As of Dec. 31, four railroads had fully implemented positive train control (PTC) systems and all others mandated to adopt the technology had formally requested from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) a two-year deadline extension for their PTC plans, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).

Dec. 31 was the deadline for 41 railroads to implement PTC or meet FRA requirements to receive a two-year deadline extension known as an “alternative schedule.”

The four railroads that fully met the deadline are the North County Transit District, Metrolink, Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. and the Portland & Western Railroad, federal officials said in an update on the USDOT website. That means all four have self-reported that they have a fully implemented a PTC system on their required mainlines, and all their trains are governed by a PTC system, including tenant railroads’ trains.

Of the 37 railroads that requested alternative schedules, seven are Class Is, 25 are intercity passenger and commuter railroads, and five are short-line or terminal railroads.

In addition, 12 railroads have obtained conditional PTC system certification from the FRA, which permits them to operate PTC in revenue service. The USDOT also reported that 41,000 route miles are now in PTC operation, which is 71 percent of the route miles that are subject to the mandate.

To learn more about the railroads’ efforts to implement PTC, read this article in the October issue of Progressive Railroading.