As the first GP35R locomotive overhaul completed by Brookville Equipment Corp. entered service on Oct. 24, 2015 for Metro-North Commuter Railroad (MNR), the second unit (No. 107) began its journey back to New York, departing Brookville’s Pennsylvania-based facility on October 23, marking two major milestones in the seven-unit rebuild project.
The Federal Railroad Administration sent its Status of Positive Train Control Implementation report to Congress showing that after seven years and significant assistance from FRA, most railroads will miss the December 31, 2015 positive train control (PTC) implementation deadline that Congress established in 2008. The report, which was mandated by the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, was sent to Congress on August 7.
As a result of work completed in March 2014 in response to the Federal Railroad Administration’s Emergency Order 29, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North say they are in compliance with the recommendations made recently to all U.S. passenger railroads in FRA Safety Advisory 2015-03.
I never thought I would find myself in the position of defending the Federal Railroad Administration, at least from anyone other than the Ayn Rand-Alan Greenspan-Phil Gramm-Rush Limbaugh types out there, but life is a funny thing.