Western Railroad Discussion > PTC 5 year deadline extension in the senate

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/ptc/news/Senate-committee-passes-PTC-deadlineextension-bill--43944

A three year extension is working through the house.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3855599,3855606#msg-3855606

Will Obama sign it? Will he risk collapsing the economy if the railroads quit hauling passengers and hazardous New Years Eve?

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/15 08:29 by fbe.

That Progressive Railroading story is from March.

Haven't been following this topic all that much but found a couple of "news items" on today's BLE&T website.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article38104521.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-07/obama-won-t-support-extending-deadline-for-rail-safety-equipment


Apologies if this is old news for those who are following this.

I make no claim on the politics of the websites listed above.  I posted them because I saw them.  This is not a political statement by me.  Thanks.

somehow i feel (God Forbid) a major accident will occur in that 5 years whereas this decision will be at the forefront ...

Hazardous and Passengers are the least of our worry.  The railroads will embargo ALL freight on PTC mandated lines until a deadline is recieved.  Liability is the reason.  God forbid something major were to happen, the liability of it would destroy the railroad financially.  The railroads are playing hardball here.  They have openly announced that zero trains will run on new years without an extension (to prevent liability)

HogheadMike Wrote:
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> Hazardous and Passengers are the least of our
> worry.  The railroads will embargo ALL freight on
> PTC mandated lines until a deadline is recieved.
>  Liability is the reason.  God forbid something
> major were to happen, the liability of it would
> destroy the railroad financially.  The railroads
> are playing hardball here.  They have openly
> announced that zero trains will run on new years
> without an extension (to prevent liability)

That could happen.

But, I suspect the creation of the "Amtrak routing czar" mentioned on a previous thread is designed to resolve that problem.

Railroad:  We're not operating pasenger or haz-mat trains. PTC isn't ready and the liability is too great

ARCzar: We're directing you to do this, and the feds will absorb any liability on your part

(That turned out to be a huge headache with the asbestos makers, though. The feds required asbestos protection on steam lines,  on submarines, battleships, aircraft carriers, federal buildings etc even though it was known to be a hazard. When thousands of ship yard workers came down with mesothelioma, the feds exempted themselves from liability.

My guess is the railroads are already drafting legal language for directed service...)

No the Feds didnt excempt themselves from asbestos problems or other issues.  Courts found they had the wool pulled over their eyes just the same as other users.  Manufactures were found to be totally at fault for hiding the known effects for decades.
Roger B

Obama said he would not sign the bill if passed. This is a good thing to stand firm on Obama. NOT!

bnsfengineer Wrote:
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> Obama said he would not sign the bill if passed.
> This is a good thing to stand firm on Obama. NOT!

Do you have a source for this?  Here's what I've seen his spokesman quoted as saying,
“Congress enacted this law, including the December 31, 2015, deadline, and we believe it is important that the Department of Transportation enforce the law that Congress passed,” Frank Benenati, a White House spokesman.  

And, as far as signing an extension, 
"Benenati declined to comment on whether Obama would sign legislation extending the deadline because nothing has advanced in Congress."

Having Obama come out in favor of the extension would be a surefire way for the House to reject it, in my opinion.

There's likely a lot of expert witness discussion going on in the background. Experts for the carriers, for the unions, and the manufacturers as well as congress's staff.  Trying to get the baseline established.