Congress Delays Train Safety Technology Mandate 3 To 5 Years
Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress passed a bill Wednesday that delays for at least three years the mandate for railroads to put long-sought safety technology in place, and extends the government's authority to spend money on transportation programs.
Federal accident investigators say the technology, known as positive train control or PTC, would have prevented an Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia last May that killed eight people and injured about 200 others. Amtrak had installed the technology on tracks where the crash occurred, but it hadn't yet been tested and so wasn't turned on.
The Senate passed the bill by a voice vote. The House passed the measure the previous day. It now goes to the White House, where President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law.
Railroads have already had seven years to install PTC, but most aren't expected to meet the end-of-year deadline to put it into operation on all tracks that carry passenger trains or are used to haul liquids that turn into toxic gas if spilled. As a result, railroads and companies that ship freight by rail have been strongly urging Congress to provide a delay.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRANSPORTATION_TRAIN_SAFETY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-28-16-39-42
You can bet your ass if this ''safety feature" was for some shitty little country in the ME, this would have been done and completed posthaste.
= new reply since forum marked as read
