FRA: Railroads made significant PTC progress in Q1

As of March 31, positive train control (PTC) systems were in operation on 48,050 of the nearly 58,000 route miles subject to the federal mandate, which is a 3 percent increase from where railroads were in their implementation status as of 2018's end, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced yesterday.

In addition, railroads are conducting advanced field testing, known as revenue service demonstration (RSD), on another 341 route miles, FRA officials said in a quarterly report on PTC implementations.

With about 19 months left until the federal government's PTC implementation deadline of Dec. 31, 2020, the FRA is conducting "vigorous regulatory oversight of railroad efforts to meet it," agency officials said in a press release.

Railroads operating under the PTC mandate "continue to make significant progress" toward full implementation, they said.

All 41 railroads required to meet the mandate complied with the law by either fully implementing a PTC system by Dec. 31, 2018, or by qualifying for FRA approval of an alternative schedule, which allows them to complete full PTC implementation by Dec. 31, 2020.

FRA plans to meet individually with each tenant railroad to offer technical assistance on PTC implementation. On June 5, the FRA will host its second collaboration session in Washington, D.C., to share best practices with the industry and jointly address any challenges.

"We will maintain our laser-like focus on this rail technology initiative, and FRA will continue allocating and leveraging all necessary resources to support the swift implementation of PTC,” said FRA Administrator Ronald Batory.

To view individual railroads' progress toward full PTC system implementation, click on this link.