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The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently issued a positive train control (PTC) implementation status report to Congress that states partial deployment of PTC likely can be achieved by Dec. 31, 2015, rather than full deployment.

Titled, “Positive Train Control Implementation Status, Issues and Impacts,” the report cites “significant technical and programmatic issues” encountered by both freight and passenger railroads that make full implementation questionable by the mandated deadline.

“Although the initial PTC Implementation Plans submitted by the applicable railroads to the FRA for approval stated they would complete implementation by the 2015 deadline, all of the plans were based on the assumption that there would be no technical or programmatic issues in the design, development, integration, deployment and testing of the PTC systems they adopted,” the report states. “Given the current state of development and availability of the required hardware and software, along with deployment considerations, most railroads will likely not be able to complete full Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008-required implementation of PTC by Dec. 31, 2015.”

The technical obstacles cited by railroads question the availability of communications spectrum; radios; design specifications; back office servers and dispatch systems; track database verifications; installation engineering; and system reliability. Programmatic issues include budgeting and contracting, and stakeholder availability.

“Where solutions have not been identified, FRA and the railroads are working together to find solutions that support the completion of PTC system installation as soon as possible. Where solutions have been identified, all attempts are being made to accelerate their implementation,” the report states. “FRA and the railroads are also working to identify any additional issues and solutions; however, this effort is hampered by the novel nature of the issues.”

Partial deployment of PTC likely can be accomplished by the deadline depending on the successful resolution of known technical and programmatic issues, and any new emergent issues, FRA officials believe.

“As a result, the FRA recommends that if Congress were to consider legislation extending the PTC implementation deadline, it should consider several factors, including the extent to which each railroad has demonstrated due diligence in its efforts to successfully implement PTC technologies on its rail system,” the report states.

Any legislative changes should allow for provisional certification of PTC systems that permit the use of installed systems under controlled conditions before final system certification is complete, FRA officials said.

“This will allow for the incremental use of PTC systems and produce an increase in safety as the systems are systematically rolled out,” they said.

The FRA also recommends that it be allowed to enable a railroad to use alternative safety technologies on specified line segments in lieu of PTC, particularly in areas with lower safety risks, if such a request is “appropriately and properly justified.”