That whooshing sound you may have heard early on Wednesday, Sept. 30 was a collective sigh of relief expelled by everybody who has been beating their head against the wall since 2008, when the Rail Safety Improvement Act mandating fully operational Positive Train Control by the stroke of midnight Jan. 1, 2016, was passed.
A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that most U.S. railroads will not be able to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) technology by the current Dec. 31, 2015 deadline, and that legislation extending the deadline is necessary.
GE has appointed Jamie Miller as president and CEO of GE Transportation, the company announced Sept. 14, 2015. Miller succeeds Russell Stokes, who will lead GE’s Energy Management business, effective Oct. 1.
Acting Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg will respond to questions before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation at her confirmation hearing to become permanent FRA Administrator on Thursday, Sept.
An assistant to the president of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company once said, “… let us direct our thoughts toward what would be required in the way of equipment or system for the safe operation of a train with no person at the controls. It is obvious that such a step must be made if we are to approach crewless train operation. It is equally obvious that the crewless train would have no one to look at wayside signals and therefore we should begin thinking in terms of an overall system that does not require wayside signals.”
Metra, Chicago’s commuter rail operator, has awarded Parsons a contract to install Positive Train Control (PTC) technology on its commuter rail lines.
Syntax-challenged George W. Bush was bang-on correct in saying, “You got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in.” So it is with Positive Train Control (PTC)—a $14 billion safety overlay utilizing computers, transponders and GPS to stop or slow a train automatically before certain types of accidents occur.
Last week, the FRA released its most recent report to Congress on the status of PTC implementation. As these things go, it’s not a bad report. It touches on all the big issues; says all the right things; and almost pleads with Congress to do something, but not just anything, the right something re: the approaching deadline.
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.
Munich, Germany-based Siemens and Montreal, Canada-based Bombardier are engaging in preliminary talks to merge their rail businesses, according to a report in the July 29, 2015 edition of The Wall Street Journal.