Expected to hear from rail representatives to prevent train accidents. Good afternoon. Today the committee gathers for a hearing to examine the next steps in positive train control implementation. Im glad to convene this hearing on this important issue with my friend and colleague Ranking Member senator cantwell. I want to thank our panel of witnesses for appearing. Mr. Ron batori, administrator of the railroad administration, susan, director of infrastructure, u. S. Government accountability office. Bob, Vice President of Strategic Development web tech corporation. Chris matthews assistant Vice President of Network Control systems. And jim, chief executive officer and executive director of metro. Todays hearing will evaluate progress, implementation of positive train control, ptc and examine the potential challenges in meeting the final implementation deadline of december 31st, 2020. As recent Committee Hearings have highlighted ptc is an Important Technology which has the ability to prevent accidents including over speed derailments such as the tragic derailment in dupont, washington, in 2017. As well as preventing train to train collisions. Ptc enforcement, an act passed by congress and signed into law under president obama in october 2015 required railroads to implement ptc by october 31st. It allowed the railroad to apply for an extension of up to 24 months. If and only if that railroad met important milestones. Under secretary chao and the administrator batoris leadership this has been faithfully implemented as of december 31st, 2018, all railroads either submit documentation to show they met the requirements for system activation or qualified for an extension for up to two additional years. As we will hear today many railroads received such extension. Since that december 2018 deadline railroads have continued to make progress on ptc implementation. This hearing provides an opportunity for updates on the current status of ptc implementation. Across the network and the gains that have been made since the end of last year. Witnesses should discuss how freight and Passenger Railroads are itch lmtimplementing ptc an describe the remaining work needed. They must be able to operate seamlessly across tracks owned by different railroads. Achieving interupper ability requires coordination across the Rail Industry including between the federal railroad administration, unit railroads, vendor suppliers and other stakeholders. This undertaking is particularly complex in regions of this country where multiple railroads interact. I hope witnesses will provide an update on interoperability testing and any successes or challenges identified through such testing. I also invite our expert witnesses to discuss any suggestions they may have for further facilitating interoperability throughout the network. With the final deadline for implementation less than a year and half away todays hearing will help this committee focus on any other issues that may require additional attention. For instance, at past ptc hearings we heard about challenges related to vendors and software as well as railroads in the early stages of field testing. So i invite our witnesses on the availability of vendors to support ptc installation and provide testing and services. Witnesses might also identify any other challenges to full implementation as the final deadline approach said. I look forward to a robust discussion of the progress of ptc implementation. I thank all of our witnesses for appearing today. And before as we recognize senator for a special introduction ill recognize our Ranking Member senator cantwell. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you for holding this important hearing on the next steps of positive train control implementation. I look forward to hearing your perspectives how railroads will meet that deadline of 2020 to fully implement ptc. The importance of this lifesaving technology was made abundantly clear in my state of washington when the 501 derailed near dupont washington, and fell on the highway. The National Transportation safety board investigation found ptc would have prevented this tragedy. But sadly this is one of many ptc preventable tragedies. In fact since the safety board first recommended positive train control implementation ptc could have prevented over 150 different crashes and many fatalities and injuries. So im pleased chairman wicker shares my commitment to making sure 2020 is a full ptc implementation deadline and this Committee Takes its oversight role seriously when it comes to positive train control. Its unacceptable in the year 2019 we still have not fully implemented even when its been fully implemented in the Train Railroad association, there will still be miles of track that would not be part of ptc. They will be exempted including over 1,400 miles of track including amtric. Both expressed concerns during this Previous Committee hearing last month, and we followed up that hearing to seek more information about the Safety Measures that should be in place where ptc is not operational. This includes speed action plans and ptc equivalent technology. I want to thank the sfrter for the response and for your commitment to ensuring safety everywhere amtrak operates. This will help prevent another dupont, washington, accident happening again. No technology is a cure all or complete replacement for well trained engineers and conductors who have strong safety cultures at a railroad and for the track maintenance and structurally sound Railroad Cars that are needed. That said, implementing ptc is truly a major step for safety and i know its been a Long Time Coming to get to where we are today. Railroads and especially Commuter Railroad systems have faced many challenges so i look forward to the opportunity to hear from the witnesses about the steps to have ptc fully implemented everywhere and make sure it is required on our National Rail system and look forward to asking specific questions about that implementation and the 1,400 miles of track that wont be covered. