That we are never never lose face like this again. Sunday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspans q a. Announcer house transportation and infrastructure subcommittee on railroads held a meeting yesterday on recent train crashes and positive train control, which automatically stops trains in dangerous situations grade we hear from witnesses from the federal Railroad Administration, the natural Transportation SafetyBoard NationalTransportation Safety board, and amtrak. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. I ask unanimous consent ask questions without objection so ordered. Good morning and welcome to the subcommittee on railroads, pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. Before we proceed, i would like to extend our deepest sympathies to those impacted by the recent rail accidents across the United States. Todays hearing focuses on the of limitation of positive train control across the United States and as we have seen, we are in need of an update. Ptc is a complex system with a challenging implementation process. Despite these challenges, safety is always a top priority and we must investigate and find solutions to implementation obstacles and that is the purpose of this hearing today. I look forward to hearing from Witnesses Today regarding implementation status of ptc across the United States. I would like to recognize. Ichael cap 10 capuano ask consent to include the Committee Democratic staff in the hearing record. Without objection, so ordered. I generally keep opening remarks brief because we need today to catch up on ptc to see how it has impacted people and to hear from the industry on where they are advancing it. With all the problems we have in this issue, we are making progress. Many of us would like that progress to be faster and cleaner and quicker, but at least we are doing something. At the same time, i do not think it should go unsaid today that this congress has taken absolutely no action whatsoever to even try to address gun violence in this country, the tragedy we suffered yesterday in this country is unspeakable, it should be unacceptable to every single american and for us to do nothing, nothing should be angering as far as i am concerned. At least on this issue with ptc, we are doing something. Nothing is not an answer and with that, i yield back the remainder of my time. I would now like to recognize the chairman of the full committee, mr. Shuster. Thank you very much [indiscernible] thank you, very much. You Ranking Member cap one over holding this meeting today and thanks to the members showing interest of the tragedy that occurred in your states and other places across the country. Safety is the number one priority of this committee and the most important task of the department of transportation. This committee and the department of transportation have remained focused on efforts to increase increase rail safety. As 2012, were reporting railroads would not make 2010 deadlines. 2015 Congress Pass the partisan Service Transportation extension act. In 2015, which extended the deadline to december 31 of 2018. Industry,rt from government, and labor. Were hopeful this would today i look forward to getting an update on the status of ptc implement implementation and learn what the other challenges are. When congress extended the deadline, we were informed on issues the railroads faced and throughout the of limitation process, railroads have faced a complicated, complex set of challenges. One of the biggest issues is the ability to obtain spectrum. Reports articulating the other obstacles such as integration of field testing of ptc components, the development of the technology, issues with the availability of suppliers of technology, radio interference and interoperability. We are here to say if those issues still linger for the railroads. Hearing fromd to colleagues, but also folks that represent the government who represents a government and industry to give us a view of what is happening out there and with that, i yield back. I would like to recognize the Ranking Member of the committee, mr. Defazio. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Lets dial back to 2005, southern Freight Train in South Carolina which diverted onto an adjacent track and hit a parked train. Nine people were killed, 6 workers at the plant, 500 people injured, 5500 5400 evacuated. This was preventable with ptc. The Committee Held a hearing on this crash in 2007 prior to passing of i started bipartisan bill 10 years ago to mandate the tcf limitation. Granted, the bill is eerily similar to the one we just heard in carolina, us which left in the wrong position and the trained eye boarded onto the wrong track and hit a parked train. Again, no signals indicating the switch position was open and, again, totally preventable with ptc. With the amtrak accident in washington, we had ptc on the train, on the track, but it was not yet operable. I have introduced legislation and will say no new section of track can be utilized by amtrak until the ptc is operable. That is after the fact, unfortunately. That, again, totally preventable. For 50 years now, half a century , ntsb has issued one recommendation after another for the fra to require ptc. Over those 50 years, 153 accident preventable with ptc. They resulted in 300 81 fatalities, 6700 injuries, and yet, we are not there yet. Last time we held a hearing on this was 2015. We have a law that goes back to 2008, but we are not fully implemented. I hear a lot about the cause of the complexity. Cost and complexity. Lets talk about the lives that have been lost and could be lost in the future because of a lack of ptc. S andnumber of our class 1 freight and Commuter