Transcripts For CSPAN2 Train Safety 20180216

Federal Officials Say the Safety System could have prevented recent a real mans including amtrak trains the House Transportation Committee hearing includes testimony from witnesses representing the federal Railroad Administration, ntsb and freight rail companies. This is two hours. [inaudible conversations] the committee will come to order. Without objection the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time i ask in his consent members be permitted to sit and ask questions without objection so ordered good morning welcome to the subcommittee on railroads pipeline and Hazardous Materials before we proceed i would like to extend our deepest sympathies to those impacted by the recent rail accidents across the United States. Todays hearing focus is on positive train control across United States and as we have seen we are in need of an update, ptc has a challenging process for the Railroad Industry despite these it is a top priority and we must investigate and find solutions to implementation obstacles and that is the purpose today to hear the limitations status of ptc across United States i now welcome the Ranking Member for massachusetts to make the opening statement. I asked consent to include the staff. Without objection two a generally keep my opening remarks brief we are here to catch up on ptc how it impacts people and to get from the industry where they are but with all the problems we still have with this issue we are making progress we would like that to be faster and cleaner and quicker but at least we are doing something at the same time i dont think it should go unsaid that this congress has taken absolutely no action whatsoever to even try to address the gun violence in this country that tragedy we suffered yesterday is unspeakable and unacceptable to every single american and for us to do nothing should be angering as far as i am concerned at least on this issue with ptc we are doing something. Nothing is not an answer i held back the remainder of my time. I now recognize the chairman of the full committee. Thank you very much. [inaudible] thank you very much for holding this hearing today and to our members that are here today with showing interest from the tragedy that occurred in your stay and places around the country. Safety is a number one priority of this committee and the department of transportation we have always remained focus on efforts to improve rail safety as one of the most and vicious and complex issues ever taken 2012 would not make the deadline ended 2013 to pass the extension act and that extended the deadline wide support from industry and government we were hopeful this would help the railroads meet their milestones but today i look forward to getting an update on the status with that ptc implementation learning the other major challenges that still remain for the railroads. Congress extended the deadline we were informed of that process with those complex set of challenges the Biggest Issue those that publish those models with those other obstacles with the integration of field testing and the development of technology and issues with suppliers radio interference and interoperability issues so i look forward to hearing from our colleagues today and those who represent government and industry to give us a view of what is happening out there and with that i yield back. Now i recognize the Ranking Member for an opening statement. So now go back 2005 diverted onto the adjacent track at a textile manufacturing plant nine People Killed 500 people injured and in 5400 evacuated this was preventable with ptc this Committee Held a hearing on this crash in 2007 just prior just prior to passing a pie bipartisan bill to mandate ptc implementation this is very similar to what you just heard in South Carolina the switch was left in the long position trained diverted into the wrong track and again signals indicating the switch was open but again totally preventable with ptc. So was the amtrak accident in dupont washington. We had ptc on the train and on the track but not operable i have introduced legislation to say that no new section of track can be utilized by amtrak until the ptc is operable. That is afterthefact unfortunately. But that again is totally preventable. For 50 years now half a century ntsb has issued one recommendation after another to require ptc 50 years and 153 accidents that are preventable that resulted in 301 fatalities but yet we are not there yet the last time we held a hearing was 2015 and we have a dialogue going back from 2008 but we are not fully implement it. I hear a lot about the complexity think of the cost of the lives that have been lost and could be lost in the near future because of the lack of ptc. A number of class one and other freight and Commuter Railroads embrace ptc early on and have made progress and i congratulate those who will make the deadline and others are close and some are not very far along some Commuter Railroads in fact new jersey has not even started but they wont qualify under any condition even with the most lax administrator in history to meet the minimum requirements to get an extension beyond 2018. Some are inquiring as to whether or not Congress Might extend the deadline beyond 2020 so we will kill more people because youre not doing your job . No. We will not extend ptc again if i have anything to say about it. Yes it is complicated but again 50 years ago when it was first recommended then we landed a man on the moon, look at where we are now with technology but yet we dont have ptc. I have recommended to the administration they include Grant Funding to help some of those Commuter Railroads and others who are nonprofits having problems meeting these deadlines of course there has not been any allocations or action. I dont know how we can get budget out of the administration where it cuts funding for oversight and enforcement by 50 . 50 cut and already that is going nowhere in the United States congress or the omnibus negotiations Safety Operations cut by 30 37 on track inspection it doesnt seem this administration is serious about safety despite the lives lost recently i hope this committee can refocus the urgency of this matter and the administration and hopefully we will see for implementation by 2018 i yield back the balance of my time. Are now welcome the first panel the distinguished colleagues from the state of washington please proceed with your statement i ask in animus consent the full statement is included in the record after receiving testimony from the first panel we will proceed to the second panel for testimony without objection so ordered. Thank you mr. Chairman for holding this hearing today and your assistance in the wake of this tragedy striking in my district on the morning of december 18 a quiet monday morning when amtrak derailed approaching the bridge and dupont washington locomotive and passenger cars were sent down onto the interstate at 80 Miles Per Hour into the path of motorist going about their morning commute. Three people were killed. Three passengers on the train jim, zach and mitch. Jim and back for my constituents also fierce advocates, that is why they were on the train which was the inaugural service on the new bypass as a retired Civil Engineer while zach worked for transit now as a board member of the Rail Passenger association jim actually visited me in washington d. C. At my office to advocate for expanding Passenger Train Service the entire south puget sound continues to mourn the loss of these individuals but they were not the only victims. Seventy passengers and motorist were injured and by the way including a delightful young woman named mattie who happens to be the niece of one of my staff members. Only thanks to those aerobic workout First Responders and bystanders and doctors the injured are with us today and i want to commend the active Duty Service Members and civilians that the nearby base who rushed to help and we are here today because we know this tragedy could have been avoided if positive train control was active. The ntsb has recommended railroads install ptc over 50 years and i am glad we have the chairman with us today and think you for your assistance but despite these warnings there has been an absolute failure to heed them and it is a collective failure on the part of phil federal Railroad Administration and congress that has failed to find ptc implementation and enforce deadlines. There are no excuses to be made. Dm track crash was preventable as were over 150 other rail accidents that were investigate investigated. Thats why support legislation from Ranking Members to provide the funding railroads across the country need to complete ptc on the routes i net on monday with a head of the Washington State department of transportation and i was glad to hear the amtrak route is on schedule to have ptc implementation by the current deadline of december 2018 and the same goes for the Freight Railroads but that isnt the case for many across the country. Thats why most importantly the bill and to pass this legislation would pass a clear message to have this conversation again no delays or excuses and with Benjamin Graham to ask this committee and congress to act to prevent a crash from ever happening in this country again. