FRA’s Increased PTC-related Outreach and Communication with the Industry

From 2017 Through 2020

During the summer of 2019, FRA 

met with the Class II, Class III, 

short line, switching, terminal, 

and regional tenant railroads 

that operate on PTC-mandated 

main lines, based on the current 

PTC Implementation Plans. 

From 2018 through 2020, FRA 

held three meetings per year 

with all host railroads subject to 

the statutory mandate to ensure 

they understand the statutory 

and regulatory requirements and

to facilitate timely compliance.

During 2019 and 2020, FRA met 

with host railroads and tenant 

railroads in Miami, Florida;

Chicago, Illinois; and New York. 

In addition, FRA held on-site 

meetings in New Jersey and New 

Mexico in 2020. 

Beginning in 2017, FRA has 

assessed civil penalties against 

26 railroads for failing to meet 

interim deadlines in their 

implementation schedules or to 

submit timely PTC progress 

reports.

In the spring of 2018, FRA sent 

letters to, and met with, the 10 

main PTC system vendors and 

suppliers. FRA continues to 

meet and engage with the 

suppliers and vendors supporting 

any at-risk railroads.

Throughout 2017, 2018, and 

2020, FRA sent quarterly (and in 

some cases, monthly) letters to 

any at-risk railroads and the 

associated state departments of 

transportation and governors to 

urge timely implementation.

Throughout 2018 and 2020, FRA 

met with at-risk railroads at least 

monthly to provide technical 

assistance about the remaining 

actions they must take to fully 

implement an FRA-certified and 

interoperable PTC system.

Based on railroads’ continued 

progress, the # of railroads FRA 

considers at risk of not fully 

implementing PTC systems by 

the statutory deadline decreased 

from 17 railroads in early 2017 

to 1 railroad in late 2020. 

From January to February 2018, 

FRA met with the executive 

leadership of each of the 41 

railroads subject to the statutory 

mandate to underscore the 

importance of the mandate and 

provide technical assistance.

Beginning July 2019, FRA meets 

monthly with the executive 

leadership of Amtrak and the 7 

commuter railroads that operate 

on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor 

and/or their own PTC-mandated

main lines in the Northeast.
Progression of FRA’s PTC Technical Assistance in the Field

Early Stages to 2017

• FRA’s PTC Specialists assisted railroads in the early stages with their PTC Development Plans and PTC Implementation Plans. Once the field work began, FRA monitored railroads’ progress.

• FRA’s fundamental improvement was prioritizing in-person assistance to railroads, including on-site meetings and test monitoring.

2018

• Specialists offered on-site support to “at-risk” railroads and ensured they understood the requirements to qualify for an alternative schedule under the statutory mandate, if necessary.

• Specialists held regular status update conference calls with railroads.

• Specialists conducted monthly or quarterly on-site visits to offer real-time interpretation of FRA’s PTC regulations.

• Specialists requested that certain vendors and suppliers be present during field testing to ensure progress, which gave FRA additional insight into some of the widespread challenges.

2020

• In 2020, FRA’s PTC specialists continue to provide as much, if not more, field-level technical support than previous years. However, FRA is providing that support in different and

strategically focused ways. Examples of this include:

• Weekly testing calls with at-risk railroads to discuss issues and obstacles and provide assistance as quickly as possible.

• Enabling and encouraging railroads to cooperate and share technical information and lessons learned directly with each other and through FRA.

• Providing more in-depth technical support to short line tenant railroads.

• Providing technical support for long-term operation and maintenance of PTC systems, including configuration management.

• Witnessing testing remotely, including video conferences, to ensure fewer people are positioned in the locomotive cabs during testing.

2019

• During 2019, FRA expedited the approval of test plans and documentation required to conduct interoperability testing and expand revenue service demonstration to additional

mandated main lines. This included:

• Conducting thorough reviews and issuing specialist-level approvals, which helped expedite testing and ensure that all functional requirements were verified.

• Working closely with railroads to develop written instructions and procedures for testing and configuration management plans.

• Participating in on-site meetings, white paper reviews, safety case assessments, and where appropriate, issuing conditional approvals, when new or modified PTC system

functionality was proposed.

• Providing interpretations of the regulatory and technical requirements, such as acceptable accuracy for the location of critical features, and minimum requirements for verifying

a PTC system’s braking capability.
Revised PTC Implementation Plans PTC Safety Plans

0

100

200

300

400

Review Length (days)

112

73

52 42

327

170

88 85

Field Testing Requests RSD Requests

2017 2018 2019 2020

Year Received

2017 2018 2019 2020

Year Received

0

100

200

Review Length (days)

67

50 39

6

32

68

36

7

2017 Q1 2017 Q3 2018 Q1 2018 Q3 2019 Q1 2019 Q3 2020 Q1 2020 Q3

Quarter Received

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Avg. Review Length (days)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

113

141

47

47

31

20

68

73 63

136

58

85

17

43

97

All Review Lengths

Average Review Length

All Review Lengths

Review and Decision Timelines for PTC Filings

These graphics are as of September 2020, and do not include any draft or 

withdrawn documents or documents currently under review

Number of Filings

Number of Filings

Review to Decision Length Lowered Even as Number of Filings Increased

Review to Decision Length of Most Common Filings Dropped Over Time