Budget deal alters PTC landscape

Budget cuts approved by the House of Representatives for Fiscal Year 2011 include $50 million originally targeted for the Railroad Safety Technology Program, which was to use such funds as part of the effort to establish Positive Train Control (PTC) over much of the U.S. Class I freight railroad network.

The withdrawal of such funding does not override or end the federal mandate for PTC by 2015, and it is in itself a small portion of the estimated cost of establishing PTC nationwide; much of the estimated $9.55 billion cost is to be shouldered by the railroads themselves. Still, it will almost certainly force a political reappraisal over how—or whether—to implement the plan.

Class I railroads, along with some larger regional railroads, have protested the plan’s details, asserting the cost of implementation far exceeds the safety benefits acquired, diverting railroad capital expenditures from other needs, such as upgraded track, which in itself is a safety improvement. 

Congress in 2008 passed a law mandating PTC following the accident in Chatsworth, Calif., Sept. 12, 2008, when a Metrolink passenger train ran a red signal and collided with a Union Pacific freight train, killing 25 and injuring many others. The law envisions PTC on all routes carrying passenger traffic on a regular basis, including Amtrak long-distance trains, and on right-of-way considered high-risk due to the transport of hazardous materials.

The Railroad Technology Program uses grants from the Federal Railroad Administration to help states and freight railroads install crash avoidance systems, particularly in high-risk areas, including on lines that frequently carry hazardous materials, including Toxic Inhalation Hazards (TIH).

House Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, has said he plans to address the shortcomings of PTC requirements as part of the rail title his subcommittee will contribute to the House’s surface transportation reauthorization bill, the successor to SAFETEA-LU.

President Obama’s proposed FY12 transportation budget request includes funding to foster cooperation among industry, labor, and federal rail entities for system integration, interoperability standards, and PTC prototypes.