Positive Train Control deadline extended

Congress recently passed and President Obama recently signed a short term surface transportation measure that included an extension of the implementation deadline for Positive Train Control (PTC).

Positive Train Control is a system of monitoring and controlling train movements in order to promote safety. Mandated by Congress in 2008, PTC requires a railroad to develop a system that allows remote control and automatic braking of a train in case of a major safety concern. PTC is required to be installed on portions of the rail network in which passengers and/or toxic chemicals or materials are transported. Congress originally established a deadline of December 31, 2015, for PTC installation. The new extension recently passed is December 31, 2018. However, railroads, if they conclude they will fail to meet the new 2018 deadline, can apply for up to two individual one year extensions. As a result, some railroads could enjoy a maximum deadline of December 31, 2020.

Since 2008, railroads have made progress on PTC development and deployment, but an extension of the deadline had been promoted by railroads and most rail customers, including those in agriculture.

Railroads accurately contended that if the deadline had not been extended, a significant portion of their networks would not have been in compliance with federal law. If railroads had continued to transport passengers and toxic materials over their network without PTC installation, they would have been subject to significant fines from the Federal Railroad Administration and legal exposure if an accident had occurred. As a result, railroads argued that they would have had no other option but to suspend the transport of passengers and toxic materials on their networks.

Farmers and agricultural shippers were increasingly concerned with the approaching PTC deadline. Anhydrous ammonia is an example of a toxic material that would not have been transported by railroads if a PTC extension had not been provided by Congress. Many cooperatives have made/are making plans to receive and distribute fertilizer for the spring of 2016. In order to conduct this planning, cooperatives require a predictable forecast for rail service. The lack of resolution to the PTC debate was creating uncertainty. Railroads were already communicating to their customers that they would no longer accept toxic materials on their networks in early December in order to ensure that railroads have no such materials on their networks once the December 31st deadline had been reached. It was therefore important that an extension to the deadline was approved soon, rather than the last minute.