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And now i turn to our friend for a special introduction. Thank you, mr. Chairmantouch it is my pleasure to introduce the metro ceo and director who has successfully led our Organization Since 2017. Every weekday metro operates nearly 700 trains that transport nearly 297,000 passengers. Metro provides service to and from Downtown Chicago on 242 stations on 11 lines covering more than 1,200 miles of tracks. Jims extensive experience and Technical Expertise enable him to lead one of the largest and complex Commuter Rail systems while squeezing every drop of value out of the resources metro received. A few months ago jim invited me to tour metro and watch as electricians install and fine tune aboard the spots. Jim explained to me thou how theyre able to stretch every dollar just a little further by doing the wuork inhouse. Metro has spent nearly 250 million on positive train control efforts while receiving less than 50 million in federal granlts or supported effort. Metro expects its ptc implementation to ultimately cost between 350 mill i know and 450 million. Where these costs are a challenge i am confident pemetro customers are getting the most bang for their buck with jim at the helm. Welcome, jim. Thanks for being here today. We stand to hear a lot from you and i thank you mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank you, senator, and we now will proceed to hearing summaries of five minutes or less from each of our witnesses. Well begin with administrator batori. Sir, you are welcome. Good afternoon, all. Chairman wicker, Ranking Member cantwell and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify about one of the highest priorities, railroads full implementation certified in the inoperable ptc systems as soon as possible and by december 31, 2020. Faa commends the industry for its notable progress to date. As of march 31st ptc uzin operation on 83 of the 58,000 miles subject to the statutory mandate. Nevertheless, we will still kpre complete extensive work in the next three months. Notably railroads reported the full implement on their required railroads in 2018. The other four railroads requested an alternative schedule which the statutory mandate required faa to approve if the railroad qualified by law. As of march 5th faa approved all applicable alternative schedules well before the statutory 90day deadline. Fra continues to actively monitor railroads progress including the quarter 2 reports due today. Preliminary reports indicate ptc was in operation on 87 of the required main lines nationwide as of june 2019 including 91 of the Class One Railroads requiring main line. Host Commuter Railroads and 47 of their required miles as of june, a 12 increase next quarter one. Amtrak reports pc is in operation in 99. 8 of its required main lines. In addition six other railroads must implement ptc on their main line that holds Passenger Rail service. It has been operating on its full implemented ptc system since 2018. The other five are conducting field testing. Currently fra is directing its focus on the ptc mandated rail lines that have a high concentration of host and tenant railroads including Commuter Railroads. On july 12th i initiated monthly meetings with executive leadership of amtrak and Commuter Railroads that operate on the northeast corridor excuse me or their own ptc required main line in the northeast. As this committee is aware interoperability remains the primary challenge to railroads full implementation by 2020. Approximately 101 tenant railroads operate on ptc mandated lines. Because they operate on multiple host railroads there are 227 host 10 want relationships where interoperability must be achieved. As of march 31st, 70 of the tenant railroads achieved interoperability and 38 were conducting testing. Since may ive met with 61 of the 71 nonclass one tenant railroads to discuss next steps for interoperability. Fra also hosts four additional collaborations over the next 17 months focusing on best practices to achieve the ultimate statutory deadline. Railroads continue to cite that ptc vendors and suppliers are resource constrained in part due to increased demand as the deadline approaches and with late engagement. After being confirmed as administrator ive networked the ten major vendors and suppliers to start the Critical Role they play. This year ive sent letters that underscore issues that require some suppliers immediate resolution including the recall of the equipment due to manufacturing defects and capacity limitations hindering railroads. Fra continues to engage with vendors and suppliers as they are integral to the railroads ability to meet the deadline. In addition to Technical Assistance dot is awarded 2. 6 billion in grant financing and loan funding representing 18 of the 15 billion costs for li implementation. The industry also splats that Operation Maintenance costs will be substantial with aar citing hundreds of millions of additional dollars per year in maintenance and operation costs. Fra appreciates congress prioritization of safety and the continued funding it provides for ptc. Fra will continue to work with all stakeholders to help ensure railroads fully implement ptc systems quickly and as safely as possible. Fra plans to enforce statutory mandate by enforcing the maximum penalties by congress. Thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on Passenger Railroads implementation and oversight of ptc which is one of the most promising tech logical advances in rail safety in decades. Over the years weve reported on the progress implementing ptc which has been a complex and lengthy process involving almost all major rail lines and every aspect of railroad operations. While railroads were required to implement by last december fra was able to grant egtensions up to 2020 if railroads met specific requirements. While four railroads have fully implemented ptc, the others continue to work through implementation. Railroads progress in terms of installing equipment and testing, but much work particularly with respect to interoperability remains to fully implement ptc. Today i will focus on two main issues, railroads implementation progress and remaining challenges and the approach to meeting the 2020 deadline. Turning to the implementation update, since december many railroads reported making progress on testing and implementation of their own ptc systems. Six railroads reported implementing pks tc on all their territories, however, 11 railroads reported they remained in field testing which is an early stage of testing. Regarding interoperability as of march 11 of the 31 host railroads reported they achieved interoperability. Collectively of the 227 unique host tenant relationships railroads have achieved this for only 17 of the relationships. Turning