U.S. railroad companies slow to adopt safety technology
Railroads across the U.S. are making uneven progress in implementing Positive Train Control (PTC), the technology designed to automatically stop a train before collisions occur.
Data released recently by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) show that freight railroads now have PTC active on only 12 percent of their tracks, while passenger trains have it on 23 percent. That’s up from last year – from nine percent and 22 percent, respectively, but the improvement has come mainly on the West Coast, while East Coast railroads, other than SEPTA and Amtrak, have remained relatively stagnant.