WASHINGTON, DC—A portion of the Rail Safety Enforcement Act was included in the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development funding bill that passed the House Appropriations Committee today. The legislation was introduced earlier this month by Connecticut Representatives Rosa DeLauro, who serves on the Committee, Jim Himes and Elizabeth Esty, and New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney.
The language directs the Federal Railroad Administration to provide a progress report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the status of railroad compliance with the Positive Train Control (PTC) requirement. Congress has already required PTC on 60,000 miles of railroad tracks by the end of next year. The language simply asks for transparency on the implementation of that technology.
“We want to thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for including this language from the Rail Safety Enforcement Act in the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development funding bill,” the four representatives said. “Congress should be doing everything in its power to keep our nation’s commuters safe, and installing positive train control is a critical first step towards preventing more tragic accidents. We look forward to working with our colleagues to ensure this provision, and the rest of the Rail Safety Enforcement Act, becomes law.”
The provision is as follows: Positive train control.—Section 104 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act required the implementation of positive train control systems on railroads by December 31, 2015. The Committee directs FRA to provide a progress report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within 180 days of enactment on the status of railroad compliance with positive train control requirements included in section 20157 of title 49, United States Code.