Updated on: 10/12/2018
A new bill in the United States House of Representatives, sponsored by lawmakers in Oregon and Washington, proposes the federal government give $2.6 billion to railroads to fully install a safety feature by the end of 2018.
READ: Positive Train Control Implementation and Financing Act of 2018
Prompted by the December 2017 derailment of an Amtrak Cascades train in DuPont – a crash that killed three people and injured dozens more – the bill would prohibit Amtrak and other railroads from launching new passenger routes until Positive Train Control is installed on them. The National Transportation Safety Board has already determined that a functioning PTC system would have prevented the DuPont derailment. That train was traveling 78 mph through a 30 mph curve when it went off the tracks.
Congress granted a three-year extension beyond the original 2015 deadline to install PTC. Other companies want another two years, until 2020, to have PTC installed.
According to Amtrak, 51 percent of its trains are equipped with PTC. Amtrak has stated that it will have PTC installed and activated on the Cascades line “during the third quarter of 2018.”
The bill would require Amtrak to issue quarterly progress reports for Amtrak Cascades.
Washington State lawmakers co-sponsoring the bill: Rick Larsen of Everett, Denny Heck of Olympia, Derek Kilmer of Gig Harbor, Adam Smith of Bellevue, Pramila Jayapal of Seattle and Suzan DelBene of Medina.
More About The Amtrak Cascades Derailment
- New Amtrak Cascades Train Derails Onto I-5 Near Lacey; 3 Dead, 77 Injured
- Multiple Victims of Amtrak Train Derailment Hire Seattle Lawyer
- How Do Lawsuits Against Amtrak Work?
- Amtrak Trying To Quickly Settle Claims Before Victims Hire Attorneys
- Amtrak Cascades Train Derailment Victims Need To Find Lawyers Fast
- WSDOT Explains Speed Limits Involved In Amtrak Derailment
- No PTC Speed Control Device On Train That Derailed Over I-5
- Amtrak Cascades Was More Than 30 Minutes Behind Schedule At The Time Of The Crash
- NTSB Blasted Amtrak For 'Adversarial' Safety Culture After 2016 Crash
- Report: Race To Get Federal Tax Dollars Trumped Safety Feature On Amtrak Cascades
- Amtrak Train Was Going More Than Twice Posted Speed Before Derailment
- Report: Amtrak Cascades Engineer May Have Been Distracted Prior To Derailment
- Part One: Critical Amtrak Cascades Disaster Questions
- Part Two: Amtrak Cascades Mechanical Equipment Questions
- NTSB: Amtrak Cascades Engineer Did Not Initiate Emergency Brake Before Derailment
- NTSB Releases Initial Review Of Amtrak Cascades Derailment
- Part 1: 911 Recordings Released From Amtrak Cascades Derailment
- Part 2: 911 Recordings Released From Amtrak Cascades Derailment
- 911 Recordings As Evidence In The Amtrak Derailment
- U.S. Department Of Transportation Issues Warning To Railroads
- About Genex: What Amtrak Accident Victims Need To Know
- NTSB PRELIMINARY REPORT: Amtrak Derailment
- Amtrak Details Safety Changes In Letter To WSDOT
