Union Pacific implements PTC on 93 percent of route miles

Union Pacific Railroad implemented positive train control (PTC) on 1,113 route miles during the third quarter, bringing PTC-required route miles to 93 percent completion, including all passenger train routes, the Class I announced yesterday.

Nearly all UP trains operated on PTC-mandated rail lines are operating with PTC locomotives. UP expects to have implemented PTC on all required lines by the end of this year, a year before the federal deadline of Dec. 31, 2020, company officials said in a press release.

UP hosts 31 freight and passenger railroads, which must achieve PTC operability by the federal deadline. Of those, 11 are compliant, encompassing 85 percent of UP's interoperable PTC train miles, they said.

PTC education is ongoing, as the Class I retrains employees and introduces the system to new employees.

UP now runs PTC operations on more than 15,000 miles in several states.

"Union Pacific and freight and passenger railroads continue working together to safely implement PTC on the remaining 1,271 required route miles," UP officials said.