Wicker Forecasts Future PTC Implementation 'Disappointments' Before 2020 Deadline
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other committee members said during a Wednesday hearing they have no appetite for any further extensions beyond 2020 for railroads to fully implement positive train control technology. Federal and rail officials told the committee railroads have made significant progress since the end of 2018 toward implementing PTC, but some warned about ongoing hurdles from tech interoperability and outside vendors. Congress in 2015 extended to the end of 2018 the deadline for railroads implement PTC technology but allowed them to seek an extension through the end of 2020 if they met benchmarks.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
“I am mindful that there are some challenges” and “we may have a better handle” by the end of this year whether railroads that received the implementation extension are going to be ready by the end of next year, Wicker told reporters after the hearing. He said he doesn't anticipate lawmakers will allow another extension. Wicker said during the hearing he anticipates “we'll have some disappointments” in 2020 with railroads finding they're unable to meet the extended deadline. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., also expressed reservations. Senate Commerce members voiced similar concerns during an October hearing (see 1810030058).
Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., also was leery of allowing any further deadline changes, saying during the hearing it's “unacceptable” that full implementation hasn't already happened. She cited the fatal 2017 Amtrak derailment outside Tacoma, Washington (see 1712190049), as one of many crashes since the PTC implementation deadline extension was enacted that could have been prevented with swifter adoption of the technology. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he remains an “advocate of avoiding any further delay” in implementing PTC.
GAO Director-Physical Infrastructure Susan Fleming told Senate Commerce members during the hearing she's “cautiously optimistic” railroads will be able to reach full implementation by the end of 2020 but the agency will have a better idea of those prospects by the end of this year. “There's been a lot of progress” and “folks are taking this very seriously,” she said. But only four railroads have “crossed the finish line” and 11 others are “still in the early stages.” There are “some pretty complex hurdles to get through.” A GAO report released in conjunction with the hearing said most railroads continue to report vendors and software are major or moderate implementation challenges. Those issues are becoming more acute because there's less time to address them before the final deadline, GAO said.
Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Ronald Batory said he believes railroads have made “significant progress” on PTC adoption, reporting that at the end of June PTC systems were in operation on 87 percent of all railroad route miles subject to the implementation mandate. But “significant work” is still needed to make PTC available on the remaining tracks, he said. Batory pledged to recommend FRA assess the maximum penalty -- currently $28,474 per day -- against railroads that fail to fully deploy PTC by the end of 2020.
Chicago-based Metra Commuter Railroad CEO James Derwinski urged Congress to create a “new grant program specifically for commuter railroads” that would “provide some relief” to public agencies “struggling the most to address PTC operations and maintenance costs and associated capital costs.” He cited the upcoming debate on Fixing America's Surface Transportation (Fast) Act reauthorization as a potential vehicle for enacting such a grant program.