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you and Ranking Member for holding this hearing and providing me to testify. I have taken the bed i back from washington and do d. C. I got a call from a member of my team when the cascade express had derailed from the overpass over interstate five at one of the busiest sections of the state at rush hour. The worstcase scenario with footage news helicopters was harrowing people were stopping on the highway jumping into train cars to offer their help and i immediately thought of my family who works for the state of washington and regularly goes to bf. Was she safe . Was she on the highway days earlier i cut the ribbon into, to serve the train on this route and it felt like a bad dream so many families had that same dream too many of loved ones who were hurt three families never saw their sons again and their lives could have been saved by positive train control i went to the site you still see the marks in the track and the fingerprints of the train cars traveling way too fast hitting the metal as they left the track ntsb said positive train control could have prevented this and in 2018 no american should die in a preventable train accident december 31 to pass the deadline with a lifesaving technology the country has 319 days as the committee knows working since 2008 and railroads have shown it is possible to meet the deadline. One of the largest billet operators has installed ptc on all 11570 miles of the track they are responsible for and operable on all law locomotives to show with the right investments this can be done. But the country will not get there if this body does not take that seriously so thank you for taking up the request to hold this hearing and also for their leadership on the bill to provide 2. 5 billion 5 billion of grants to help the railroads put ptc on the tracks. I hope the committee will act soon. That is just one part of the solution also the federal Rail Administration to step up to make sure they are making progress but i have serious concerns of their capacity to do so given the recent resignation of their administrator. We wrote a letter last time asking for an update on the status of ptc nationwide and the steps he would take to make sure they are all on track and we are still waiting for that response so i hope todays hearing will provide those answers because of that conversation doesnt happen i am afraid this will get done if americans deserve to know the trains they are taking to work are safe and then to work with each other to make this happen so thank you for starting that work today. Thank you for your testimony your comments have been helpful and thoughtprovoking and thank you mr. Heck in particular to recount the issues of those lives that were lost on that tragic day. We welcome the second panel. Mr. Chairman can i have unanimous consent to speak out of order . I have had a tough week as you know from looking at me and now we do finally have an individual with experience i welcome him there he has a tough job ahead of him but i hope the committee as soon as he can get settled in that we can discuss this along with other issues. Now we welcome the second panel of witnesses chairman of the ntsb and the chief counsel of the federal Railroad Administration and Richard Anderson, c eo amtrak and president and chief executive officer American Association of railroads and president chief executive officer and Vice President from the brotherhood of local motive engineers asking animus consent the full statement is included in the record since written testimony is a part of the record we request you limit oral testimony to five minutes giving us more time for questions. You may proceed. Good morning mr. Chairman and Ranking Member and members of the subcommittee thank you for having us. Since the enactment of the rail Safety Improvement act of 2008 the ntsb has completed investigations of 22 accidents that could have been prevented by ptc and together they have resulted in 23 deaths, 300 injuries 126 million of property damage. Of course we are currently investigating two additional actions that could have been prevented by ptc two months ago december 18 amtrak train 501 derailed onto interstate i 5 near dupont washington traveling 70 miles an hour around a curve where the speed limit was 30 miles an hour the investigation is ongoing however this is precisely the type of accident that ptc is intended to prevent. If operational it would have detected the overspeed and had taken action to stop the train before the accident. Most recently early last week a southbound amtrak train unexpectedly entered in South Carolina collided with a Freight Train investigators found the track switch was locked in a position to divert the southbound train investigation will focus on why it was locked rather than intended a fully operational ptc system is designed to prevent action when switches are left in the wrong position and at the time of the accident train signals that govern movement were out of service due to signal upgrades in this morning the ntsb issued the emergency safety recommendation and we are calling for the fra to issue an Emergency Alert to put in place procedures to mitigate hazards when trains are operating during signal suspension and i will be happy to discuss this further with questions. A decade ago Congress Called for ptc to be installed by the end of 2015 but the railroads indicate they could not meet that deadline so congress extended the deadline for the end of this year. Now data provided by railroads indicate many of the nations railroad will not meet that deadline for fully operational ptc resulting in two years of additional delays. For nearly half a century ntsb has investigated numerous collisions and derailments caused by human failures and these accidents could have been prevented by ptc. Therefore the ntsb is extremely concerned about any further delays to this lifesaving technology. Quite simply for each day that passes we are at continued risk for preventable ptc accidents. So from a safety perspective from the ntsb and a safety perspective, that risk is unacceptable. Thank you for your time i will be glad to answer questions. Thank you. You may proceed. Chairman and Ranking Member and members of the subcommittee things for inviting me to discuss the federal Railroad Administration positive train control in light of the recent accident much of the nations time and attention is ensuring all critical Safety Measures are in place with our rail system as a top priority under the leadership the fra to develop the safety regulations to conduct research and development but ptc is an advanced Safety System to prevent certain types of accidents for example preventing a train from passing a stopped or the improper line switching currently 41 railroads ptc system is implemented on allowing railroads t they route miles subject to the mandate and throughout a timely recruiting the. The class road where no one has made tremendous progress. The vast majority of installations was complete. 70 of locomotives were equipped equipped. 93 of interface units were installed. 97 of radio towers installed, 87 of required employee training, done. Furthermore at the end of 2017 the class 1 railroad sardi had an operation more than 30,000 miles, 56 of the required ptc network. The law clearly states by the end of 2018 each class 1 railroad is required to complete the installation of all wayside locomotive hardware required for ptc. Each one class of one railroad is required to implement 51 of his route miles or territories and they must be all must meet or exceed the statutory requirement that is a dimension not only do you have to install it yet to make sure that it works great ptc involvement has been an immensely complex undertaking from day one pill railroads are focused on developing and Testing Technology that would meet the requirements especially nationwide interoperability. From developing the special software and hardware to rigorous and repeated testing ts the only way to ensure the system works as intended. In addition to initial testing g the simulated load Laboratory Requirement they must be exposed to daytoday operations to verify each individual part of the system as a whole will function properly. Is this subcommittee operate in a laboratory. We operate in various climates and weather conditions outside across the country. When there is a failure of even a single ptc component trains are not able to work and tell that they are alert is correct. The situation roads are facing is ptc is rolled out to the row roads are working hard to limit impacts on their customers but this unfortunately will be a fact of life particularly until the system fully matures. Additionally it is common for one railroad locomotives operate on another Railroad Tracks and ptc systems must be fully interoperable across all the nations railroads including passenger and freight. This adds another layer of complexity and ensuring this interoperability is no easy task and all railroads will continue to involve challenges that will inevitably arrive in which congress anticipated and provided for in its 2015 law. In light of the slots critical for fra to apply its regulations not updated since the passage of the 2015 law to adjust for the fact that different row roads will need full of presentation at different times. After all the intent of the adopted provision was to encourage each railroad to achieve full implementation as soon as practicable. So what can we expect in the future to complete the job . By the end of 2018 each class 1 railroad will have completed ptc installation. 