Since 2008, when Congress mandated implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) technology on certain railroad main lines, the Federal Railroad Administration has worked to assist rail companies in that directive. Informally known as PTC, the technology is designed to monitor locomotive operations along 60,000 miles of track and to help keep trains from derailing by automatically slowing or stopping a train when the system senses a potentially dangerous situation.

A recently released progress report details the agency’s efforts, including:

• Establishing the PTC Implementation Task Force, which manages and monitors railroads’ progress and ensures that the FRA has real-time information on PTC implementation status;
• Working directly with the Federal Communications Commission and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to resolve issues related to spectrum use and improve the approval process for PTC communication towers;
• Approving more than $650 million in grants to passenger railroads, including nearly $400 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funding;
• In August, awarding $25 million in grants to railroads, railroad suppliers, and state and local governments for PTC implementation projects that have a public benefit of improved safety, interoperability and network efficiency, as Congress authorized in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016;
• Issuing a loan of nearly $1 billion to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority to implement PTC on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad;
• Working with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to notify railroads and the public of the $199 million available in FY2017 to commuter railroads and state and local governments for PTC implementation grants under the FAST Act;
• Building a PTC testbed at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado, and making it available to railroads to test and integrate all of the necessary PTC components;
• Participating in system design and test readiness reviews, lab and field testing;
• Conducting preliminary reviews of railroads’ PTC implementation and safety plan submissions to identify regulatory noncompliance as soon as possible to minimize cost and schedule impact for railroads.

We here at Rail Justice are monitoring progress of PTC implementation. Visit our website often for updates, and if you or someone you love suffer an injury or loss caused by a safety lapse on the part of a railroad company or employee, call 888-519-RAIL to speak with a railroad injury lawyer.   

Read the full status update here.