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Key senator reconsiders delay on PTC deadline


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#1 CNJRoss

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Posted 12 February 2015 - 10:04 PM

The Journal News, White Plains, NY, 2/11:
 

Feds push for train safety equipment

The technology helps avoids collisions by using radio towers and Wi-Fi signals.

 

WASHINGTON – A Dec. 31 deadline for railroads to equip all trains with crash-avoidance technology known as "positive train controls" won't be extended, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Wednesday.

 

Testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Foxx said his department is "continuing to hold the industry's feet to the fire in getting PTC done as quickly as possible'' instead of allowing "a blanket extension.''

 

If Metro-North had installed sensors at grade crossings, it might have prevented or minimized fatalities in a recent accident in Valhalla, according to Democratic Rep. Sean Maloney of Cold Spring.

 

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#2 CNJRoss

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Posted 05 March 2015 - 10:15 AM

ProgressiveRailroading.com, 3/5:
 

Four senators introduce bill to extend PTC deadline until 2020's end

 

U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) yesterday introduced a bill (S. 650) that proposes to extend the federally mandated deadline for positive train control (PTC) implementation by five years from 2015's end to Dec. 31, 2020.

 

The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

 

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) — which has stated freight railroads wouldn't be able to meet the impending deadline due to radio tower/communication, technology development and other issues — welcomed the legislation.

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#3 CNJRoss

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Posted 26 March 2015 - 07:50 PM

Urgent Communications, Chicago, IL, 3/26:
 

Senate Commerce Committee approves markup for bill to extend positive-train-control deadline by five years

 

Members of the Senate Commerce Committee approve the markup of a bill that would extend the deadline for affected rail companies to implement positive-train-control (PTC) technology until Dec. 31, 2020, instead of the current deadline that would require implementation by the end of this year.

 

In addition to the five-year extension, the legislation introduced by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) would give the U.S. Secretary of Transportation the discretion to grant one-year extensions after the proposed 2020 deadline, as long as those extensions expire by Dec. 31, 2022.

 

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) noted that multiple reports indicate that most railroads will not meet the current Dec. 31, 2015, deadline to implement PTC technology, which is designed to prevent trains colliding.

 

“Railroads have made a good-faith effort to install PTC,” Thune said during the markup hearing, which was webcast.   .   .   .

 

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#4 CNJRoss

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Posted 18 April 2015 - 04:31 PM

San Francisco Chronicle, 4/17:
 

Feinstein bill would require installation of train safety technology

 

WASHINGTON — Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation Friday to speed up introduction of safety technology known as Positive Train Control on passenger rail lines and tracks that carry crude oil or ethanol.

 

The measure, co-authored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is a reaction to a series of rail disasters including the 2008 head-on collision of a Metrolink commuter train with a Union Pacific freight in Chatsworth (Los Angeles County) that killed 25 people.

 

Earlier this year, another Metrolink collision, this time with a truck, resulted in the death of the commuter train’s engineer.

Delays 'unacceptable’

 

“It has been 45 years since the National Transportation Safety Board first recommended a system of Positive Train Control and seven years since the horrific Metrolink collision near Chatsworth claimed 25 lives, an accident that could have been prevented by PTC,” Feinstein said in a statement. “Further unnecessary delay in implementing PTC ... is simply unacceptable.”

 

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#5 CNJRoss

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Posted 20 April 2015 - 07:02 PM

Senator Schumer news release:

 

04.20.15 SCHUMER, BLUMENTHAL: DESPITE RECENT RAIL CRASHES, LIKE SPUYTEN DUYVIL & DERAILMENT OF DANGEROUS OIL CARS, POSITIVE TRAIN CONTROL, BEST WAY TO PREVENT DANGEROUS CRASHES, HAS NOT YET BEEN IMPLEMENTED; SENATORS INTRODUCE LEGISLATION REQUIRING PTC BY 2018, FOR BOTH PASSENGER & FREIGHT TRAINS CARRYING HAZARDOUS OIL CARS

Schumer, Blumenthal Announce Legislation That Will Require Railroads to Implement PTC by 2018 & Require Status Reports on Progress; ‘Positive Train Control Safety Act’ Also Requires Trains Carrying Crude Oil To Run On Tracks With PTC, Aiming to Avoid Future Explosive Crashes

 

Schumer, Blumenthal Legislation Stands in Contrast to Other Efforts in Congress to Give Railroads an Additional 5 Years to Implement Life-Saving PTC Technology; Senators Say 5 Years is Far Too Long to Wait for This Key Technology

 

Schumer, Blumenthal: When Fully Implemented, PTC Can Help Prevent Fatal Crashes & This Legislation Will Help Ensure this Life-Saving Technology is Implemented Quickly

 

Following unacceptable delays in adoption of life-saving technology, U.S. Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), today 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 (D-Calif.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) are also sponsors of the bill.

 

PTC is a communications and signaling system that can be used on railroads to prevent collisions caused by excessive speed and human error. The 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. 