100 of backoffice and locomotive hardware installed 100 of required training complete. When it comes to operations approximately 80 for over 40,000 miles 80 of all required Network Monitor miles will be in operation by the end of this year. While several class 1 railroad plants will be fully implemented by the end of 2018 all class 1 railroads will be 100 implemented no later than 2020. The bottom line is each day the ptc foot print is expanding meaning each day the risks are being reduced on the nations rail network and i look forward to answering any questions. Thank you mr. Hamberger. Thank you mr. Tramon and members of the committee for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today. My name is Richard Anderson i started on january 1 at amtrak as president and ceo following my tenure as coceo since last july under wetmore. Previously i served over 17 years as the ceo of delta airlines, the ceo of Northwest Airlines and the chief operating officer of Northwest Airlines. Previously i also served as the president of commercial businesses Unitedhealth Group and i would note i started as a felony prosecutor in houston texas. After 45 days on the job is the only amtrak ceo without it background with rail i have a perspective. While many may have doubted in 71 as i look at the history of amtrak there would be a growing business and Passenger Rail today it is and as congestion grows in major metropolitan areas in a generation millennials prefer a ridesharing to car ownership Amtrak Services and our infrastructure support hundreds of millions of rail transportation trips a year. But its clear that during our 47 year history we have under invested in rail especially in aspects of the Safety Systems of Passenger Rail at amtrak has operated essentially carrying passengers rather than a worldclass Passenger Transportation company. Our freight partners have done an incredibly good job significantly improving safety across all the class 1 railroads and records show that. Mr. Anderson can you speak more directly into the mic . Sure. That helps. Repeat the part about the freight roads. Passenger rail must adhere to a much higher standard because our trains will carry over 300 human angst so we have to as an industry for Passenger Rail establish a much higher level of care and standard of care. With Passenger Rail now a significant component of the Transportation System we must increase our level of sophistication and we have begun this process on amtrak and we are going to bring the Safety Culture and the Safety Operations of aviation to passenger a in america. The recent incidents 501 in dupont virginia trained 91 in kc have conclusively demonstrated that prescient need for an sms system at amtrak. Toward that end we hired a new executive Vice President and chief safety the officer kim highlander reporting to me. He implemented airlines to implement our sms program as recommended by chairman sumwalt in an ntsb report. That is a proactive Management System that has been the foundation of the tremendous safety progress and aviation. This is a we have to take their experience and data tools and capabilities from aviation and apply them to Passenger Railroad. Additionally amtrak continues to work on implementing many new specific Safety Measures which i cover in written testimony, the most important ptc. These two start we believe ptc should ultimately be in place for all amtrak routes and as a matter of u. S. Policy ptcs should be required for all Passenger Rail trips in america. Without ptc the system is too formal for a two single points of failure many of which are dependent upon the memory of a single human being interacting with a big complicated system. Crews must memorize routes, signals, landmarks and other in tissue of the external world when i qualify on a route. When an engineer loses Situational Awareness or forgets a rule we have no systems to assist them and help them prevent that error. We both thought the systems and aviation. We havent no common Passenger Rail soap ptc is the fundamental doping block. Amtrak has long been a leader in ptc. We installed it is installed in nearly all of the northeast corridor today the Busiest Railway in america. We are set to complete ptc installation on the tracks and equipment we own or control by december 31, 2018 the federal deadline. We have great cooperation with our partners and partner Host Railroads especially for class 1 reference. For those areas of her network where we rely on others we have to mostly cooperate with them because the Host Railroad amtrak and the manufactures of the equipment all have to cooperate to get the systems installed, tested and working properly. Its an enormous and complicated undertaking for the industry of suppliers that we all share a sense of urgency. Having said that its now clear that Amtrak Congress and the various railroads are likely to confront scenarios where ptc is not yet operational. First many routes outside the where the Host Railroad will apply for an alternative ptc implementation schedule. Amtrak that question raises for us whether even if that alternative is approved whether we will need to operate. Second, there are Host Railroad to the parent might do to achieve sufficient progress to apply the alternative ptc implementation schedule and for those segments of amtrak will suspend operations. Third, a small portion of services operated on routes that have received at right mainline solutions which exempt them from a ptc requirement we are newly reviewing underwear sms program our policies regarding these exclusions and for those instances where we will not have ptc even after the 1231 deadline because its not required by statute we have a question about whether we are going to operated at all and i doubt we will. Lastly there may be railroads that operate over her ptc tracks which may not have sufficient ptc commission Rolling Stock to operate normal services by the end of the year. Under the present rules we cannot permit noncompliant equipped amount of railroad and we are working with these railroads and the fra to determine the path for. Fortunately rob victorias, chairman of the fra and the administrator of the fra and he is doing a good job leading an effort to coordinate the work of half of all the reverence in america to get the impediments out of the way so we get as much done as we can. Taken together i believe historic strides are being made and everybody is working as hard as they can. I have great confidence in amtraks work worse. There are a lot of hardworking people at amtrak to what to do right and i see across our company to desire to become the safest Passenger Railroad operation in the world. We owe our customers nothing less. Thank you. Thank you mr. Anderson. Mr. Skoutelas you may proceed. Members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am ceo of the American Public Transportation System could have submitted a detailed written statement but what to highlight a few key points are the bitter want to reiterate after an unequivocal commitment to safety including positive train control installation the safety is the number one priority. As a former agency ceo i know but safety is more than operating principle in the promise to our writers. Its a core value of every Public Transportation professional. We are an industry recognized Standard Development organization but we created the Audit Program in 1989 was all Commuter Rail agencys Program Plans are based upon. As the association publicly supported the concept of ptc before the rail saved the improvement act of 2008 was enacted. We have brought together a few stakeholders through ptc technical summits user groups and other programming with meetings and conferences. In an effort to tackle the complex complexity. These efforts have helped facilitate the implementation by sharing information and coordinating efforts to solve the issues as they arise to commuter rosewicz have faced and continue to face a variety of complex challenges in installing ptc systems. It was still being developed in 2015 and only after the technology was available we began installing and testing the systems while concurrently providing service to millions of americans. A onesizefitsall approach to implementation does not exist when it comes to ptc installation. This means each Passenger Rail system needs to build its own unique ptc solution which has created challenges and delays. Many Commuter Railroads have done a commendable job overcoming significant hurdles including unique skill professionals and suppliers nationwide. Complex operating environments and that horse tight budgets. So many agencies implementing at the same time the lack of expertise and resources has limited the ability to expedite implementation at each stage of the process. Today the full cost of implementation is estimated to be approximately 4 billion for railroad agencies. This does not take into account future operating and maintenance costs which apparently estimates from 80 million to 130 million annually. Nor