now to implementation challenges, in response to a questionnaire most vendors reported Software Issues were still a problem. As the 2020 deadline nears less time remains to address these issues and associated delays. And a limited supply of vendors and high demand for services continues to pose problems. More than half of the railroads it was a major challenge includish host and tenant. For example Certain Software functionality still has to be developed, tested and implemented to address reliability issues to cause interoperability issues. In the northeast eight Commuter Railroads, amtrak and most freight are implementing the system on at least a portion of their system and track. In some cases two different ptc systems will be operated concurrently which adds to the difficulty. Workload challenges for the agency persists. Fra will continue to face a substantial workload through 2020, overseeing railroads ptc implementation and reviewing documents including lengthy safety plans. As such it will remain important for fra to prioritize resources based on risk as we recommended last year. The extended 2020 deadline for full ptc implementation is less than 18 months away and the railroad has substantial work to complete and challenges to address before that deadline. Going forward fra also needs to transition into overseeing ptc after the 2020 deadline. Similarly railroads will need to transition implementation to operating and maintaining their ptc systems. Therefore september 2020 represents not only the deadline but also a point which railroads and fra will face a new operational and oversight development. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement and ill be pleased to answer questions either you or members of the committee may have. Well, thank you very much. Good afternoon, chairman wicker, Ranking Member cantwell and all the members of this committee. Thank you for holding this important hearing on next steps for ptc implementation. My name is robert borg, it is a privilege to represent web tech and appear before you today along with two of our earliest ptc partners the nsf and metro. Going back to our ourgens in the core mission for web tech. Supporting our freight and passenger customer railroad commitments to meet the december 31st, 2020 deadline is of foremost priority. At the outset i thought it might be helpful to note that as currently approved by the fra and deployed by the railroads ptc functions as a safety overlay. That is ptc is designed to enforce existing railroad signal ind indications and other operating rules. This means ptc serves as a supplemental insurance measure. Web techs role in ptc builds on our interoperable electronic train Management System which is deployed on freight and Passenger Railroads operating outside the electrified northeast corridor. Web tech is a hardware and Software Provider for onboard and back office segments. Web tech also serves as a ptc system integrator for a number of passenger rrailroads. To enable to meet the rsia requirements web tech mafrered and delivered more than 23,000 onboard systems. Web tech also developed new Customized Software applications for the back office that interfaced to and in some cases replaced existing railroad back office systems. Our focus on enabling our customers to meet the d. C. 31 irs, 2020 deadline is two fold. First peb tech is committed to meeting our requirements for ptc interoperability. Specifically we have released Software Updates that enable increased track file size, and we are working towards another update this fall that will double the onboard capacity to handle trained bulletins. These and other planned software up grades along with even closer stakeholder collaboration are intended to enable our class one customers to continue their plans for completing interoperability and enabling more efficient ptc operations. Second, we are committed to delivering for our Passenger Railroad customers where web tech has a majority and a major System Integration role. Building on our experience across the Railroad System the first Passenger Railroad to complete interoperability testing and receive fraptc certification, we are supporting customer agencies to one, complete ptc service demonstrations, approve fra plans and it three val date host and tenant ptc operability. In summary web tech is dedicated to its commitment. We are teaming closely with our customers to continually improve ptc performance, and we are working directly with our Passenger Rail customers where web tech has a lead integration system role. Looking to the future ptc is an ongoing commitment for all stakeholders and the work and ininvestorment will continue past 2020. New Digital Technologies will enable even greater safety and operational benefits. Web tech looks forward to partnering with ourmers and other stakeholders to advance this vision for the future. Thank you for this invitation to testify and i would be pleased to answer any questions that you have. Thank you, sir. Mr. Matthews. Good afternoon, chairman wicker, Ranking Member cantwell and members of the committee. Ptc is an important component of the overall Risk Reduction program that has resulted in meaningful progress towards our vision of zero accidents and injuries. Safety is the most important thing we do at the railroad. The ongoing risk production efforts provide a robust Capital Investment program, training that reinforces safe operating practices and maintenance of a strong employee safety culture. It also increasingly involves development and deploy lt of new technology. Inintercept has invested near ally 65 billion back into the railroad and plans to invest nearly 3. 