Join the discussion on the following article:
FRA finalizing enforcement strategy for PTC
I expect that the railroads will fight that in court. They have been asked to do the impossible with PTC. They have had to invent it and implement it. There was no off the shelf technology that existed before.
I assume there’ll be waivers for situations genuinely out of the railroad’s control, like still waiting on permission to put up radio masts? Or else there’s going to be a lot of lawsuits I don’t see the government winning.
Yes, how will they deal with the government fighting the government on getting radio spectrum for the system from the FCC, and the insane requirement per the Interior Department that the nearest Native American Tribal group had to sign off before any hole could be dug anywhere on the existing ROW in the event that it contained artifacts or other items of concern. Ms. Feinberg is another shining example of government inefficiency at its best by people who have never worked at a real job in their lives.
The threat of substantial fines will force the railroads to rush the installations and implementation, which will inevitably lead to all sorts of delays and other problems. We could even see replays of the meltdowns that plagued UP and other Class 1’s in the not too distant past. Let’s hope this will be successfully challenged in the courts.
To the editor: paragraph 5 has another howling grammatical error.
Dennis, Ms. Feinberg did not write the rules, the House and Senate sports did. Hurry up and pass sme law the made them look good.
Mr. Wheller, please explain the “howling” error. I see some mixed up wording, but I could understand the meaning.
I wonder if the railroads would consider not operating since operating would be breaking the law. It’s one thing to disagree on an interpretation of the law. It’s another to flat-out break it. It’s morally and ethically bankrupt to view breaking a law and paying a fine as merely the cost of doing business.
At the very least, they should refuse Amtrak trains and embargo TIH shipments because that would be unsafe within the scope of the law.
Don Oltmann-
That is something I wondered about too. If the railroads can’t meet the deadline, just stop running all the trains, let the economy grind to a halt, then just wait for congress to change the law. That would be obeying the law to the letter.
Mr. Shaft, Mr. Wheeler (not Wheller) is totally correct in pointing out errors of editing that should not be seen in association with a professional publication. Editing and proofreading are, apparently, not considered important. They occur all too frequently, not only in this forum, but also in the magazine itself.
I agree with Mr. Oltmann here. I do not expect companies that I own stock in to intentionally break the law. In fact to do so opens the company and management to stock holder suits and liability. A shutdown on January 1st is the only way to both comply with the law and congress’ mandate for perfect safety. If nothing moves, no one gets hurt. The pain and hurt to passengers, businesses, and the economy, well that’s congress’ problem. Call me up on January 2nd, and we can talk about it.
Nice pix. Having howled along old Milw. Rd. lines in the past, it is nice to be reminded of the character, now updated, of the Road. Is there any more sorely missed?
Fred Shaft: my use of the word “howling” is simply a more colorful way of saying “a colossal error”. As written, the phrase “39 percent of the locomotive complete fully equipped” makes no sense - “complete” is used as an adjective to describe “the locomotive”; so apparently only 39% of one “locomotive complete” will be fully equipped. Which 39% is anyone’s guess. What I believe the writer meant to say is that 39% of the locomotive FLEET will be fully equipped for PTC.
These kinds of inexcusable errors occur all too frequently on this website, and could be easily corrected with minimum effort. Kalmbach has, in my opinion, been producing the finest publication of its kind for 75 years; this extension of the magazine should be held to the same high standards of journalistic excellence. I think Al Kalmbach and David P. Morgan would be appalled to see this happening to their legacy.
If fines are high enough, it might be interesting to see if railroads push back by decreasing train movements–i.e., only using the “fully equiped” locomotives–use shippers as pawns. Might or might not happen; might or might not work. But the issues in Missouri, where Amtrak is being pushed to pay for the entire cost of PTC in some locations, is illustrative of what railroads could do…
Feinberg makes a statement above that “Despite FRA’s financial support, technical assistance, and warnings to Congress, many railroads have stated publicly that they will still not meet the Dec. 31, 2015, deadline,”
If a railroader reading this forum is involved in the PTC effort on his or her railroad, can you give an example of the FRA’s support? Can you tell us what the specific problem was that the FRA helped you with, be it financial or technical and what the results were? I was under the impression that PTC was an unfunded mandate. I am also curious about the technical support, since the PTC technology was not invented yet when the law was passed.
Nice. But as typical, one Federal agency has ignored the impact ANOTHER Federal agency has had on PTC, namely the FCC. Backlogged on new tower locations, RF frequency and bandwidth requests, etc. Oh, don’t forget site license’s, by FCC regulation, a transmitter CANNOT BE PLACED INTO OPERATION WITHOUT A LICENCE, and the FCC has yet to issue licenses. As a Field Electronic Tech for a Class 1, who has PTC base stations in my district, I’m wondering who is going to get hit with the violation of FCC regs, me or the engineer who activates the station remotely, without my knowledge. If I get the violation, I GET THE FINE, and will be out of work. Not at all happy.
The FRA’s threat of imposing fines on the railroads has about as much meaning as the deadline for enrolling in " obama care ". Just another big joke of this administration. Lots of talk, but no action !