Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) recently introduced a bill (S. 301) that proposes to reduce the number of route miles on which railroads must install positive train control (PTC) by Dec. 31, 2015.
The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 mandated that PTC be installed on about 73,000 miles of track used to transport passengers and certain hazardous materials by 2015’s end. The legislation wouldn’t roll back the congressional mandate, but reduce the number of track miles on which PTC must be installed.
In late January, railroad chief executive officers met with Obama Administration officials to discuss how railroads are concentrating movements of toxic inhalation hazard materials on fewer miles of track and why the PTC mandate should address traffic patterns expected in 2015 rather than the patterns that existed when the rail safety act was enacted in 2008.
The full story appears on the Progressive Railroading website.