This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
4/7/2021
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday finalized its latest Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements, which, for the first time in many years, did not mention positive train control (PTC).
The list for 2021-22 draws attention to more than 100 safety recommendations associated with the 10 mode-specific safety improvements. Only one specifically addresses rail — "Improve Rail Worker Safety" — but the content for that item remains under development, according to an NTSB press release.
If implemented, the recommendations can save lives, reduce the number and severity of injuries and prevent transportation accidents and crashes, NTSB officials said.
For the past several years, the NTSB had used its list in part to call on the rail industry to implement PTC. Freight and passenger railroads that were federally mandated to implement the safety technology did so by the Dec. 31, 2020, deadline.
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) praised the NTSB for recognizing commuter railroads' PTC efforts.
"After commuter-rail agencies invested more than $4 billion to implement PTC, they successfully met the statutory deadline," APTA President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas said in a prepared statement. "In addition to the $4 billion implementation cost, commuter-rail operators will spend more than $100 million each year to maintain and operate the PTC systems."