Blumenthal on Texas Train Collision: How Many More Lives Must Be Lost Before PTC is Implemented?

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Blumenthal released the following statement today in response to reports that the collision of two trains in Texas earlier this week – which claimed the lives of at least two people – could have been prevented by the implementation of Positive Train Control:

“Two workers are confirmed dead and another is presumed dead in another preventable, tragic train crash. Even the railroad – BNSF – has confirmed this is the type of tragedy that Positive Train Control was designed to prevent. In the 46 years since the NTSB called for the implementation of PTC, nearly 300 people have died in PTC-preventable crashes. Three more were added to that tally Tuesday. Had railroads met the original deadline for implementation by 2015, these lives would have been saved. But we now have to wait until 2018, when BNSF says it will be done, or 2020, when many other railroads say they’ll be complete. This half-century of stalling is inexcusable, allowing many more lives to be lost before this technology is in place.” 

Positive train control – or PTC – is a life-saving technology first urged by the National Transportation Safety Board in 1970 after a tragic train collision in Darien, Connecticut. PTC is a GPS-based system designed to prevent certain types of train accidents caused by human factors. Since it was first recommended, the absence of PTC has been linked to the deaths of hundreds and the injuries of thousands.  In 2008, Congress finally mandated railroads install PTC by the end of 2015; however, Congress extended the deadline to 2020 last year.  Senator Blumenthal has fought vigorously to ensure railroads implement PTC immediately and has fought against irresponsible efforts to extend the deadline.

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