does it include the 90 billion in repair backlog facing the public Transportation System today. This is a Staggering Number for publicly under the agencies that rely on federal state and local funding as well as passenger fares to operate their services. Request congress and the administration consider these costs and provide additional funding to the Public Transportation industry is concerned that fra may not have enough highlyskilled staff to respond to the magnitude of documentation required for approval especially as we approach the end of 2018. We urge congress to make sure far as the technical staff of available. We continue its active role in support of ptc installation implementation. Commit to becoming a safer industry everyday. Pursuit of this goal we will continue the Technical User Group meetings and hosting various forms which have proven to be indispensable to the industry through these sessions have brought a focus on Lessons Learned from those who are further along in implementation and work to establish common formats for actions which will facilitate a faster review process by fra. After will continue making ptc implementation a key topic at its major meetings throughout the year. Close by saying that Public Transportation industry relies on public support. A Transit Systems recognize the muster enough support and trust every day. Public transportation generally commuter and Passenger Rail specifically are among the safest modes of transport. Public transportation passengers are generally 40 to 70 times less likely to be in an accident that drivers and passengers in private automobiles. As an industry will contain the sun safety and continue to improve it every day. Apta is grateful for the work the committee is done to enhance our nations roadways and we applaud your efforts. We look forward to continuing to work with you and your staff on the critical ptc issues and other issues facing the Public Transportation agencies. Thank you. Thank you mr. Skoutelas. Mr. Telman. Members of the committee appreciate the opportunity to testify today. As i sit here today i am embarrassed, i am hurt and frustrated and nearly distraught that we are here once again to discuss a major safety issue that was recommended a long, long time ago. I grew up in the Railroad Industry and i truly am anguished when i hear again and again of an accident that could have been prevented by ptc. I was here in 2008 when you passed the rail Safety Improvement act critic testified in front of this committee on behalf of the membership. One of our members parents was here trying to educate congress in hopes that they are 28yearold son would not die in vain on january 6, 2005. He lost his life in an accident very similar to the recent accidents in South Carolina where the antisp said could have been prevented by ptc. You know theres something in this room that we all can agree on without a doubt. Nobody, nobody should ever, ever go to work and not come home. Its our duty in this room from this day forward to make sure to work tirelessly to get this thing done. The ntsb told the industry as far back as 1968 to implement some form of technology accident preventive technology. That was 50 years ago. It took us less than nine years to put a person on the moon and the industry cant get this done done. In fact antisp said in may of 200240 to 60 accidents each year could be prevented by ptc. 40 to 60 each year. The ntsb noted that from 2015 to 1968 ptc could have prevented 145 major accidents that killed 288 people and injured 6574 when the agency first recommended this technology. Official damages have totaled hundreds of millions of dollars not counting the economic and emotional burden borne by the victims and their families. These numbers do not include the recent actions outside of Tacoma Washington that claimed three lives and injured 70 people or South Carolina collision that killed a locomotive engineer michael kemp age 54, one of our members and conductor michael so why age 36, a smart member and injured 116 people. While the ntsb is still investigating these tragedies ptc could have prevented those of these tragedies. Some might say that i am not eating fair because grove roads are going to get this done by 2018 and i sincerely applaud those who do but there are several others that wont get this done by the deadline. Mr. Chairman if im a taken up her tendency to mention a few other safety issues that the industry has not addressed and the number one issue is fatigue. This issue is as old as everybody in this room. The rail Safety Improvement act amended u. S. Code title xlix by section 20156 titled the Railroad Safety Risk Reduction program mandating that the fra require the railroad to develop jointly with labor and updated at least every two years of fatigue Management Plan for safety critical Railroad Employees to reduce the likelihood of accident injuries and fatalities caused by fatigue fatigue. To date this process remains stalled and we need to treat sleep apnea is like the industry is treating a symptom and not the disease. Another issue i would like to mention is the safer oil act which would require freight rail have to separate crews on all Freight Trains Just Like Congress mandated the Airline Industry do. The conductor works to support the engineer and the safety of operating the train observing all train and track conditions, having two federally certified people in the locomotive gap is not a waste of money for an outdated practice even with sophisticated technology. Nothing can currently compare to having a trained human being who can react to and manage potential dangerous situations onboard. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you mr. Tolman but i will begin questioning and we will limit questions to five minutes. I wanted to ask the panel in your view what are the single biggest obstacles we have two implementing this as a technology. Is that money . Is that the timeline that authority been extended perhaps starting with mr. Reyes. The public is definitely perplexed at this question. As i stated in my opening on december 27 sent a letter expressing her concern the implementation of ptc and the urgency that a get done. We met with 41 railroads, 30 commuters, seven class 1 railroads and as well as and track and what we are finding is that the issues are that theres a limited number of suppliers and vendors and class 1 and many of the Commuter Railroad san vendors. There are also issues with liability and the railroads are installing 100 of their equipment as they are doing Revenue Service demonstrations. They are finding it takes a while to work out the problems with the software. That is a problem. There has not been, there have not been many Commuter Railroads where money is really the issue. My agency, fra and the federal Transit Administration have issued about 2. 3 billion in loans and grants for the railroads to implement. It seems to have more to do with technical issues as well as negotiating for the contracts because a lot of the road road started earlier and other railroad start catching up and they are having trouble getting the resources they need to get it done. Mr. Hamberger in addition to those challenges the single biggest challenge is interoperability. We throw that word around but what do i mean by that . Chicago is the biggest example but it occurs wherever more than one railroad is operating. You have one locomotive operating on railroad to track on a server owned by railroad three and each class 1 railroad over the years has developed its own dispatch system to its own i. T. For warm so all of those communications have to occur so that locomotive knows whether or not its exceeding its authority and so its that kind of melding together of all of the various railroad technologies. That is the single biggest challenge. Thats why we are talking about interoperability testing with amtrak. That is beginning i believe in march. The goal being that the railroads and amtrak have worked through that so that by the end of the year hopefully everything has been worked through so amtrak is operating. In the minute i have left, because you are operating on other peoples tracks predominantly the Hudson Valley line that im the most familiar with can you discuss the interoperability issue in terms of how amtrak is trying to relate to this and we saw the metro north accident that we have on the line which you operated. Talk to us about the difficulty of operating on a track that someone else owns. Amtrak must have interoperability with 15 and we operate three different ptc systems depending upon where we are so in michigan we have one system. We operate on a class 1 train. We have two federate with 15 different host servers to make it interoperable. And so its in coordination with all of them and there are pieces of the corridor that you are talking about there are also hosted by metro, north metro. It depends upon who the host is that we have to be able to do so with each one of them. I can tell you in all of the amtrak control pieces of the network we will be ready. D constraint. Be quick. Labtec rothwell collins, Everybody Needs all those vendors to produce software, hardware get it tested and get it ready to be installed quickly quickly. See nick thank you. Mr. Capuano. Please inserted record the