Washington, D.C. (August 17, 2020) – The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is pleased to report that in the second quarter of 2020 the commuter rail industry continued to make progress toward completing full implementing of Positive Train Control (PTC) by the year-end deadline.

PTC is a complex signaling and communications technology that provides critical safety redundancies to the commuter rail industry.

As of June 30, 2020, 97% of railroads are PTC certified by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), are operating with PTC, or are in Revenue Service Demonstration (RSD)**. Three percent of railroads are preparing for field testing. In addition, 96% out of 23 railroads have submitted their safety plans to FRA for approval, a required step before certification.

“The commuter rail industry is strongly focused and committed to completing full implementation of positive train control by December 2020,” said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. “Riding commuter rail is 18 times safer than driving an auto, and as an industry, we are committed to continuing to be a leader in rider safety by implementing PTC.”

100% of all 2018 milestones had been completed by 28 commuter railroads.

  • 100% of spectrum acquired
  • 100% of wayside equipment installed
  • 100% of onboard equipment installed
  • 100% of back-office control systems set up

For more information on PTC, visit apta.com/ptc.

**Revenue Service Demonstration (RSD) is an important step in implementation of PTC, as it allows each railroad to collect and validate data on the performance of their PTC systems.  This testing supports the data used in the PTC Safety Plan, that railroads in the RSD phase have either submitted or plan on submitting prior to receiving certification by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). 

 

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 The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit international association of 1,500 public and private sector organizations which represent a $74 billion industry that directly employs 435,000 people and supports millions of private sector jobs. APTA members are engaged in the areas of bus, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne services, and intercity and high-speed passenger rail. This includes: transit systems; planning, design, construction, and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. APTA is the only association in North America that represents all modes of public transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services and products.        

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