5 billion dhz in 2019. Ptc is an important Safety Development and also one of the most significant, costly and complex technologies that the Rail Industry has ever deployed as the Rail Industry deploys ptc and other important tech logical advancements were working closely with the faa will will allow for leveraging our investment. Today the nsf is operating ptc on all 88 subdivisions and 80 of our freight volume. Weve also equipped on nine divisions providing an tilgs 2,000 miles of ptc protection. Were running more than 1,000 trains daily on ptc service and weve traped more than 21,000 employees to maintain and operate ptc trains and equipment. The volume of ptc trains running on our network demonstrates people know how to operate the system. Moving forward the nsf has three major focus areas, ensuring liability, fully ent grating ptc into our train operations and achieving full interoperability. We are closely engaged with our vendors and in particular web tech to refine key components of the system and ensure they have necessary capacity, longevity and reliability to support our apeerations. The nsf is also working on interoperability with our suppliers and on each of the railroads which we need to identify their needs and provide neckical and operational assistance along with services and crew training is needed. Nsf has now achieved operability with ten of the 23 railroads. That includes all Passenger Railroads where they run as well as several short line railroads. Last month we began running ptc trains. Bnsf will be able to fully test interoperability with the completion of ongoing efforts with the remaining Class One Railroads. This is a time and laborintensive process involving weeks and sp in some cases months of testing with railroads. It relies heavily on the reliable flow of accurate information. The amount of data that will ult amtally be transmitted between railroads that commize the system is significant. Were working closely with lab tech to ensure Upcoming Software releases will be able to hold the data required. There is still significant work to do in coming months. A highly reliable system is important not only for the safety benefits it delivers but also essential to efficiently meeting the Transportation Needs of our customers. The bssf will continue to meet the needs of our stakeholders. Thank you, sir. Good afternoon, chairman, Ranking Member cantwell, members of this esteemed committee and especially senator Tammy Duckworth from illinois. Im the director of metro chicago as senator duckworth pointed out. Im a member of access Commuter Rail subcommittee and im chairman of the newly formed Commuter Rail coalition which was formed to bring a distinct voice of Commuter Rail. Im pleased to have this opportunity to speak with you about positive train control, implementation and next steps for both metro and this esteemed body. First id like to provide a little background on commuter Rail Industry and our system. There are 31 active Commuter Rail systems in the United States that deliver over 500 million passenger trips annually and provide the safest transportation for our commuters. We reduce congestion, we reduce emissions and compared to traveling on the highway we give back valuable time to our customers, time in which they can be as productive as they want or catch up. Both activities not possible behind the wheel of an automobile. It also offers customers the ability to access more Affordable Housing as they still will be able to come down to work and be there safe and on time. Commuter railroad are in existence for two basic reasons. Freight railroads in the 1990s and beyond werent able to sustain operations without great losses. And began funding these subsidies. These Commuter Railroads are now known as legacy systems. Cities and states have identified the need in the region and have invested heavily for commuter provided to those cities. Broadly commuters face challenges. Our industry has been working diligently to install ptc but the federal safety mandate has put great strain on our limited dollars for state for good repair and capital project. Further legacy commuter systems like metro face unique capital challenges as we work to maintain and upgrade our aging infrastructure. Since its creation in 1984 metro has grown to be the largest Commuter Railroad in the country based on track miles and the fourth largest based on ridership. Metro has 100 separate lines. Our trains operate over our own infrastructure as well as infrastructure operated by our freight partners. Metros primary goal is to operate nearly 700 trains that run daily throughout our system with approximately 700 additional freight and passenger trains. Simultaneously we will work to sustain our legacy system that includes some capital components dating back well into the 1800s. Approximately half of all trips made from chicago to downtown are in our network. We are pleased to report that since our inception weve been able to maintain a 93 on time performance or better. It is with these realities and mine i provide an update to the committee on ptc implementation status, challenges we face in next steps for congress and industry. In 2018 we met all the statutory requirements for the extension. Interoperability right now is one of our Biggest Challenges not only for metro but the entire rail network in chicago. Even though different railroads have different systems, different operating rules. In chicago alone there are 14 railroads alone working together. While implementing ptc we have run into some unforeseen challenges including setbacks with hardware and software and have forced us to modify our implementation schedule. And limited supply network including Technical Support has further exacerbated these issues for metro. Our suppliers web tech and we share these resources with a majority of railroads in the United States. Since the conversion of our dispatching system last year were on our 31st Software Upgrade in one year. Despite the setbacks metro will meet the deadline. We must have increased timely support from our supplier networkmism this will help us build back in our schedule the loss contingency we originally built into the schedule because of these loss setbacks. There must also be enough Resources Available not only for metro but for the Rail Industry for the nearly 290,000 passengers we get to work on time. However, ptc implementation and the expected cost to maintain puts ptcints tlgz has expected over 400 million originally estimated at 75 million. That is equivalent to 2 naphyears of our federal funding. Original estimates were based on what was known at the time, and as you can see we didnt know enough. An estimate of 15 to 20 million is what our operating costs will be each year. And each Commuter Railroad will have to bear its opraying cost. While were grateful to congress for recognizing the ptc we ask congress to increase the federal fundingfirmula to help support that. Additionally we encourage congress to create the commuter Grant Program that will provide some relief to address most ptc operation or and maintenance costs. I meant to thank you for inviting us to testify. I look forward to answering