Amtrak flips PTC switch on Northeast Corridor routes

Amtrak activated positive train control (PTC) technology in the Northeast Corridor between Philadelphia and New York City this past weekend. 

The national passenger railroad's PTC system also went live on a route between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., last week, according to a report in The Philadelphia Inquirer, which quoted an Amtrak official.

The crash-prevention system was already operational on Amtrak's line between New Haven, Conn., and Boston. Amtrak is the first railroad to have PTC activated in the New York City area.

The safety-braking technology was implemented on the Northeast Corridor prior to Dec. 31, which would have been the original federal deadline for railroads to implement PTC. Congress recently extended the deadline to the end of 2018.

Federal transportation safety regulators have said that a PTC system would have prevented a fatal Amtrak derailment that occurred in Philadelphia in May.