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Written Statement of Ronald L. Batory, Administrator

Federal Railroad Administration

U.S. Department of Transportation

Before the Senate Committee on Appropriations

Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

May 16, 2018

Chairman Collins, Ranking Member Reed, and Members of the Subcommittee: 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today to discuss rail safety. I come to my position as 

Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) with 45 years of experience in the 

railroad industry, rising to become the President and Chief Operating Officer of a significant 

freight rail carrier in the United States. Throughout my career, I have been focused on continually 

improving safety performance, and I bring this same perspective to my current position with FRA.

The mission of FRA is to enable the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of people and goods 

for a strong America, now and in the future. Under the leadership of Secretary Elaine L. Chao,

the FRA is executing this mission by: enforcing safety regulations; promoting non-regulatory 

safety improvement initiatives; managing Federal investments in rail infrastructure and service;

facilitating regional rail planning; and nurturing research and development efforts to advance 

innovative technologies and best practices. As we approach critical deadlines for railroads’ 

implementation of positive train control (PTC) systems, FRA remains committed to working with 

the railroads to ensure implementation of this important rail-safety technology in a timely manner.

Positive Train Control Implementation

Railroads’ implementation of PTC systems is at the top of our agenda. PTC systems represent the 

most fundamental change in rail safety technology since the introduction of Automatic Train 

Control in the 1920s. PTC is a processor-based and communication-based train control system 

designed to prevent certain train accidents. Specifically, a fully implemented PTC system should

prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, the movement of trains through a switch

left in the wrong position, and incursions into established work zones. PTC accomplishes this by 

automatically controlling train speeds and movements if an operator fails to take appropriate 

action. 
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As mandated by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA), each Class I railroad and entity 

providing regularly scheduled, intercity or commuter rail passenger service must implement a PTC

system on certain main lines over which 5 million or more gross tons of annual traffic are 

transported. Specifically, railroads must implement PTC on main lines over which poison or toxicby-inhalation hazardous materials (PIH/TIH) are transported, and main lines over which intercity 

or commuter rail service is regularly provided. Under RSIA, railroads were originally required to 

complete implementation by December 31, 2015. Approximately two months before that deadline, 

the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed, and the President signed, the Positive Train Control 

Enforcement and Implementation Act of 2015 (PTCEI Act), extending the deadline for full PTC 

system implementation to at least December 31, 2018. 

In the PTCEI Act, Congress permits a railroad to request FRA’s approval of an “alternative 

schedule” with a deadline extending beyond December 31, 2018, but no later than December 31, 

2020, for PTC system implementation. The law requires FRA to approve a railroad’s alternative

schedule with a deadline no later than December 31, 2020, if a railroad submits a written request 

to FRA that demonstrates it has met the statutory criteria to qualify for such an alternative schedule. 

Currently, 41 railroads are required by statute to implement PTC systems: all 7 Class I freight 

railroads; 30 commuter and intercity passenger railroads, including the National Railroad 

Passenger Corporation (Amtrak); and 4 short line and terminal railroads. The technology is being 

implemented on approximately 60,000 miles of the 140,000-mile railroad network. 

While railroads are making progress, most will need to request an alternative schedule. Under the 

direction of Secretary Chao, FRA is taking a proactive approach to help railroads acquire, install, 

test, and fully implement certified PTC systems as soon as possible. On December 27, 2017, one 

year ahead of the deadline, Secretary Chao sent letters to all railroads subject to the statutory 

mandate to implement PTC systems, stressing the urgency of safely implementing PTC systems 

and meeting the statutory deadline. At the direction of Secretary Chao, FRA senior leadership met 

individually with executives from each of the 41 railroads in January and February of this year. 

Railroads have generally been candid in detailing the challenges and obstacles confronting their 

properties. During the meetings, we sought to objectively evaluate each railroad’s PTC 
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deployment status, and learn what remaining steps each railroad needs to take to meet the deadline 

or satisfy the statutory criteria necessary to qualify for an alternative schedule. 

During these meetings, the railroads commonly conveyed the following ongoing challenges:

• There is a limited number of PTC system vendors and suppliers, all of which are 

significantly resource-constrained and serving all 41 railroads and their tenant railroads;

• As reliability and stability of PTC systems is still immature, railroads are experiencing 

significant technical issues with both PTC system hardware and PTC system software 

that often take considerable time to diagnose and resolve, impacting current operations;

• Host railroads noted that many tenant railroads that operate on main lines requiring PTC 

system implementation have made variable, and often unknown, progress equipping 

locomotives with operational PTC technology, while some tenant railroads report that 

their host railroads are not providing opportunity for testing; 

• Railroads have only recently begun testing PTC systems for interoperability; 

• Many commuter railroads stated that negotiating legal agreements with certain vendors 

and suppliers often took time to complete, given various insurance, liability, and State 

law issues; and

• Railroads noted concern about FRA’s approval review and approval cycle, given the 

surge in submissions requiring FRA approval in 2018-2019. 

