New deadline proposed for rail safety program
WASHINGTON - Rail-line operators could have until 2018 to install an upgraded safety system under a transportation bill introduced Thursday, less time than in a measure that advanced earlier this year.
WASHINGTON - Rail-line operators could have until 2018 to install an upgraded safety system under a transportation bill introduced Thursday, less time than in a measure that advanced earlier this year.
The new proposal, scheduled for a committee vote Wednesday, represents a shift by those pushing to give rail lines more time to install a system that was supposed to be in place by the end of this year.
Some lawmakers wanted to give rail lines five years - until 2020 - to meet the mandate, but the new plan shortens the potential extension and requires rail lines to hit milestones along the way.
Some top Democrats say it still represents too much delay, casting doubt on the bill's fate.
The proposal comes after the derailment of Amtrak Train 188 in Philadelphia brought new attention to the safety system, Positive Train Control (PTC), and gave momentum to lawmakers pushing for faster installation on passenger and freight lines.
The system can remotely slow or stop trains traveling too fast. The National Transportation Safety Board has said it could have prevented the Philadelphia wreck, which killed eight passengers and injured more than 200.
Under a 2008 law, rail lines were required to have the system running by the end of this year. Most expect to miss that mark.
Among the exceptions is SEPTA.
Amtrak has said it will have the system working on its Northeast Corridor by year's end. NJ Transit expects to miss the deadline.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers had been poised to give all rail lines five more years to finish the work. But after the Amtrak crash, Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.), who chairs the committee that oversees transportation, changed his stance.
His new plan, part of a broader transportation bill, would let rail lines apply for extensions on the deadline of up to three years. The railroads would have to show the Department of Transportation plans laying out how they will make "sustained and substantial progress" toward installing the system. That requirement means some could be required to finish work sooner than 2018, committee aides said.
Rail lines would have to submit annual progress reports and could be fined for falling short of their incremental goals. The aim is to provide more motivation to make progress than under a blanket five-year extension.
In introducing the bill, Thune cited "clear problems in rail safety that contributed to the Amtrak 188 tragedy."
But Sen. Cory A. Booker (D., N.J.), the top Democrat on the rail subcommittee, "believes we need to implement PTC as quickly as possible and he is concerned by any undue delay," a spokeswoman said in an e-mail.
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, the full committee's top Democrat, also wants faster implementation and does not support the bill, according to a spokesman.
Many Democrats have called for forcing rail lines to apply for extensions every year, so they would have to demonstrate progress.
Both sides say the deadline has to be extended because so many rail lines are behind schedule.
Addressing another long-standing technical problem, the plan would require the DOT and Federal Communications Commission to report to Congress on the radio needs of rail lines still working to install PTC.
Because PTC uses radios to communicate with trains, rail lines need to acquire spectrum licenses for their system, but many, including Amtrak, have struggled to do so, particularly in dense urban areas where there is high demand.
