Railroads are warning Congress that it must act to amend the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) to delay the Dec. 31, 2015, deadline for the implementation of the positive train control (PTC) installation, or risk a significant disruption in the U.S. rail industry, including the movement of anhydrous ammonia.
RSIA was passed in 2008 after a spate of rail accidents. PTC was part of the critical changes needed to reduce transportation accidents and save lives, according to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which said in an August report that it plans to enforce the PTC requirement beginning Jan. 1, 2016. FRA can fine railroads up to $25,000 per day per incident if they operate without PTC.
While many railroads have invested considerable amounts in PTC, a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said most will not meet the deadline.
Union Pacific Corp. President and CEO Lance Fritz in a Sept. 9 letter to Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, that UP would not be able to meet to the Dec. 31 deadline. As a result, Fritz said UP plans to embargo all toxic by inhalation (TIH) traffic, including anhydrous ammonia and chlorine. He said TIH traffic would be embargoed well before the Jan. 1, 2016, deadline, with embargo notices going out prior to Thanksgiving.
Fritz said chlorine and ammonia are two of the largest TIH commodities UP carries. “The suspension of anhydrous ammonia shipments will mean farmers will be unable to get the fertilizer they need to ensure healthy crops,” he said. Fritz added that UP is in the process of notifying its customers, and within the next month it will be letting them know the exact date they will have to start embargoing TIH to clear the network by the end of the year.
Fritz told Thune that rail is the safest way to transport hazardous chemicals. “Overall, 99.997 percent of all hazardous material shipments by rail reach their destination without release caused by train accident. However, if services cease, TIH traffic will be forced to move by trucks on our nation’s highways. Union Pacific carries 27,000 carloads of TIH traffic a year. If this commodity were to still move in commerce, it would need to be carried by about 100,000 trucks.”
UP also said that it planned to stop passenger traffic, with all commuter operations ceasing before midnight Dec. 31, 2015, and long distance trains stopping several days earlier to ensure that all passengers arrive to their destinations before the deadline. UP noted that this will force those who use commuter trains onto the highways, creating an even more congested urban environment.
Although at last report the U.S. Senate had approved a transportation bill that would extend the deadline by three years, the House of Representatives has not approved it.