statement of she was detained in another meeting. Without objection so ordered. With that im going to reserve my time. Thanks michael. I appreciate it. The ntsb this morning i understand issued an urgent recommendation regarding what actions road road should take during a single suspension. Csx says we had to shut down the signal because we were installing a new system. I question whether that is true and if they are shutting down my understanding is it required that flaggers are other people be out there. Tell me whats going on there. Will congressman defazio thank you very much. Of course we are still looking into all of the options for what could have been put in place with the casey accident but our urgent recommendation we issued this morning to the fra is once suspension is in effect and the switch has been reported to be realized for the main track as was the case we want the first train to go through that switch to operate. That way is in a much reduced speed. It can detect the switch if its not aligning properly before the evening counter it. The normal speed can resume. My question is when one switches over from existing technology to the new technology is it inevitable that theyll technology can no longer function or the signal lights wont function . It this so it seems like we need to have some sort of a rule with whats going to happen there. I would ask you to defer to the railroad experts to be able to determine that. Any ideas on that since we are switching over a lot of systems and a year and a half or a year. We were discussing this this morning and this is something that does make sense we will implement whatever needs to be done. Thanks. There is a Dark Territory which is of concern and in 2008 congress required regulations and development of Safety Technology in our territory such as the switch position monitoring devices as indicators. Makes up a lot of the rail network we made progress. We did issue that recommendation. We close that recommendation, closed to on except election. How come there was no action mr. Reyes . At this point when there are safety issues we believe ptc is helpful in many situations. When you are talking about Dark Territory are you talking about something thats going to to these are the areas where ptc would help. I believe its helpful around many in the situation. If i might john penn positive train control in Dark Territory switch indicators are being installed and will be part. They will show up on the screen. I dont know that we the way it is working but it is signed to achieve what you want to achieve and that is to not give the authority if the switch is in the wrong alignment. If i may speak to that switch boarding indicators could be radioed transmitted to a dispatcher that would tell the train that the switches open and improperly aligned. That could have happened when they took that track out of service. They could have had a switch point indicator there and told them. Is this today . Technology has been studied by bsf railroad since 74 and i believe it is ready willing and able to be implemented. It is being implemented as positive train control. Im over my time but we will need to get into it a little more because this is a major issue particularly for amtrak so thank you very much. The gentleman from texas mr. Weber you are recognized for five minutes. Then i thank you mr. Chairman. So many questions. Let me get to a quick one. Positive train control. Last week there was a collision and the ptc identified be it was coming into the intersection. Is there a thought about that . That is certainly i assume once ptc system is installed i think railroads will be taking a look at additional ptc 2. 0 and what additional things can be done. Safety is something that we will have to look at. It was mentioned earlier and i forget which one said it there are a limited number of suppliers for information for this technology. How do you get to the point where we, and you mentioned different i. T. Platforms. How do you get to the point where you have interoperability where you get the same system. What does that look like . Amtrak has three platforms and there is nothing technologically that prevents the three platforms from interoperability or for us to be able to operate our railroad with three separate ptc platforms. We are going to have to have locomotives that are double equipped so they have the hardware and the locomotive for the Michigan Service and the service that we operate over the class 1 host but we would like for better simplicity but it is what it is. I believe the word federated is what technical folks use to describe the communication between the backlog server and the locomotive between the locomotive in the other railroads so that has to be established basically on a bilateral basis between every Railroad Operating on your track track. The class road road run railroad have to be able to work with access and the amtrak system. If i could just add the Commuter Railroads are a diverse operating environment. For the most part many of them operate with Freight Railroads said that ptc solution has to be one of interoperability as you have heard and in the cases where they are operating alone where there is no free bacon operates with a more simplistic ptc solution but again theres so much diversity and where they operate. It really does take a unique solution for each one. And looking through the percentages most of the other rail lines and i didnt do all the math but you talk about training and the links of tracks and so on and so forth to the percentages were higher for the railroads and amtrak was twothirds and yet you run on most other peoples tracks. Is that right . That is correct. Why the difference . Why are they so far ahead in implementation . In the northeast corridor we are in great shape and we have the ptc in the northeast corridor for a long time. In or out in michigan we have ptc in place. And a number of the other locations its dependent upon the House Railroad is and their progress toward putting in most important and most difficult part of ptc which is all the trackside sensors, antennas and equipment so that the train can signal its position and its speed. I have one minute left. Are there going to be calculations and this is getting into the weeds on two fronts. If you have a train carrying Hazardous Material and people are the reaction times increased for certain levels . Somebody mentioned airlines. They shut it off again theres something wrong wrong with it and they crashed into a mountain. Is there something how much time and does it very for people people . You have gotten into a Technical Area which we call breaking algorithms. As you look at the smartcars it travels faster than 80,000pound truck. Similarly a passenger train can stop a lot faster than a 110 car fully loaded train. It has to be taken into account when calculating wind you have to hit the brakes. Thank you mr. Chairman. The gentleman from missouri you are recognized for five minutes. Thank you mr. Chairman and thank you for holding this hearing. We recently had an accident that could have been prevented or where it would have helped if we had ptc. It was a miracle that only one person died if you have ever been to the station you realize how many people are there. Also sleep that you. If we had tested the engineered by that helps because it was determined that was part of the problem. My question to you administrator reyes nj transit used to be a great Transit System. The last two years it really has lost all of its staff. I was just wondering you met with nj transit and if they given you the fourthquarter report on what they are doing with ptcs . They are required to give us their update annually but they have been doing it quarterly as all the other rare woods have. We have the information submitted before january 31. What i want to know was what progress have we made . I think i know. I know they have made some progress. And with ptc. You can say none. They came and more importantly we met with these railways for two and a half hours in new jersey being one of them. You didnt ask for an extension . They gave us the planet said they be able to make the deadline for all the requirements by december 31. We are going to keep working with them and pushing them whatever we have to do. They have very few loan options but we provided 68 million in a appropriate grants. The fra has not issued a notice of availability for these grants grants. Are you doing that same . Are you referring to the grand . Those are being released today. They are being released today before this meeting. They will be available for ptc funding. We are working to help all the Commuter Rail and get to the deadline. I guess i have a question regarding this technology because im not all that wellversed in technology. You keep telling me there are two or three different types of tech ologies that coordinate this in order to be able to work this. Is there a possibility we have one technology wherever that he has the same technology . Whats stopping us from doing that . Maybe you want to answer that. Congressman one issue is that they are talking about not having enough resources. You know in 1996 i was operating amtrak and the northeast corridor with ptc. That was a few years ago. If was not a fiftyyear window but to me