NJ Transit is the only railroad still at risk of losing the race to have a federally mandated safety system approved and in operation by a Dec. 31 deadline, a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) report released Wednesday says.
NJ Transit is the only one still on a list of 17 railroads that the FRA considered at risk of not meeting the Positive Train Control (PTC) deadline, officials said in the agency’s third quarter report that tracks progress up to Sept. 30.
Completion and certification of PTC is critical to keeping the trains running into 2021.
“FRA currently considers one railroad, New Jersey Transit (NJT), at risk of not fully implementing PTC technology on all its required main lines by December 31, 2020,” the report said. “Specifically, NJT reports that, as of September 30, 2020, it is operating a PTC system in RSD (Revenue Service Demonstration) on approximately 48% of its 375.9 PTC-mandated route miles.”
Positive Train Control is a complicated network of sensors mounted on tracks and trains that uses computers and radios to stop a train if the operator fails to obey signals or speed limits.The system is designed to prevent collisions and crashes.
Last week, NJ Transit and its contractor Parsons Inc. reported a more upbeat assessment, that nearly 80% of its track was in extended revenue service demonstration, which is the final phase of testing in actual operation.
"We are on target for completion on or before Dec. 31, 2020,″ said Terry Fetters, Parson Inc. PTC project manager at the Nov. 12 NJ Transit board of directors meeting.
NJ Transit will hold Parsons to a timeline for full implementation of PTC by the end of the year that the contractor outlined last week, said Jim Smith, an agency spokesman.
“We intend to hold them fully accountable to meeting that deadline,” he said. “NJ Transit continues to work closely with the FRA as we advance our PTC project toward full implementation by December 31.”
FRA’s conclusion that NJ Transit won’t make the deadline is based on the criteria FRA utilizes to evaluate the risk of noncompliance.
“NJT’s designation as being at risk is based on their self-reported progress as of September 30,” said Warren Flateau, an FRA spokesman. “NJT is in the process of resolving outstanding technical issues by the end of the year, as set forth in their own schedule. This includes successful completion of RSD and achieving interoperability with tenant railroads.”
There are no more deadline extensions to be granted. If the deadline isn’t met, NJ Transit rail service could halt, or if the agency continues to run trains, it faces a $27,000 a day fine from the FRA. Other railroads, such as Amtrak, which owns the Northeast Corridor, also could refuse to allow NJ Transit trains to run on its railroad.
As of Sept. 30, Amtrak reported to the FRA it had a PTC system in operation on all PTC-mandated main lines Amtrak owns or controls. One task that NJ Transit is doing is ensuring its PTC system can communicate with Amtrak’s, a process known as interoperability. That process is underway for a section of Conrail track used by Raritan Valley Line trains, Norfolk South track used by some Bergen county trains and on Metro North track in New York state.
So far, NJ Transit has spent $337 million to implement PTC. In Oct. 2019, Parsons said there would be a 5 month delay due to a software problem. In early 2020, that delay was reduced to one month. Because of ridership declines due to coronavirus travel restrictions, NJ Transit canceled some trains and plowed those resources into PTC testing.
NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett said he expected the agency to complete PTC and have it certified next month, similar to how NJ Transit met a Dec. 31, 2018 federal deadline to have the first phase of PTC completed.
The sooner we can do it before Christmas, it will be a Christmas present for all involved," he said last week. “There is no magic date, just as soon as we can.”
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com.
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Feds: NJ Transit is only U.S. railroad in danger of missing safety system deadline - NJ.com
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