Last month, FRA sent letters to fifteen railroads that we consider to be at risk of both missing the 

statutory implementation deadline, and failing to qualify for an alternative schedule. This 

assessment was based on railroads’ self-reported progress as of December 31, 2017 (Quarterly

PTC Progress Reports for Quarter 4 of 2017). Based on the information provided, these railroads 

had installed less than 80 percent of their PTC system hardware as of December 31, 2017.

Railroads’ self-reported Quarterly PTC Progress Reports for Quarter 1 of 2018 were due to FRA 

on April 30, 2018. During the week of May 7, 2018, FRA released a status update with

infographics depicting railroads’ self-reported PTC implementation progress for the first quarter

of 2018. Based on railroads’ self-reported progress during the first quarter, FRA is in the process 

of determining which railroads FRA still considers at risk of failing to meet the statutory criteria 

necessary to qualify for an alternative schedule. Based on FRA’s preliminary review, FRA believes 
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that approximately twelve of the fifteen railroads that were at risk as of December 31, 2017, remain 

at risk, as of March 31, 2018 representing a 20% improvement. 

By law, it is the railroads’ responsibility to implement PTC systems, but FRA is facilitating

railroad and supplier collaboration to hasten, and urge, implementation. We have also met

individually with PTC system component suppliers to learn more about their capacity to meet the 

high demand of railroads to achieve timely implementation. As noted in our most recent status 

update, as of March 31, 2018, PTC systems are in operation on approximately 60 percent of the 

freight railroads’ route miles that are required to be governed by a PTC system. Passenger 

railroads have made less progress, with PTC systems in operation on 25 percent of required route 

miles. Fourteen railroads report they have completed installation of all hardware necessary for 

PTC system implementation and another thirteen report they have installed over 80 percent of the 

required hardware. In addition, as of March 31, 2018, all but two railroads report having acquired 

sufficient radio spectrum for their PTC system needs. 

Grant Funding and Financial Assistance

The safety improvements PTC technology is designed to provide come with significant costs, both 

in terms of immediate acquisition and increased operations and maintenance costs. Industry 

estimates PTC acquisition will exceed $14 billion, and maintenance will cost 10 to 20 percent of 

annual capital costs. Since 2008, FRA has awarded approximately $735 million in grant funding 

to support railroads’ implementation of PTC systems. FRA also supported the Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA) with its evaluation and selection of approximately $197 million in grant 

fund awards to 17 commuter and intercity passenger railroads and state and local governments for 

installation of PTC systems, which were announced on May 31, 2017. The sources of the 

approximately $932 million in FRA and FTA grant funding are: 

• $475 million from FRA’s High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program; 

• $197 million in Section 3028 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST 

Act) funding;

• $120 million in annual capital grant funding to Amtrak (as of March 2018); 

• $86 million from FRA’s Railroad Safety Technology Grant Program; 

• $52 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant funding to Amtrak; and
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• $2 million in Research and Development grants.

Additionally, in May 2015, FRA issued a $967.1 million loan to Metropolitan Transportation 

Authority for Long Island Rail Road’s and Metro-North Railroad’s implementation of PTC 

systems. And on December 8, 2017, the Build America Bureau closed on a $162 million 

Transportation and Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan and a $220 million Railroad 

Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loan to be issued to the Massachusetts Bay 

Transportation Authority for PTC system implementation.

Furthermore, the FAST Act authorized three new competitive rail development grant programstwo capital grant programs and one operating grant program; the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure 

and Safety Improvements (CRISI), Federal-State Partnership for the State of Good Repair, and 

Restoration and Enhancement. For Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018, Congress appropriated an 

additional $961 million in funding with an emphasis on assisting PTC implementation. 

• $661 million for CRISI for capital projects, regional and corridor planning, environmental 

analyses, research, workforce development, and training to improve the safety, efficiency, 

and reliability of passenger and freight rail systems; of which, $250 million is set aside for 

PTC implementation;

• $275 million for Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair for capital projects on 

public- or Amtrak-owned infrastructure, equipment, and facilities to replace existing assets 

in-kind or with assets that increase capacity or service, maintain service while existing 

assets are brought into a state of good repair, or bring existing assets into a state of good 

repair; and

• $25 million for Restoration and Enhancement Grants for operating assistance for up to 3 

years per route to initiate, restore, or enhance intercity passenger rail transportation. 