 

“Simply put, Positive Train Control is a life saver,” said Senator Schumer. “Each and every day, millions of people put their lives in the hands of the railroads and that’s why this plan needs to get fast-tracked and implemented. We cannot allow for extension after extension when we have the means to get this done,” he said. “Once put into action, 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. The Positive Train Control Safety Act will require railroads, including both passenger and freight trains, to implement PTC by 2018 and the legislation makes sure railroads are transparent about their efforts and requires regular status updates on implementation.”

 

According to the senators, congress must pass this legislation so that railroads speed up implementation of this important new technology that will help slow down trains in the event of an emergency.

 

“Safety has been derailed and delayed—and that’s no way to run a railroad. This bill takes important steps to improve safety and reliability, including implementing realistic and aggressive Positive Train Control deadlines, upgrading rail inspection practices, enhancing grade crossings and work zones—addressing repeated reports of lax and lagging oversight and inspection, inadequate maintenance causing numerous fatal and catastrophic accidents. New technology can stop crashes and save lives—but has been resisted by railroads. The technology—no longer even new—should be implemented as soon as possible to prevent needless loss of dollars and lives,” Senator Blumenthal said. “This bill will hold railroads’ feet to the fire and ensure they’re moving forward to install PTC, receiving deadline extensions only on a case-by-case basis and year-by- year, and only if factual evidence shows a valid, credible need for more time. The need for PTC – critical, life-saving technology – was first made clear in 1969 when two trains hit head on in Darien, Connecticut. Since that tragedy, there have been dozens of crashes that PTC could have prevented – including the Spuyten Duvyil disaster in 2013 in which four lives were lost. Sadly, despite these incidents, PTC technology is still absent, and railroads and some in Congress want a blanket extension of the deadline. Riders and workers should not be put at risk simply because railroads can’t get their act together.”

 

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.

 

 



#6 CNJRoss

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Posted 18 May 2015 - 06:11 AM

Politico, 5/15/15:
 

Sen. Pat Toomey changes his tune on train safety

The Pennsylvania Republican had pushed to delay a GPS system in favor of bridge repairs.

 

For years, Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey has campaigned to delay a multibillion-dollar railroad safety technology, calling it an “exorbitantly expensive unfunded mandate.”

 

But safety officials say the technology would have prevented last week’s deadly train crash in Philadelphia. And Democrats argue that the railroads were starved of the money necessary to finish it.

 

Interviewed two days after the crash, Toomey abandoned some of his budget-cutting bombast of years past. He’s dropped his sponsorship of legislation that would postpone the safety system rollout for several more years. And he says the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority that he was trying to protect from unnecessary spending no longer needs a delay.

 

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#7 CNJRoss

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Posted 18 May 2015 - 06:15 AM

Politico, 5/14:
 

Railroads, Congress feuded while life-saving technology lagged

For seven years, industry and lawmakers sparred over costs, deadlines.

 

Tuesday’s fatal Amtrak crash followed seven years of feuding between Congress and the railroad industry over who should bear the cost of technology designed to prevent such accidents — while the process of installing the safeguards fell disastrously behind schedule.

 

Some members of the Senate on Thursday were quick to blame the railroads and their lobbyists for foot-dragging on installing technology that has been available for decades, with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also pointing the finger at the agencies that are supposed to regulate them.

 

“The blame belongs to the regulatory agencies that have succumbed to regulatory capture to the railroads that lobbied relentlessly for delay,” said Blumenthal, whose state has seen a spate of fatal commuter-rail crashes.

 

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#8 CNJRoss

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Posted 20 May 2015 - 07:11 AM

The New York Times, 5/18:
 

Amtrak Crash Illuminates Obstacles to Plan for Controlling Train Speeds

 

Nearly seven years after Congress instructed the nation’s railroads to install an automatic speed control system by the end of 2015, the crash of a speeding Amtrak train last week has laid bare the industry hurdles, regional rivalries and often dismal economics of rail safety.

 

Miles of track on Southern California’s commuter lines still lack the system years after a 2008 crash killed 25 people there, fueling the drive to install the technology, known as positive train control. Chicago’s commuter rails are not likely to have the safety system for years, while comparatively sleepy train service on Amtrak’s Michigan line already has it.

 

And with most railroads expected to miss the congressional deadline, lawmakers in Washington are now fighting — not over whether to extend the deadline, but over for how long.

 

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#9 CNJRoss

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Posted 13 June 2015 - 11:19 AM

The Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, 6/10/15:
 

Key senator reconsiders delay on rail safety requirement

 

WASHINGTON – Signaling a potentially tougher stand on railroads that have not installed a highly-touted new safety system, a key senator said Wednesday that he is reconsidering a plan to give the rail lines a blanket five-year extension to complete their work.

 

“If we can figure out a way to get there sooner, we certainly want to be open to that,” said Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.), chairman of the Senate Commerce committee – which oversees railroads. “We’re certainly looking for the best solution, and if that entails something that doesn’t require a blanket five-year extension, then we’re open to that.”

 

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