you know there is no reason they shouldnt be done. I dont get it. Congressman i know the accident in hoboken was an extreme tragedy and no accident should ever happen. Sleep apnea was found to be the cause of two recent accidents but you know the number one issue in the Railroad Industry, the issue is fatigue and that encompasses everything around that. We addressed that witherells Safety Improvement act in no way way. We addressed sleep apnea is a whole part of the issue. Its a minor part of the fatigue issue. I am concerned about the public having the confidence to ride safely on the Transit System because its from import in my district to get people off the roads. With all of these accidents do you think the public is losing how can i say their reliance on safety and the Transit System . I think all of us as stated earlier are committed to get a most safety that we can possibly get and as i mentioned a few moments ago the commuter passenger russ system is a safe system. The course when an accident happens its a tragedy and we feel for the victims and we know we need to continue to work towards a safer system could ablate the public necessarily feels that they are not that we need as professionals to provide the best service and safety we possibly can. My time is up. Thank you very much mr. Chairman mr. Chairman. Mr. Mast you are recognized for five minutes. Aq chairman for letting me join your subcommittee today. I thank you all for being here to discuss this very important rail System Agency and positive train control. South florida where i represent palm beach and the Treasure Coast nearly every single crossing we have in our area is the same level as the cars, the walkers and bicyclists. We are very for meyer with freight traffic but we have also had Commuter Rail fare not at a highspeed known as the trirail thats been running there for years. As of this january just recently we also now have the bright light of railroad which is running 72110 Miles Per Hour throughout this stretch. In the bright lines first week of operation alone, the first week, three people were struck. Since it began in january there had been four fatalities since january, numerous nonfatal accidents and there was one more last night which we are still gathering details on so mr. Reyes you are the chief counsel for the federal Railroad Administration Whose Mission is the rail safety movement. Mr. Sumwalt you are the chair of the National Transportation safety board so i would like to know the ntsb and the fra are they aware of this . Speak thank you congressman. This is an issue that we are very concerned about that fra to make sure people that are trust passing at the crossing are aware. Absolutely aware. Mr. Sumwalt you are aware . As we are. Thank you very much. Its a bright line implement ptc rail Safety Measures . Yes they are currently operating on ptc. Could i just check . It might be a different version of what we are talking about. Please do so. Is called the atc system. So they have a system called atc that is testing testing and it e fully implemented when as soon as the testing is finished but is currently on the system. Is there an investigation is way as to why the atc has not been effective . Atc or ptc would not be effective in people are at crossings against the flashing lights. What it does do is train to train collisions, it stops trains veteran over speed situations. If there is a designated area for theres a work crew it would be programmed to slow down or spot stop before that area. However with crossing ptc is not programmed or mandated to address that situation. That type of situation could improve crossings may be moving them further away or new technology that would issue an alert on cars or cell phones but the main thing that is the most helpful anywhere is the awareness and to let people know the dangers of crossing, trespassing on the track. Thank you mr. Reyes. Mr. Anderson. If i could jump in on the current ptc. Strangers in the said quote passenger were no most of a much higher standard that you are the chairman of amtrak. You know about passenger were no no. There was one i mentioned to you you. Does january seem seem like the Higher Standards you and you believe theres more in for safety with each mile per hour that we are going faster . Actually the data which is the number one issue we have with rail safety across america is Great Crossings. We have about 2000 incidents a year in our country and it is probably the single Biggest Issue in terms of the safety of people. They are far more people that are hurt or injured or killed in Great Crossings than anything else in railroads. I would note the fra administers a Program Every year for states and we are investing about 230 million a year in grade crossing Grant Programs through the fra to states and local municipalities to rectify grade crossing to prevent these terrible accidents. Thank you mr. Anderson. Mr. Larson youre recognized for five minutes. Thank you mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman i would like my statement to be put into the record. Without traction. I just want to go back to Washington State. South transit reported the ptc system was on line and operational in the time of the accident. I recognize the investigation is ongoing. Could you elaborate on the latest findings regarding ptc in this particular instance . Congressman larson, thank you. As you point out the investigation is ongoing. We are trying to untangle all of the aspects of that action. There are no current updates available. Thank you. Mr. Reyes the proposed budget will target resources including implementation of ptc however i was wondering how you plan to meet the subject is with half of the federal funding you ever see the previously. The proposed budget does not significantly change our funding for our programs. The budget there was a new look at funding for amtrak and thats where the money is coming from. We have the same staff and we have the same programs and its the number one priority in our agency. Im glad to hear safety is her number one priority but giving the proposal and im just scratching my head about whether youll be able to accomplish that. Mr. Anderson you notified state department of transportation Washington State that your midand longterm operations are underway. How will the administrations proposed budget. We havent done an analysis specifically but to be candid if you take the normal amtrak grant of 1. 4 to 1. 7 million which is authorized under the fast act and cut it by about a billion its tough. We are not going to do anything unsafe. We will just stop operating but the company has the challenge if that happens. You would have a 100 safe he record if you didnt operate at all. Well thats not a very good answer. Isnt a good answer and you are stuck with this proposal that apparently cuts amtrak to fund the fra. I dont want you think we would do anything unsafe as a result of that. The Airline Industry went through bank reps in a lot of things but we never compromised safety. The bottom line is the proposed budget makes amtrak very difficult going forward. We will file a grant request tomorrow and ask for the full fast act funding and congress has been very supportive of amtrak for which we are very appreciative. Mr. Reyes january 10 i joined several members of congress in sending a letter requesting the status of amtraks action plan and we have yet to receive response from the secretary. Do you have the status of the departments review . I would be more than happy to check with my staff to see what the status is of the review. Please allow me time to get back to you. That is fine. Mr. Tolman can you describe the role that your members are playing in the investigation and the 501 tragedy and i just want to hear how you guys played out that role. Thank you. We have the smart track station and if its a signal accident they are involved. We work sidebyside and the have been doing that for over 20 years. Our duty is to try to find out what has happened and how to fix it and prevent it. Mr. Chairman i will be submitting some qfrs as well and i yield back. Thank you mr. Larson. I now recognize myself for five minutes. Mr. Sumwalt first specifically on the end of year deadline to before us but ive heard from railroad across the entire country about the relationship between a host reverend and how they will be treated at the end of the year. In some cases my district for example we have in the valley a strain as well as amtrak on the san joaquin. Both run on the u. P. Line and south train track and in some cases across the entire country you are going to have the host that is fully implemented with ptc but the tenor of railroad or vice versa. In those cases how is fra going to treat those cases, im sorry mr. Reyes. How was fra going to treat those cases at the end of the year when it comes to fines or extensions that may apply a . Thank you for your question. At this point we have met with 41 row roads for the past 45 days as we express instruction from secretary chao. We are working with every row roads that they can use all the lines for the december 31, 2018 deadline and to extend their hardware to employee training as well as Revenue Service demonstrations. We are going to work with them by providing frequent technical assistance. I understand