Two railroads were removed from the at-risk list based on their substantial progress in Quarter 2 of 2020: the Metra and TEXRail.
Corbett’s statement comes on the heels of a letter sent to NJ Transit by the FRA that said the agency was at risk of failing to meet the requirements to even apply for the extension.
The event is intended to bring together FRA’s PTC experts and all 41 railroads congressionally mandated to implement PTC systems.
The freight rail industry needs until the end of 2018 to install the necessary hardware and until the end of 2020 to have it fully tested and operational, said Ed Hamberger, president and CEO for the Association of American Railroads.
A bipartisan measure has been introduced in the lower chamber that would push back the deadline for most railroads to install automated train technology until December 2018.
If Metra is unable to operate beyond December, it will work to ensure an orderly shutdown of its system and communicate with its customers with sufficient time for them to consider the effects of the shutdown, the resolution also states.
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.
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.
Cost and complexity cited as reasons for needing an extension of the 2015 deadline. California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein are fighting an extension, saying that if Metrolink can meet the deadline, other railroads should also be able to.
The vote steps up pressure on the House to drop its troubled five-year bill and instead adapt the Senate version before the current extension expires March 31.
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