Railroads embraced ptc early on and made progress and i congratulate those who will make the deadline. Arentare close, some very far along. Some Commuter Railroads, i understand new jersey has not even started, they will not qualify under any conditions, even with the most lacks administrator in history, we do not have an administrator, to meet the minimum requirements to get an extension beyond 2018. I have heard some are inquiring as to whether or not Congress Might extend the deadline beyond 2020. We are going to kill more people because you are not doing your job. No. We are not going to extend ptc again if i have anything to say about it. It is complicated, but, again, 50 years ago, this is when it was first recommended. A year later we landed a man on the moon. Look at where we are now with all sorts of advances in technology. Yet, we do not have ptc. I have recommended to the administration that they include Grant Funding to help some of the Commuter Railroads and others who are nonprofits, having problems meeting deadlines, although, there have been no allocations and no accidents, i do not know, also, how we can get a budget out of the administration where it actually cuts funding for fras oversight and enforcement of ptc by 50 . Is cut and already, that hopefully that cut is going nowhere in the united dates congress or the omnibus negotiations. Safety and operations got cut by 30 per cut to automated track in inspection. It doesnt seem this administration is serious about safety despite the lives lost recently. I hope this committee and hearing today can refocus the urgency of this matter, focus the administration on this and we will see full implementation by the end of 2018. With that, i yield back the balance of my time. Back the balance of my time. Are now welcome the first panel the distinguished colleagues from the state of washington please proceed with your statement i ask in animus consent the full statement is included in the record after receiving testimony from the first panel we will proceed to the second panel for testimony without objection so ordered. Thank you mr. Chairman for holding this hearing today and your assistance in the wake of this tragedy striking in my district on the morning of december 18 a quiet monday morning when amtrak derailed approaching the bridge and dupont washington locomotive and passenger cars were sent down onto the interstate at 80 Miles Per Hour into the path of motorist going about their morning commute. Three people were killed. Three passengers on the train jim, zach and mitch. Jim and back for my constituents also fierce advocates, that is why they were on the train which was the inaugural service on the new bypass as a retired Civil Engineer while zach worked for transit now as a board member of the Rail Passenger association jim actually visited me in washington d. C. At my office to advocate for expanding Passenger Train Service the entire south puget sound continues to mourn the loss of these individuals but they were not the only victims. Seventy passengers and motorist were injured and by the way including a delightful young woman named mattie who happens to be the niece of one of my staff members. Only thanks to those aerobic workout First Responders and bystanders and doctors the injured are with us today and i want to commend the active Duty Service Members and civilians that the nearby base who rushed to help and we are here today because we know this tragedy could have been avoided if positive train control was active. The ntsb has recommended railroads install ptc over 50 years and i am glad we have the chairman with us today and think you for your assistance but despite these warnings there has been an absolute failure to heed them and it is a collective failure on the part of phil federal Railroad Administration and congress that has failed to find ptc implementation and enforce deadlines. There are no excuses to be made. Dm track crash was preventable as were over 150 other rail accidents that were investigate investigated. Thats why support legislation from Ranking Members to provide the funding railroads across the country need to complete ptc on the routes i net on monday with a head of the Washington State department of transportation and i was glad to hear the amtrak route is on schedule to have ptc implementation by the current deadline of december 2018 and the same goes for the freight railroads but that isnt the case for many across the country. Thats why most importantly the bill and to pass this legislation would pass a clear message to have this conversation again no delays or excuses and with Benjamin Graham to ask this committee and congress to act to prevent a crash from ever happening in this country again. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you and Ranking Member for holding this hearing and providing me to testify. I have taken the bed i back from washington and do d. C. I got a call from a member of my team when the cascade express had derailed from the overpass over interstate five at one of the busiest sections of the state at rush hour. The worstcase scenario with footage news helicopters was harrowing people were stopping on the highway jumping into train cars to offer their help and i immediately thought of my family who works for the state of washington and regularly goes to bf. Was she safe . Was she on the highway days earlier i cut the ribbon into, to serve the train on this route and it felt like a bad dream so many families had that same dream too many of loved ones who were hurt three families never saw their sons again and their lives could have been saved by positive train control i went to the site you still see the marks in the track and the fingerprints of the train cars traveling way too fast hitting the metal as they left the track ntsb said positive train control could have prevented this and in 2018 no american should die in a preventable train accident december 31 to pass the deadline with a lifesaving technology the country has 319 days as the committee knows working since 2008 and railroads have shown it is possible to meet the deadline. One of the largest billet operators has installed ptc on all 11570 miles of the track they are responsible for and operable on all law locomotives to show with the right investments this can be done. But the country will not get there if this body does not take that seriously so thank you for taking up the request to hold this hearing and also for their leadership on the bill to provide 2. 