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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,893 posts)
Fri Oct 23, 2015, 02:41 PM Oct 2015

Lawmakers agree to extend automated train deadline by 3 years

If they hadn't, this would have happened:

Norfolk Southern: No more Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express, or Metra after December 31, 2015

Hat tip, Railroad.net: Re: PTC Issues Positive Train Control (Consolidated Thread)

Norfolk Southern Press Release

Norfolk, Va. - Oct 20, 2015

Norfolk Southern announces service changes in response to upcoming Positive Train Control deadline

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) today said its rail operating subsidiaries will no longer accept shipments of Poisonous-Inhalation-Hazard commodities, effective Dec. 1, 2015. PIH commodities in transit on Dec. 1 will be delivered to destination by Dec. 31. Additionally, passenger and commuter trains operated by Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express, and Metra will be prohibited by law from operating on NS after Dec. 31.

The cessation of service – effective across the entire NS rail network – is required to comply with federal safety laws that become effective after Dec. 31, the government’s deadline for installation of PTC. Despite investment of nearly $1 billion to date, NS will not meet the deadline.

Instead, we have this:

Lawmakers agree to extend automated train deadline by 3 years

Home | Policy | Transportation

By Keith Laing - 10/21/15 09:33 AM EDT

Lawmakers in the House and Senate have reached an agreement to extend for three years a federal deadline for a new automated train system, possibly avoiding a partial railway shutdown.

The agreement calls for moving a Dec. 31 deadline for railroads to install an automated train navigation system known as Positive Train Control (PTC) to the end of 2018 at the earliest. The system, which regulates the speed and track movements of trains, has been touted as a game changer for train safety, but railroads have complained it is difficult to implement.

Under the new agreement, railroads would have an extra three years to work on the automated train conversion. They will also have the option of requesting an extra two years to work on the installation if they submit plans for doing the work by Dec. 31, 2018. The requests would have to be approved by the Department of Transportation on a case-by-case basis.

Critics have complained the agreement will result in a "blanket five-year" extension for railroads to install technology that has been touted as a life-saver that can prevent deadly train accidents.

Transportation & Infrastructure Committee twitter feed
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Lawmakers agree to extend automated train deadline by 3 years (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Oct 2015 OP
Good they enabled service to continue, elleng Oct 2015 #1
There's a really good comment at The Hill mahatmakanejeeves Oct 2015 #2

elleng

(130,137 posts)
1. Good they enabled service to continue,
Fri Oct 23, 2015, 03:38 PM
Oct 2015

but the length of the delay provides incentives for carriers to keep delaying, imo.

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,893 posts)
2. There's a really good comment at The Hill
Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:36 PM
Oct 2015

from someone who clearly works for Amtrak or its contractor on this program. This is a complex project.

Have a nice weekend.

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