The Federal Railroad Administration recently released an update on the Congressionally-mandated installation of Positive Train Control (PTC) systems by America’s freight and passenger rail companies. While some progress has been made, officials say it’s critical that all rail companies boost efforts to become compliant by the extended December 2018 deadline. 

PTC is a highly effective technology 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. The FRA mandated installation of PTC in America's trains in 2008, prompted in large part by a deadly accident that year in Chatsworth, California. A westbound Metrolink Ventura County Line Train collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train, killing 25 and injuring 135. That incident, along with an additional 15 freight train and 10 passenger train accidents occurring between 2001 and 2008 and resulting in 34 deaths and 600 injuries all could have been prevented by PTC, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Thus far, according to the update report:

• 34 percent of freight locomotives and 29 percent of passenger locomotives have been equipped with PTC systems.
• 73 percent of freight rail companies and 46 percent of passenger rail services have installed radio towers needed for PTC systems to work.
• 42 percent of freight rail employees and 41 percent of passenger rail employees have completed training on PTC systems.
• Nine percent of freight route miles and 22 percent of passenger route miles currently are in PTC operation.

FRA officials initially set a December 31, 2014 deadline but ultimately extended the deadline to 2018 with a potential extension to 2020.

“Positive Train Control should be installed as quickly as possible,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This is lifesaving technology available now, and railroads should continue to aggressively work to beat the deadlines Congress has put in place.”

“The official deadline for Positive Train Control may be years away, but the urgency for railroads to activate it is now,” added FRA Administrator Sarah E. Feinberg. “Every day that passes without PTC, we risk adding another preventable accident to a list that is already too long. FRA will continue to push railroads to stay focused on implementation and urge Congress to fund this life-saving technology.”

Read the full status report at FRA.DOT.gov and check our blog for updates. In the meantime, if you suffer an injury or loss caused by a safety lapse on the part of a rail company, call 888-519-RAIL to speak with a railroad injury lawyer with Jacksonville’s Rail Justice.