the company line. We all want to have them implemented. This is Great Technology but as we have seen there are some that i put ptc in place very quickly. There are others that havent even started so if they havent even started to this point we are well aware that there are some that will never get there by the end of the year. The question is are we going to penalize the hosts who may be fully implemented for the tenent in one of those cases or vice versa . Depending on who is ready and who is not here do we give extensions to . Congressman anything we can do to push these railroads to comply with the december 31 deadline. We are meeting with them and giving them technical advice. We are doing Everything Possible possible. No one has come in and ask for an extension. And that is the problem. The Ranking Member and i are well aware of some that are far behind or not have started and they havent asked for an extension and nor have they asked for a grant. There will waiting to see the deadline get there. Let me ask you this. When will you have your guidance out . Right now they are submitting their plans. We will be reviewing those plans and if we have comments on them we will issue comments on the plans as they come in. Thank you. And my time is limited on this round but i do want to get one thing out there. Mr. Depos said mr. Capuano added bill h. R. 4766. I agree with the premise of the bill. I agree that the final deadline should be 2018. This has gone on for 10 years now. Got to be very obvious what needs to be done and how all this should be implemented. The question that i have again there are so many different entities out there that either have not filed for an extension, they have not made aware to us where they are at in the timeline and there are a number of row roads that i have reached out to and say what you need. The they help you get to the process and they told us know, we are fine. And we are in a quandary on the Ranking Member spell. I do have concern and questions about the tube went 5 billion in the new grant program. When there is 31 elion dollars available today the last bill we did we allowed loans to be used for ptc which amtrak should have utilized in a greater fashion and others. There are a lot of opportunities out there for Grant Programs that should be utilized and some that have utilized Grant Programs that fail to implement them. There are a number of other questions and i will address them in my closing but i just want to say i agree with the Ranking Member the full committee and the Ranking Member of the subcommittee that the 2018 is a real deadline or one that we have got to address. Safety is first in all of our transportation but there have been way too many accidents as of late and we can do better. I recognize mr. Capuano for five minutes. Wow. If people thought that partisanship was dead. Its not. This is a classic example. The chairman and i have talked many times about this. We are on the same page. Unreasonable people in 2015 which was impossible to 2018 israel. I would tell you theres not a Single Person on this side of the table whos going to sit here and quietly just accept the next accident. The blame will be late to the people not doing their job or they want to publicly thank you and your agency for keeping the fire on this issue because for so many years. I know its not pleasant that i know you dont enjoy it and i know they are the things you want to get to but i want to express our appreciation and ntsb has one of the best agents as we have had. Doing it professionally and consistently is really i think help hole. I do want to specifically talk about interoperability. I get it but i have an iphone. My wife has the samsung. We can still talk to each other. We can see each other if we want to. Interoperability may not be for a person like me who can barely turn this thing on that there plenty of 15yearold kids in this country who can do whatever whatevers needed to get it interoperable. Though im sure its a bump in the road its a small one. Mr. Reyes when it comes to interoperability i appreciate the fact the money youre putting out the two help to do this. At the same time a particular Important Role in requiring certain interoperability. He cant just say do it heres the money go ahead. Somebody has to be responsible to make sure one system talks another my hope is that fra is that agency. Im hoping that is your role. We oversee the row roads and one of the requirements is interoperability. Ptc system must be completely interoperable between the row roads in order to have a safe system. Safety plans are a requirement and we are pushing the row roads to not only have the system up but to have complete interoperability. I appreciate that. Knew the answer but i appreciate that very much. I would like to ask mr. Anderson and mr. Skoutelas simple question. Your testimony was clear but i want to draw a line. Everybody here knows this but ptc is a technology that requires hardware and software both on the track and in the railcars so you cant have one without the other and trains operate on somebody elses track track. Solve done in the average person may not know that. Maybe they think the government owns the track. I am a recovering lawyer practicing politics. I dont know which is worse that somebody else can decide that. After a recovering attorney wanted things to worry about with my clients was liability. My clients at done something wrong they have done the right thing they were not liable for any actions that might happen. In the very near future there will be situations when lets take a stretch of track has perfectly good working ptc at somebody else using it does not have ptc on their engines or vice versa and all three of your groups and agencies have that situation. And if you run exclusively on their on track. Im hoping and wondering have you spoken to your attorneys or your insurers as to what will happen come january of next year if you have done what you are supposed to do on your tracks and somebody else wants to run a train that has not done that . We will start with you mr. Hamberger. Not surprisingly the chairman and the Ranking Member have put their finger on what is in fact the biggest policy issue surrounding as opposed to the technical issue of interoperability. One of the things that i was pleased to see mr. Ray is testimony on page five he talked about having all of the options on the table when it comes to how to implement the 2015 acts which was designed. I know you are trying to give me a complete answer. Will you allow other people to use your track of you have done your job and they have not . The answer is somewhat buried in the question of what the fra is going to say in response to the chairmans question what will the guidance be coming out of fra if our members feel they can continue. Ptc isnt there its still a safe operation. The question then is from my legal liability standpoint the policy question is can you shut down commerce . I dont mean to be disrespect of but its not a policy question. As an attorney i would say you are to stick your neck out. If you dont listen to your attorney may be better listen to your insurers rated. The discussion is ongoing, yes sir. Its going to be difficult for us to allow anyone to operate on the railroad without ptc. Fra guidance to various entities that will Work Together in as far as exchanging information i would hope there would be continuing dialogue so it the proper guidance can be issued. What training and professionalism are important, you have to have failsafe systems. We learned that in aviation. When you leave it to a Single Person to remember everything about a route the matter how wellqualified you will have human air. We are standing up to dad amtrak. I making whatever investments are necessary and standards, training, we need to move to full simulation instead of trimming people in the railroad. And basically operate the way an airline operates with a standardized Quality Assurance training. A lot of progress has been made, a lot of investment has been made in training is the right resources on board. We obviously are you and our customers a much better result. Another question, need to understand the legal impact of an accident similar to the one which recently occurred in terms of liability. I read an ap article recently that you might be aware of. The previous amtrak executive was talking about nofault contracts. You enter into a contract and the article is that theres alternate liability comes back to amtrak which is a publicly financed railroad. The premises it does not potentially provide all quote, not passing judgment on same Freight Railroads dont have an iron in the fire when it comes to make the safety necessary. So who is liable . Amtrak is both a host in itself for the quarter and also operates on Host Railroads. Theres been a long and timehonored practice in the Railroad Industry, every railroad operates on someone elses railroad at some point in the course of the journey. There has to be responsibility. That apportionment is the user of the railroad identifies the host. When amtrak has users on the quarter we operate on other hosts think its been that way for a hundred years. For the taxpayers standpoint we carry general Indemnity Insurance and have a 20 million deductible. The rest is