Senate Commerce Lawmakers Want To Extend PTC Implementation Deadline to 2020
A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation last week to extend the deadline for positive train control implementation to 2020. Current law mandates that full implementation be completed by Dec. 31, and the FCC has sought to play its part…
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in approving rail applications throughout the implementation. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., sponsored the bill (S-650) with the backing of Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Commerce Committee leadership -- Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla. “Unmanageable deadlines could result in higher costs and a disruption of service,” Blunt said in a statement Thursday. “This bipartisan bill will help ease the Positive Train Control deadline to give railroads in Missouri and nationwide enough time to fully and safely implement this new technology.” Thune introduced a similar bill (S-1462), extending the deadline by five years, in August 2013, attracting 15 co-sponsors including Blunt, McCaskill and Nelson. The Association of American Railroads praised the new legislation. Current mandates “to have a fully interoperable, nationwide PTC system tested and safely operating by the end of 2015 is simply not possible and must be changed,” AAR President Edward Hamberger said in a statement. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler recently wrote to Congress to say the FCC is now able to process applications much more quickly (see 1503020047).