any questions you may have. I also invite any members of this committee to come out, see, touch and feel ptc in chicago, the most complicated network in the u. S. Thank you. Cant wait. Youre going to mick it on time . Currently right now were scheduled to make it on time, sir. What we need is to have the software be delivered without any bugs and we need those resources at hand on a daily basis. Mr. Batori he said the different ptc systems, how do we get to that place . Thank you, senator wicker for that question. The Class One Railroad community, the leadership that was in place when this became law actually preceding law with the conversation that was going on, they demanded among thelselves standarddizization, and thats why you have a system thats represented across the United States and its a system that is across the United States among all the Class One Railroads. And many of the short lines and regionals they have to have it. It was with the Commuter Railroads that it was solicitation to the fra to agree to alternative systems. I cant speak from fact because i wasnt part of that Decision Making process and knowing in hindsight is 2020, i think it was a leadership error in the commuter agency arena and im available to make more comment later today. But it was an error . My personal opinion, i think they could have done better and brought about standardization. Okay, when he says there are a number of Things Congress will have an opportunity to do, to address the unique needs of Commuter Railroads, consider creating a dedicated funding stream, number of items listed on page four of his testimony, would you like to respond to these suggestions . Well, as far as responding to money amounts that would be not appropriate for me to, if you will, cite money amounts mper s. One thing i would like to say about metro and it was mentioned in senator duckworths remarks and i said that time and time again throughout my career, its not how much money you spend, its how wisely you spend it, and metro is a classic example of that on how wisely they spend their money. When i see the total spectrum of money being spent among different railroads you kind of shake your head and say whats going on here. And a lot of it has to do with the attentiveness of the leadership in the corner office. And, you know, metro is kind of a poster child insofar as being a Commuter Railroad that spends its money wisely. Thats not to say the others dont but i think they do an extremely good job. If you want to respond to the ways congress can help in the near term or longterm. Mr. Chairman, i fully support his position. I believe there should be additional funding. My sper spective is that some of the funding challenges have led us to a compression of the schedule at this point. But notwithstanding there will be an investment for ongoing maintenance of this system. Once we achieve the 2020 deadline there will be an ongoing need for oprational funding to support the maintenance and therefore im fully behind his position of additional federal funding in that area. Are there going to be some disappoints after this next 18 months expires . You know, i think were at a cross roads. Im cautiously optimistic. I think weve heard from some of the panel just on a lot of progress. I think folks are taking this very seriously. With that being said, we only have four that have crossed the finish line. We have 11 that are still in the early stages, and we have some pretty complex hurdles to get through. You know, whether its the limited number of vendors, whether its the Software Issues. You know, the system have different issues. I think you also have the big hurdle of interoperability. Trying to work through that particularly in certain parts of the country. So i think we are at a cross roads. I think, you know, a lot of work has happened but if there continues to be Software Issues, reliability issue, if theres still vendor issues, fra has a lot on its plate. Some of the safety plans are a thousand pages. They are trying to create a template to try to have some standardization but thats not going to work with every ptc system. So how is that going to play out . I think were at a critical juncture. Its six months from now i think well be able to take a closer poll of where things are. Sounds like we might have some disappointments in 20201234. I hope not. Were doing everything we can to keep that from happening. And sent a letter from Lessons Learned from the amtrak 501 derailment in the state of washington and the fra response to my letter, quote, fras investigation of the amtrak 501 accident found that training with assigned crew members did not comply with regulation and was a contributing factor in the cause of the accident and fras enforcement action is ongoing, end quote. So i dont want to talk about the ongoing investigation, but can you explain how a deficient crew member training standard was able to comply with fras existing regulation . And what are you doing to improve those regulations . As far as what transpired that morning and what i learned of it just from my career experience i shook my head in dismay. To think that you would have an inaugural train with an engineer regardless of what level of training he had and proficiency its just unprecedented. We dont do that in the railroad industry. So there was a failure in management that allowed that to happen. On top of that there was a conductor that was trying to get qualified on the territory. So now we have somebody thats not familiar with the territory, an engineer that supposedly qualified on the territory communicating back and forth in the early hours of the morning. And when i saw the video and also the audio, i just shook my head in dismay and said that should never have happened. It was like the perfect storm. Its not representative of this railroad industry. But unfortunately, it was that incident. I mean, your job obviously is the oversight of that culture, so how does this happen and what do we need to address in. Amtrak was not enforcing its Certification Program in that particular instance properly. And we do spot checks and audits, engineer Certification Programs to make sure the carriers are complying, but as said what transpired there that morning was something that should never have happened. So what should we do to update our rules, what should we do to make sure amtrak creates that culture . The rules were there. You can write