Quigley, Newhouse, Lipinski and Rail Industry Leaders Urge Immediate Action to Extend PTC Deadline

Today, U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (IL05), a member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations subcommittee, Dan Newhouse (WA-04), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, and Dan Lipinski (IL-03), a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, along with leaders of the rail industry urged Congress to act immediately to extend the upcoming deadline for implementing positive train control (PTC) safety technology and prevent a shutdown of the nation's passenger and freight rail system.

"The consequences for inaction on positive train control are too great. The time Congress has to avert an economic disaster is too short," said Rep. Quigley. "While the deadline for PTC implementation is December 31, preventing a major disruption of rail service requires Congress to act much sooner. Shutting down the nations' rail network involves more than simply flipping a switch -- it involves complex logistics and will take weeks to complete. Therefore, Congress cannot afford to wait until the last minute to act and should explore all legislative options to get the job done as soon as possible."

"The economic damage caused by a shutdown of our nation's rail network would be as grave as it would be unnecessary. Food prices would spike sharply as impacted farmers would be prevented from effectively transporting products to market. Farmers would face increased costs procuring necessary fertilizers and pesticides," said Rep. Newhouse. "Positive Train Control is a vital safety technology, and our nation's rail networks require a clear timeline for reasonable implementation. Failure to extend this deadline within the next few weeks will have devastating impacts on all Americans who rely on our nation's rail networks. I urge my colleagues in Congress to act on this commonsense measure to extend the deadline to implement PTC."

"I'm pleased that House and Senate negotiators have come to an agreement on an extension of the Positive Train Control (PTC) mandate that sets the bar high for safety and holds the railroads' feet to the fire," said Rep. Lipinski. "This extension would provide an additional three years for railroads to install the technology and obtain bandwidth, but for any further extensions the railroads must meet benchmarks that demonstrate serious progress and investment. Congress must closely track the progress of the railroads to ensure that they are making sufficient investments in PTC so that they will complete installation as quickly as possible. Now that we have an agreement, we need Congress to pass this extension without delay."

Source