CN meets year-end PTC deadline, applies for extension

CN has met all Dec. 31 milestone deadlines in its positive train control (PTC) implementation plan, the Class I announced last week.

Last month, CN applied to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for a two-year extension to complete deployment and interoperability of its PTC system, according to a press release.

CN estimates it will spend $1.4 billion on its entire project to install PTC on 3,100 route miles in the United States.

The Class I announced it achieved the following PTC milestones: installed all 1,662 radio towers; trained all 5,614 employees as required; completed hardware installation on all 586 required locomotives and 35 required track segments; and initiated PTC on 19 of 35 track segments, or 54 percent of required track segments, representing about 1,568 miles.

Dec. 31 is the deadline for railroads to have all PTC hardware installed, all needed radio spectrum acquired and systems initiated on more than half of their required territory.

Railroads that meet those benchmarks can obtain a 24-month extension from the FRA to complete full PTC implementation by Dec. 31, 2020.