laws,” just the kind of legal counsel required in fighting major projects that “take” private property for the “public good.”
To Be Continued
The above is the first installment in this column’s series seeking to explore the High Speed Rail phenomenon in terms of its his- tory, with specific attention to the efforts to expand its role in the United States. We are neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic about where this is going. We merely review the facts, as we see them, and then finally try to sum up the outlook. Future install- ments in the column will not necessarily ap- pear consecutively, depending on the press of other news.
PTC Deadline Delayed Three Years The regulator-happy class in Washington
now says “uncle” or “okay, already, we give up” on that up-until-now holiest of holies — the December 31, 2015, deadline for full safe- ty implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) on the entire nationwide rail network. The key committee on the House side — that would be Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) — has introduced H.R. 3615 that gives the railroads three more years, until Decem- ber 31, 2018, to finish the job and start up a nationwide PTC operation.
But That…
In addition, the U.S. DOT can extend the deadline yet another full year to 2019, pro- vided that rail lines “are able to demonstrate”
they can’t make the 2018 already-extended deadline because of a long list of unavoidable possible delays, and have taken good faith ac- tions to mitigate legitimate deferral causes. It may be tempting for those in Washing-
ton who have compared government’s typical pace at accomplishing anything important to the process of a multi-generational event where, by the time of arrival at the finish line, the ultimate goal is forgotten. But holy cow, with all the firepower lined up for this delay, how could one expect any different outcome? Let’s try to count them (or some of them): the FRA, the GAO, American Water Works As- soc., the auto manufacturers, the chemical industry, Farm Bureau, NAM, retailers, and the Chamber of Commerce. Add to that the Big 7 Class I railroads say-
ing they’d be forced to suspend delivery of chemicals used in drinking water, suspend Amtrak service outside parts of the NEC, and on and on. Who wants to take the rap for those nightmares?
Feds to D.C. Metro: We’ll Take Over U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony
Foxx has issued what amounts to a damning indictment of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority by ordering the U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to take direct control of safety oversight of D.C.’s Metro subway system. The federal takeover was highly recommended by the investigating National Transportation Safety Board follow- ing years of accidents, deaths and operational failures.
WES VERNON IS A WASHINGTON WRITER and veteran broadcast journalist. You can reach him with questions or comments at
capitollines@railfan.com.
Railroads of Milwaukee By John Kelly
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