5 billion 5 billion of grants to help the railroads put ptc on the tracks. I hope the committee will act soon. That is just one part of the solution also the federal Rail Administration to step up to make sure they are making progress but i have serious concerns of their capacity to do so given the recent resignation of their administrator. We wrote a letter last time asking for an update on the status of ptc nationwide and the steps he would take to make sure they are all on track and we are still waiting for that response so i hope todays hearing will provide those answers because of that conversation doesnt happen i am afraid this will get done if americans deserve to know the trains they are taking to work are safe and then to work with each other to make this happen so thank you for starting that work today. Thank you for your testimony your comments have been helpful and thoughtprovoking and thank you mr. Heck in particular to recount the issues of those lives that were lost on that tragic day. We welcome the second panel. Mr. Chairman can i have unanimous consent to speak out of order . I have had a tough week as you know from looking at me and now we do finally have an individual with experience i welcome him there he has a tough job ahead of him but i hope the committee as soon as he can get settled in that we can discuss this along with other issues. Now we welcome the second panel of witnesses chairman of the ntsb and the chief counsel of the federal Railroad Administration and Richard Anderson, c eo amtrak and president and chief executive officer American Association of railroads and president chief executive officer and Vice President from the brotherhood of local motive engineers asking animus consent the full statement is included in the record since written testimony is a part of the record we request you limit oral testimony to five minutes giving us more time for questions. You may proceed. Good morning mr. Chairman and Ranking Member and members of the subcommittee thank you for having us. Since the enactment of the rail Safety Improvement act of 2008 the ntsb has completed investigations of 22 accidents that could have been prevented by ptc and together they have resulted in 23 deaths, 300 injuries 126 million of property damage. Of course we are currently investigating two additional actions that could have been prevented by ptc two months ago december 18 amtrak train 501 derailed onto interstate i 5 near dupont washington traveling 70 miles an hour around a curve where the speed limit was 30 miles an hour the investigation is ongoing however this is precisely the type of accident that ptc is intended to prevent. If operational it would have detected the overspeed and had taken action to stop the train before the accident. Most recently early last week a southbound amtrak train unexpectedly entered in South Carolina collided with a Freight Train investigators found the track switch was locked in a position to divert the southbound train investigation will focus on why it was locked rather than intended a fully operational ptc system is designed to prevent action when switches are left in the wrong position and at the time of the accident train signals that govern movement were out of service due to signal upgrades in this morning the ntsb issued the emergency safety recommendation and we are calling for the fra to issue an Emergency Alert to put in place procedures to mitigate hazards when trains are operating during signal suspension and i will be happy to discuss this further with questions. A decade ago Congress Called for ptc to be installed by the end of 2015 but the railroads indicate they could not meet that deadline so congress extended the deadline for the end of this year. Now data provided by railroads indicate many of the nations railroad will not meet that deadline for fully operational ptc resulting in two years of additional delays. For nearly half a century ntsb has investigated numerous collisions and derailments caused by human failures and these accidents could have been prevented by ptc. Therefore the ntsb is extremely concerned about any further delays to this lifesaving technology. Quite simply for each day that passes we are at continued risk for preventable ptc accidents. So from a safety perspective from the ntsb and a safety perspective, that risk is unacceptable. Thank you for your time i will be glad to answer questions. Thank you. You may proceed. Chairman and Ranking Member and members of the subcommittee things for inviting me to discuss the federal Railroad Administration positive train control in light of the recent accident much of the nations time and attention is ensuring all critical Safety Measures are in place with our rail system as a top priority under the leadership the fra to develop the safety regulations to conduct research and development but ptc is an advanced Safety System to pr