covered via plenty of insurance and then a statutory cap on damages. Can you specifically address the South Carolina incident or at least quote from amtrak it was the fault of a switch that had been improperly who would be liable in a case like that . I need to check and get back to. Essentially we would be responsible for everyone on the train so we are responsible for all of the amtrak related train passengers and employees in the Host Railroad is responsible for theirs. I have to defer to bob. I am out of time. Could you provide additional written information. Sure. Thank you chairman. Thank you for holding the hearings. Im glad to be back on the subcommittee back on this important issue. My district is home to major Freight Railroad union pacific, longdistance radio on the busiest quarter. In many instances they operate on the same track. Its 100 ptc implemented and i hope there freight partners will do this by the deadline. My first question, what is the status of the implementation. Its great to have you back. There operating today under ptt. Union pacific is testing with union link there able to move to ptc operation hopefully before that. We have to have that completed. As for amtrak, i dont know where they are. Amtrak will be in compliance by year end. We provide the tnd cruise. The next question for mr. Anderson, what is the status of the implementation of ptc that you operate on southern california. We have fallen fermentation if not, what is the schedule for implementation. We will be fully implemented by the deadline. Mr. Anderson you have said that you will not alone. Then you right away. Concern is amtrak will not be in compliance, how are you addressing this concern . You said you will not allow a non ptc trained to operate on your right away. The concern is it will not be in compliance. The plan is the same as earlier, we will be in compliance by the deadline. A question for mr. Tillman. I have a concern with the long train. In the ability of the trains to stop effectively. Will this affect long trains in any way . To consider that continues to increase. The longer the train the more difficult it is to control, god forbid as the public crossings in their thousands every year theres three deaths every day in the United States, that comes into play, if its involved in a collision with an automobile it will delay anybody who wants to get through we have express this in the fras as concerned as we are its a major issue we need to address before something seriously goes wrong. And the issue of the length of the train and safety. We do not have a position on the length of trains. We investigate actions if we find it results from one of our actions we will address it. Were concerned about this issue, we are watching it. Its not an issue that directly relates to ptc. Would you advise this committee of any of the findin findings. If i may, there is no regulation currently on the length of the train and there needs to be the main jump in here, there are no data on the relationship between safety and length of train. That goes back to the issue of a breaking algorithm. That takes into account whether its a short passenger train or longer Freight Train. Theres no impact on the ability for that to stop. I would like them to get the facts go there are not three deaths in day, there are 300 deaths per year which is too many unfortunately we have trespassers but is people who are cutting across to get to their favorite fishing hole or not the Great Crossing centers studies with the association indicate 40 to make 50 of those are suicide it is a combination of not just Great Crossings but Great Crossings. Thank you. Votes have been called if there are members that have questions or comments for the record we would recognize those. I know votes have been called there is an article published last november and the wall street journal title surveillance cameras by china are hanging all over the United States. I asked for consent to enter this into the record. I like to respond to that. Unfamiliar with cyber security. If you read this article is quite chilly. We do have the standards and will be happy to respond mr. Maloney you are recognized i appreciate the reference you mean about the Commuter Rail safety act which means 30 billion of it is available so my question, did you say new Jersey Transit will meet the deadline. Weve met with all of them in the country they believe they can meet the deadline. The deadline that is required. Have asked size sending Improvement Fund financing for this implementation . I believe they have applied and obtained funds have some other railroads. Was the status of it. They did access the red financing,. Mta obtained 967 million theyre working diligently in the cayman sometimes we have two in three a day. Is february 2018. Right now they presented their plan and will be able to make the deadline. To believe that plan. We will push them to meet the deadlines. All the railroads that have come in to meet with us have told us the looking to meet the deadline. Next time you have a meeting you should mention the name to me level. Is a guy who got killed on december 1 of 2013. He got on the train, i know that because his wife worked for me for years. His kids, jack, hudson commented go to school with my kids. He doesnt come home anymore because that accident happened that day. That was four and half years ago the word ten years into this and provided this financing. We take this seriously. 300 deaths in last few decades. 6800 injuries. Sir job to make sure these bureaus with these deadlines. So were watching this closely but you understand why were impatient. That was a shot to say were serious and we want them and were going to push them to get it implemented. Thats why they should a letter saying were serious about it and it needs to happen. To tell them this is something that needs to happen now. Particularly in the conversation the second do anything about the crossing accident if theres an object in the train. I went to a horrific accident a few days ago. Is there something why we dont use this technology . Its a free app the cameras are inexpensive why would we not have simple Digital Camera Technology may be linked motion detection which you can put in your home for hundred bucks a ring a doorbell. While it we give operators a chance to operate their own videos. Does anybody talk about that . I have not heard that discussion at all. The typical is to try to divert that damage but im not familiar with that. There are a number of other questions on both sides of the aisle. Theres a great deal of frustration everything that thing is more concerning ms. What were implementing. If you have a timeline, we want to see that timeline. If you have questions or concerns or impediments we want to know what those are. If you need to receive funding, maybe you should request funding. Certainly it during a congressional mandate again. Im not going to hold you accountable for your predecessors, but i will tell you, when i visited of philadelphia there is a promise that your would be a hundred implemented on the northeast corridor. Several committed to that. The previous two ceos committed in 2015 would be implemented. Today, it is still not 100 compliant. I like a timeline not only for amtrak on the National Level but on the northeast corridor secondly, im in my met on the bill. At least on the implementation piece of this. I have concerns on the grants because we have so much grant money available now that has not been requested. Massachusetts is Transportation Authority has received 400 million specifically for this. Illinois dot 234. New york metro 973 million. Both for ptc. I think the American Public is tired of excuses. An Amazing Technology that will continue to improve the safety of our rails across the country. We expect better communication on what the needs are before we come up against another deadline. Our hearing focus on the implementation a positive train control. Its an important issue area and lifesaving technology and we understand it is complex. We want it done quickly and by this deadline we also want to get it done right. Safety in the Rail Industry is top of mind with the recent accidents we just saw. In addition to my district we saw 32 card to derailment in houston california. I go the condolences not only this year but over the last several years. There have been too many deaths in ptc could have prevented a number of them. It will not solve all of our challenges but it lose our Industry Forward to the next level. Before closing do you have any closing statements. I did but you express them all appropriately. Thank you. I asked consent the record of the hearing remains open such time eyewitnesses have provided answers to questions in writing. This remains open for 15 days for comments for witnesses to be included. I would think our witnesses for the testimony and if no members have anything else to submit we stand adjourned. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] laura joins us, shes a congressional reporter for bloomberg news. The senate has been working on immigration this week. What is the status now . We saw for immigration proposals, they cannot get enough support to become the basis of an amendment that may have produced a bill. It is essentially the collapse of something