As of September of 2017, a good number of railroads large and small were attempting to qualify for an extension of Positive Train Control (PTC) requirements. A proposed PTC Implementation and Financing Act (HR 4766) would give railroads a deadline of Dec. 30, 2018 to implement PTC and would prevent the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) from granting extensions. But is meeting the hard deadline feasible?

A deadly train accident in DuPont, Washington, in mid-December highlighted the plodding adoption of a technology designed to reduce and prevent railroad accidents. DuPont is located between Olympia and Tacoma in Washington State. The Amtrak Cascades train was on an inaugural run ...