| Description |
Widespread disruptions of freight and passenger rail traffic are likely if Congress doesn't extend a deadline to start using certain safety technology before the end of the year, railroads are warning. Freight and passenger railroads have said in letters to the Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., that they won't have the technology — known as positive train control, or PTC — in operation by December 31, the deadline set by a 2008 rail safety law. The technology automatically stops trains to prevent collisions with other trains or derailments due to high speeds. By the deadline, the technology is required to be in operation on all tracks used by passenger trains and to transport chemicals that are toxic to inhale. |