rules and rules and rules, but it takes people to enforce them. And the people that were responsible for enforcing them what they were supposed to enforce, or if they were cognizant, they were lacking fulfilling their duties. You mean people within amtrak . Yes. Obviously were going to keep going through this. Now we just had this discussion about what may or may not get done by 2020. What do we need to do to make sure the culture addresses this issue . With that there is a Lesson Learned. Richard anderson and his organization was new. They realize that they had an issue and they have done a lot as far as improving the organization, structure and operating department and the culture thats there in as far as adding additional engines, doing more training, both in the field as well as in the simulators. Richard has done an extremely good job in addressing that. So youre confident that adequate safety is in place at amtrak . I feel very comfortable with everything that they have done as a result of that Lesson Learned. And so you think theres adequate safety there now . Safety never sleeps and never ends. Youve got to keep on top of it constantly. It doesnt matter whos at the helm, okay, youve got to stay on top of it. People dont come to work to have an accident. That engineer didnt want that to happen. If you listen to what he said on that audio, okay, its scary. He should never have left. So i get cultures are hard to legislate. You have to create the Safety Standards and you do have to make sure theyre implements. From fras perspective, i want to know if you think youve done everything you can to make sure thats implemented. Yeah. I think the railroads first are the responsible parties. And the men and women that maintain and operate those, its fras responsibility to do a check, double check and make sure everything is going to be fulfilled. I think this is a good news story. As far as headon collisions, which were the most pronounced type of collision that the railroad had, i may have shared earlier there was a total of 68 headon collisions in 1978. In the industry today, one is one too many, but last year we only had one and that was in casey, north carolina, between csx and amtrak. Were definitely going to be keeping the record open. If theres anything else that fra wants to suggest during this time period well look at implementation from the ntsb on this accident. If i can, i would certainly afford your staff more information. I have more to share. Thank you. I believe its senator du duckworth next. Go ahead. Ill take it. First i want to applaud the diligent efforts of passenger, commuter and freight rail operators. As weve discussed on several occasions railroads that are still working to implement ptc have so far sufficiently demonstrated continued progress toward the december 2020 deadline. You will continue to keep us apprised of any changes in that progress, is that correct . Yes. Thank you. As your testimony suggests, metro made the tough choice to make early investments in ptc. I saw that when i came out to visit the yard. Even after ptc is fully implemented metro faces an additional 1520 million in additional annual operating costs. Can you scratch a bit below the surface on some of the areas you highlighted in your testimony to provide operators some relief in the tremendous ptc costs youve incurred . An discretionary grants are d of hard. Weve been actually asking congress to consider a Commuter RailFunding Source in the future as they look at the fast track reauthorization. Any time we can get increased formula funding, this certainly will help. Planning has always been one of our biggest things when we have ebbs and flows within funding. Anything we can do to get sustainable continue yous fucon funding would you want that funding t to be more of a multiyear funding . The longer the funding period, the better for the industry. That helps us with planning. Im troubled to hear about Software Glitches in the supply chain. Could you paint a picture for us about how unforeseen software challenges can impact the ptc rail time for operators. Every time theres a glitch, what happened to you . What ends up happening is we beta test everything in labs. In the labs certain things are able to be smoked out, i would say. Once we get it out on the railroad and we start interoperating with the other trains, we start finding sometimes operational glitches, things that werent found earlier. We have to work with the vendor. Were held handcuffed to the people that actually can write the software. They work on the updates and those updates have to be brought back to us, tested and redeployed out in the field. In a network like chicago where we have having 1400 trains that eventually will work within that tight little area, we are continually always finding new challenges that didnt exist in other arieas in deployment in te country. Are you in contact with others or does that go through the Software People . The Itc Committee has the ability to have only the latest revision of Software Available to everybody. So as they come out with the latest revision, its not just fixing problems maybe on our network, it might be fixing problems in los angeles, seattle or new york as well depending where the operators are at. Its all controlled by that Itc Committee. Theres really only one eventual version of software thats out there. If you find a glitch, do you ever reach out to los angeles or somewhere else and say, hey, are you guys seeing this . So that youre not out there trying to troubleshoot on your own with just the software company. Absolutely. We have a Great Network of people that have been set up through apta and aar. Were in constant communication with our peers. We have the chicago Deployment Group which meets every two weeks and we have constant conversations. Lab tech themselves hold meetings with us so we can be chattering about the latest thing happening and what lessons are learned elsewhere. Ive heard from a number of operators who have concerns about the Software Updates. Can you describe the challenges web tech is facing with Software Updates and how this might affect the ptc testing and interoperab interoperability. The magnitude in chicago is significantly greater than elsewhere. We have had challenges in chicago. I believe that we have turned a corner. Several of the subdivisions within metra are performing well. Weve had our share of challenges, but based on