U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) introduced the bipartisan Railroad Safety and Positive Train Control Extension Act, which would extend the deadline for full implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) to 2020 to help ease the regulatory burden and costs for passenger and freight railroads.
Missouri has 4,400 miles of main rail track that are operated by 19 different railway companies. Blunt's bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (S.D.), Ranking Member Bill Nelson (Fla.), and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (Mo.).
“We must work to do everything we can to improve train safety and accident prevention without burdening our nation’s freight and passenger rail industry," said Blunt. "Unmanageable deadlines could result in higher costs and a disruption of service. This bipartisan bill will help ease the Positive Train Control deadline to give railroads in Missouri and nationwide enough time to fully and safely implement this new technology.”
