Lawmakers, railroads say 2015 positive-train-control (PTC) deadline should be extended by several years

Meanwhile, smaller railroads are not able to implement PTC fully until they know how the Class I railroads will address the issue, so interoperability is maintained, according to David Brown, COO of Genesee & Wyoming, a holding company that operates multiple Class II and Class III railroads.

When asked to estimate when his railroads would be able to complete PTC implementation, Brown said, “I can’t give a date until I know all of the Class 1 timetables.”

Railroad representatives testifying at the hearing cited numerous issues that have caused the delayed implementation of PTC, including funding issues, the need to secure spectrum, software development and the time required to get radio sites approved by the FCC and other entities.

In addition, Lonegro noted that the PTC mandate was “about a page” in the 2008 rail law, but determining the rules for its implementation has been much more complicated.

“It has turned into hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of regulation, which just became final in August of last year,” Lonegro said. “So, some six years after the legislation was initially passed, we finally have the recipe—so to speak—from the regulatory perspective on what we’re required to do.”

While those regulations have been established for Class I railroads, there are questions regarding the requirements for Class II and Class III railroads that only have to implement PTC because of interactions with Class I railroads, Brown said.

“This is still not much clarity on exactly what we will be required to do,” Brown said, noting fears that some circumstances could arise in which PTC implementation is so expensive that it creates “an economic situation that’s not viable.”