by Dec. 31, 2018. ... If a railroad fails to file a plan as required, the law allows the FRA to assess penalties of at least $5,000 per day.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Federal regulators tell railroads they must meet safety deadlines

I'm thinking of starting a megathread or link farm for articles on positive train control (PTC).

Transportation

Federal regulators tell railroads they must meet safety deadlines

By Ashley Halsey III November 23 at 12:00 PM
@ashleyhalsey3rd

U.S. railroads who were granted a three-year delay to install a life-saving safety mechanism have been told by federal regulators that they will be held to a strict schedule to ensure they get the job done. ... The device — positive train control —has been called “arguably the single-most important rail safety development in more than a century” by federal regulators.

Safety experts say PTC could have prevented the deaths of eight people in an Philadelphia Amtrak derailment this year, and those of 288 other passengers and train crew members since 1969. ... They consider implementation of PTC more important than ever since trains filled with volatile natural gas or oil have derailed nine times so far this year, and they fear one could cause catastrophic explosions as it passes through a city.

With the boom in domestic oil production, the number of rail tank cars carrying flammable material in the United States has grown from 9,500 seven years ago to 493,126 last year.

The railroads, most of whom had fallen far behind schedule in meeting a Dec. 31 deadline for installation of PTC, petitioned Congress for relief and won a three-year extension. Congress, whose members have received more than $24 million in campaign contributions from the powerful railroad industry since 2008 also said railroads could ask for up to two additional years after the 2018 deadline to complete the job.

{Deadline for train safety technology undercut by industry lobbying}