Positive Train Control (PTC) could have prevented the Metro-North derailment that killed 4 people in the Bronx in December 2013 as well as several other fatal train accidents that occurred in recent years.
In 2008, after 25 people were killed in a crash between a commuter train and a freight train, the U.S. Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was passed requiring that all railroads have PTC in place and employees trained to use it by December 31st 2018. PTC uses satellite technology and track sensors to determine the location of a train and to find out if there is a speed restriction or an obstruction ahead.
“People are dying,” U.S. Representative Sean Maloney, a New York Democrat, said in a statement. “We can’t wait any longer on getting PTC systems up and running nationwide. Congress has delayed this deadline time and again and we’ve seen the deadly results.”
Positive Train Control Technology has been recommended for decades by the National Transportation Safety Board.
PTC is undoubtedly very complex to implement. Each locomotive must be equipped with the technology which means thousands of wayside signals have to be installed on track sides. Communication towers have to be erected as well as a computer system to be deployed for the system to work. Each railroad company is facing different challenges in the installation.
According to a recent federal report, two-thirds of the commuter railroads in the US might miss the deadline. The Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road are among them. Therefore to avoid a fine, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is considering submitting a letter to The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) asking the agency to lower its standards while deciding if the progress made by the LIRR and the Metro-North in installing PTC meet federal requirements. The letter proposal follows the recent introduction by the FRA to allow railroads to propose their own criteria for becoming compliant. The proposal also comes after the MTA acknowledged that the PTC system installed so far failed in several test simulations.
Senator Schumer, who helped secure a $1 billion federal loan to fund the project told media on Monday that “The MTA has had ample time and ample money to get this job done, so there is simply no excuse for Metro-North and LIRR not to fully implement positive train control by the end of this year,” “The technology is available and the money is in place . . . Metro-North and LIRR must pull out all the stops and work around the clock to complete the installation of this lifesaving technology.” he also said.
With the money in place, the time has come for the MTA to install PTC and protect it’s riders.