In a controversial move that has many railroad safety officials and advocates shaking their heads, House and Senate lawmakers this week reached an agreement to extend a Dec. 31 deadline for railroads to implement new safety technology known as Positive Train Control, or PTC. Railway companies now have three additional years to fully install the technology designed to keep trains from derailing by automatically slowing or stopping a train when the system senses a potentially dangerous situation.

Railway companies claimed that they hadn't been given adequate time to meet the requirements and that attempts to do so would be costly and ultimately unsuccessful. Many threatened to suspend operations, particularly relating to transporting crude oil or hazardous chemicals come January 1 if the extension wasn't granted. A recent spike in domestic oil production led to a significant increase in the amount of crude oil transported via rail, particularly a highly volatile and flammable type of crude oil harvested from North Dakota's Bakken region.

But safety officials argue that railroad operators had plenty of time to comply with the requirements, initially ordered in 2008 - seven years ago. They say PTC likely would have prevented the May 12 Amtrak derailment that killed eight people and injured more than 200 in Philadelphia and that an extension allows an unacceptably high risk of danger to railway employees, passengers and citizens living and working along tracks to continue.

If you are a railway employee or passenger who has suffered an injury or loss because of negligence on the part of a train or railroad company, contact Jacksonville's Rail Justice at 888-519-RAIL.