the progress weve made and the interof rablt testing done elsewhere in the country, i have confidence weve overcome the most significant problems. Certainly the Lesson Learned is there cant be enough testing. It also requires a lot of collaboration with the Itc Committees as well as our other railroad customers to make sure that we stay in front of the problems before they cause an on rational impact. I yield back. Railroads have made significant progress toward full implement take of ptc and continued oversight from fra will be critical to overcome challenges particularly those associated with achieving interoperability as we approach the december 2020 deadline. Aside from the 42 railroads subject to the mandate, im interested to hear more about the progress of the dozens of short line railroads implementing ptc as tenants due to contracts with host railroads. Short lines provide a Critical Service in south dakota connecting facilities like Grain Elevators andet ettett etthanol. As far as challenges that theyre faced with is primarily financial. One is the cost of equipping their locomotives. When you realize that the cost is probably 100,000 plus per locomotive, in some of the loco motives that are operating, they purchased for the same amount of money at one time so thats a hard pill to swallow. The second one thats emerging, though, is the amount of insurance that theyre having to take on now as a result of the underwriters reviewing their operation and their requirement to have ptc. Visualize this, a railroad that handles maybe 1015 cars a day and it has to make an investment of 100,000 to have the locomotive pull the 10 or 15 cars a day and find out that its insurance premiums are going up as well. Its hard. Its something that needs to be addressed, okay. Fra naturally is not in position to address it. Its going to have to be through the Short Line Association and its membership. The Industry Needs to recognize this because we are an integrated industry and we Exchange Traffic among all of the regards regaailroads regard size. Could you speak about what youre doing to ensure that short line tenants on your track will achieve full interoperability. Thank you. We take a full approach to helping each of our short line tenants that we work with. Of the several hundred short lines that operate on our system, weve worked with them to understand every move on ptc territory and whether or not we can protect that within alternate means such as restricted speed, close to yard limits or changing interchange points. Weve taken that large list and taken down the 16 short lines that are going to have to equip ptc on our system. Right now five of those are interoperable. We worked closely to help them with training, in some cases back Office Hosting n some cases helping with equipping loco motives or leasing locomotives through us. Its a casebycase basis on each of the short lines. Can you speak to some of the challenges you face with achieving interoperability from an equipment perspective, particularly in areas with high traffic volumes and numerous interchange interchanges. We worked with our Industry Partners and we have implemented Software Changes that address that. We implemented a partial change initially that provided some relief and we do have a Software Release scheduled for september that will fully address it. Our Railroad Partners have agreed that will address it. With respect to resources, it has been a challenge in the industry. Theres a lot of specialized operational knowledge and Software Knowledge that goes into supporting this system. I personally believe that were over the hump with respect to this. But the ongoing maintenance of the system will be a challenge and retaining those people and ensuring that we keep the pipeline with qualified resources that understand the application and have the Technical Skills to maintain the application are very important and were highly focused on that. My times expired. Thank you. Senator blumenthal. Thank you all for being here today. As you may know, ptc has been an abiding issue for me, a challenge that i think our nation must fulfill. Were celebrating 50 years since the day we put a man on the moon. If we cant implement ptc, it is due to a lack of will, not technological knowledge and certainly not resources, because the nation has the resources. I hope none of you disagree with those two basic propositions. The record will note no one is disagreeing. Id like to ask you about a recent report april 18th, 2019, in the connecticut post about hundreds of defective antennae assemblies for metro norths positive train control Safety System which were recalled, quote, threatening further delays in an already delayed project. It refers to 1200 scanner assemblies that allow trains to communicate with a central system recalled over defective par parts. The system evidently was made by siemens. Are you familiar with this issue . Yes, i am. Do you know whether that delay will threaten metro norths compliance with the 2020 deadline . I certainly at this juncture think that theres an opportunity to recover that lost time as a result of that Quality Control issue. But im not here to make a statement of fact that were going to make the finish line. Because of all the territories in the United States, the one that has most of my attention is the eight railroads that represent the northeast corridor. Im going to ask you generally about that corridor. But focusing for the moment on this issue, do you think siemens ought to be debarred . Thats an excellent question. Ill leave that up to the respective commuter agencies. I know what the state of new york has done under chairman foye. Its certainly an alternative that others can look at. At mathis juncture my full concentration is to make sure the system is implemented by the deadline. Would you get back to me at some point in the next week or so with an estimate on whether or not metro north is going to make that most definitely will be with the leadership on monday of next week. When i return from new york, i will reach out to your office. Thank you. Let me ask you about the northeast corridor. Whats your level of confidence that those systems will meet the december 2020 deadline . In respect to the time that we have here and you can get back to me on the record if that will be easier. Basically heres what we have. We have eight railroads on the northeast corridor that operate a