In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, Congress specifically made commuter railroads 

eligible applicants for the $250 million set-aside in the CRISI program for PTC system 

implementation. As such, commuter railroads will be able to join short line railroads and public 

agencies seeking CRISI financial assistance to implement PTC systems. FRA is working 

expeditiously to make this important funding for the grant programs available to prospective 
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grantees, with a primary focus on helping railroads implement PTC systems. In sum, thanks to the 

funding provided by this committee, the Department has made available over $2.5 billion in grants 

and loans since 2008. This amounts to nearly 20% of industry estimates for PTC implementation 

costs.

Enforcement of the PTC Implementation Mandate

As we move closer to the end of 2018, there are important questions about FRA’s enforcement 

policy. FRA is authorized to assess monetary civil penalties against any railroad that fails to 

implement a PTC system by the applicable statutory deadline (either December 31, 2018, or, if a 

railroad has an approved alternative schedule, the applicable date not later than December 31, 

2020). FRA is developing an enforcement strategy consistent with governing statutes to address 

any instances of railroad non-compliance with the statutory deadlines. 

FRA’s civil penalty schedule recommends, as guidance, a $16,000 civil penalty for a failure to 

timely complete PTC implementation on a track segment where it is required. For any violation 

of a Federal rail safety statute, regulation, or order, however, the statutory minimum civil penalty 

FRA may assess is $853, and the ordinary statutory maximum is $27,904. FRA may assess a civil 

penalty for each day the non-compliance continues, but FRA may elect to take enforcement action 

on a one-time basis or each month, quarter, year, or other interval of time during which the noncompliance continues. FRA is currently considering all options, within the framework established 

by law, to determine what type of enforcement action will be most effective and appropriate under 

the circumstances. Our goal must be to ensure any enforcement action compels a railroad to fully 

implement its PTC system as efficiently and safely as possible. 

Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention

The other frequently persistent safety challenge for FRA is collisions, injuries and fatalities at 

highway-rail grade crossings, and the prevalence of trespassing on railroad rights-of-way. Nearly 

96 percent of all rail-related fatalities are attributable to these two types of events. While 

significant progress has been made, in 2017, there were over 2,100 collisions between highway 

users and trains, resulting in 273 deaths and 813 injuries. Another 560 persons were killed as a 

result of being hit by trains while trespassing on railroad property.
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To further address this issue, in addition to traditional brand awareness campaigns such as 

Operation Life Saver (OLI), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and FRA have 

partnered together to enact a national public education campaign (Stop. Trains Can’t.), targeted 

towards rail grade crossing safety. This high-visibility campaign is now in its third year, and 

underscores the importance of obeying railroad crossing signs and warning devices, as well as 

crossing train tracks only at designated locations. 

Conclusion

Since this Administration took office, railroads have made progress with their PTC 

implementation. From Quarter 1 of 2017 to Quarter 1 of 2018, railroads increased the total amount 

of installed PTC system hardware from 77% to 93%. Notably, intercity passenger and commuter 

railroads increased their total PTC system hardware by 20% from Quarter 1 of 2017 to Quarter 1 

of 2018, with freight railroads increasing hardware installation by 16% during that same 

period. Hardware installation is an initial, yet critical, phase of implementing a PTC system.

Additionally, from Quarter 1 of 2017 to Quarter 1 of 2018, railroads acquired 23% of the 

spectrum necessary for PTC system implementation, increasing to 93% acquired. At the onset of 

this Administration, PTC systems were in operation on approximately 18% of the freight 

railroads’ route miles required to be governed by a PTC system, and this increased to 60% as of 

March 31, 2018. Intercity passenger and commuter railroads also increased, albeit at a much 

slower rate with PTC systems in operation on approximately 24% of the required route miles as 

of March 31, 2017, and increasing to 25% of the required route miles as of March 31, 2018.

This progress is a testament to Secretary Chao’s commitment to ensuring our nation’s railroads 

are safe. Additionally, it is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the men and women 

serving at FRA. Although first charged with the PTC mandate in October of 2008, the progress 

exhibited over the last few years shows that many railroads have prioritized PTC implementation 

and adhered to Secretary Chao’s safety admonition.

Moving forward, FRA will continue to support and facilitate railroads’ implementation of PTC

technology by utilizing the tools afforded by Congress and providing extensive technical 
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assistance and guidance to railroads and suppliers. We remain vigilant in harnessing and 

leveraging all the personnel, financial, and other resources available to help expedite railroads’

implementation efforts. FRA holds an unwavering commitment to the safe and effective operation 

of railroads across the country. We appreciate the Subcommittee’s support for our critical 

programs, and we welcome your continued partnership to advance rail safety and service. I look 

forward to your questions.