
Only about a third of Amtrak’s 31.6 million passengers in fiscal 2013 traveled on its own tracks, so the majority may be affected if the freight railroads curtail or stop services.
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As prime contractor, Parsons will work with Metra to install an Interoperable Electronic Train Management System that will be interoperable with 12 railroads, integrating the complex system of locomotive‑mounted Global Positioning System devices, radios, trackside antennas and computers.
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The report is mandated by the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee and shows that after seven years and significant assistance from FRA, most railroads will miss the Dec. 31, 2015 implementation deadline that Congress established in 2008.
Read More →While PTC may have just recently entered the consciousness of the public at-large, it has been an issue for freight and commuter rail systems since Congress passed the Rail Safety Improvement Act (RSIA) (P.L. 110-432) in 2008 following the collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train in Los Angeles. Since that time, rail organizations have been working toward meeting the federally-mandated PTC implementation deadline of December 31, 2015. With less than six months to go, several commuter rail systems have said that, not only will they not meet the deadline, they will need several more years before having full PTC implementation on their trains.
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Beginning Jan. 1, 2016 the FRA will begin imposing penalties on railroads that have not fully implemented the safety technology. Railroads that fail to meet the deadline face potential fines of up to $25,000 per day.
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Following approval from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Metrolink began operating PTC RSD on the last of Metrolink's hosted rail system on June 14. RSD simply means trains in revenue service or in Metrolink's case, with passengers on board.
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The Federal Communications Commission, however, warned the system could face "harmful interference" from rival freight railroad systems along another busy track between Boston and New Haven, Conn.
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The technology was already installed on tracks Amtrak owns in the Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington, but it wasn't in operation when Amtrak Northeast Regional train 188 entered a curve in Philadelphia at 106 mph on May 12.
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Some commuter rail agencies will need another three to five years to complete PTC installations because of the scale and complexity of the systems and the resources needed, according to American Public Transportation Association President/CEO Michael Melaniphy.
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Amtrak still would have had work to do, including tuning its radios to the correct frequency, installing them on trains, testing them, and checking for any interference with existing spectrum users, including some Philadelphia-based TV stations.
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