network. If any one railroad doesnt operate properly out there and has a functional system, it has a domino effect in so far as the service impact. Theyre both subject to violations and fines plus the risk. Thats why on july 12th we brought that leadership together. We decided to meet once a month. Most of it is going to be in new york face to face. Its strictly the leadership. The technical people need support and leadership. Thats why i decided to amalgamate this group. The risk is that literally the entire northeast corridor could be crippled transportation wise. It has the potential especially in the new york metropolitan area and in your territory going up towards connecticut, it has a domino effect. You want seamless interoperability and you want everybody equipped out there. Given that threat, i would appreciate your coming back to me after the Leadership Meeting as soon as possible to give me an update and obviously not just me but the entire community. Because i think the northeast corridor is not just about any single state or even about that region. It is about the whole country and the economic effect, catastrophic and disastrous economic effect that the failure to meet that deadline could have on our nation as a whole. You have my word. Thank you. Part of the issue with disciplining the vendors as ms. Fleming points out is the limited number of them and the fact that debarring or disqualifying one sounds easier than it is in terms of the effect on meeting those deadlines. Am i correct, ms. Fleming . Yes. I mean, Everyone Needs these guys. You know, from everything from equipment to helping with Software Glitches to helping with interoperability, securitying wireless communications. You know, theyre a limited pool. And at this point these types of slippages affect the railroads ability to move to that next critical stage. But at the same time they have that expertise and its really, i think, critical that everyone kind of do their part in order for us to finish that and to make that 2020 deadline. I dont know what the answer is, but whether its in the midwest or the northeast, there needs to be a very aggressive and proactive intervention by federal authorities. Make sure the deadline is met, which is required by law, but also that the potential market power or monopolistic power of these companies doesnt put your railroads at their unfair mercy and ultimately consumers in the entire country. You know, you raise some important issues about the northeast corridor. I mean, software there is supplied by multiple vendors. Still have to work through and secure the wireless communications. You have 20 boundaries that you still have to work through. Its very complex. These are pretty significant challenges. So the northeast corridor is something that weve highlighted as well in addition to chicago. Its two of the trickiest parts of the country for different reasons. I appreciate you being here. Thank you to senator thune. He has provided a lot of good leadership and i really appreciate it. Thank you. Senator, if i could just share one remark, if permissible. Yes. In regards to the northeast corridor and i asked for this yesterday just to put in perspective, if you look at the equipment configurations theyre required to support two different types of ptc systems on the northeast corridor. Theres 40 different options among eight different railroads involving seven different vendors. Thats the demand thats being put on the supply industry. Keep in mind some of these Commuter Railroads didnt initiate their engagement until around 2015 and the law was passed in 2008. Im not defending the supply industry, but theres a little bit of maim on boblame on both the equation here. Weve got to figure out how to get this thing fixed sooner rather than later because we are behind the 8 ball. When you go to chicago its basically one system. Thats not to say its going to be easy. But i often tell the people in chicago after serving four different corporate flags over a third of my career, that can be chicagos worst blizzard or snowstorm if they dont get ptc right. I apologize for going over in time but the apollo project involved 400,000 people across the United States in thousands of Different Companies making the space suit and the rocket and the craft that carries the astronauts. And somehow they put it all together. So america can do it. Other countries have done it. I understand the complexity and the challenges, but you know i have been a long time advocate or avoiding any further delay and at this point im very doubtful about any excuses for delay. Easy for me to say here on the dais, but i hope that you all will do your best. Thank you. I just had one quick question. Youve talked a lot about this vendor supply constraint on implementation schedules. I would direct this to you, ms. Fleming, because in your testimony you discussed that effect. Have they improved since 2018 or gotten worse in your view . I think theyre about the same. You know, i think the difference is that everybody is really trying to work through this. Everyones gotten fras attention, our attention, everyones attention, but there is a limited pool and everybody is working toward that same deadline. You have only four railroads that have crossed the finish line and everyone is looking for their plans and their implementation schedule to be adhered to. But at the same time when you encounter a Software Glitch or itms, the loco motive memory, these are things that have to be worked through to get it right. Unfortunately were at a critical juncture. I dont know if theres a better or worse. We really need the vendors and we need their a game and we need to cross that finish line and get it right. Thank you all. We have now embarked on a series of roll call votes on the floor of the senate which were unexpected. I want to thank all of you for being with us today on a very important topic. We remain hopeful but watchful. We look forward to your suggestions. The hearing record will remain open for two weeks. During this time, senators are asked to submit any questions for the record. Upon receipt, the witnesses are requested to submit their written answers to the committee as soon as possible but by no later than wednesday, august 28th, 2019. Thank you very much. With that, we conclude the hearing with the thanks of the members. Tonight, American History tv focuses on the civil war. Our programs include a look at ci