WASHINGTON – Funding for an upgraded rail safety system -- one that experts say could have prevented the Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia earlier this year -- has become a key point of contention as the Senate considers a vast transportation bill less than three months after the crash that killed eight and injured more than 200.
Republicans plan to add $199 million to the measure to help install the system, Positive Train Control, according to aides to Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.), the bill's sponsor. But Democratic aides say they were promised a $500 million addition, an amount Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) has pressed for.
Democrats have also sharply questioned plans to delay a year-end deadline for all passenger and major freight lines to install the safety system, which can remotely stop or slow speeding trains.
"There's always room for improvement in the bill, but we've made a lot of progress I think in trying to fashion a bill that addresses a lot of the concerns, particularly those in the Northeast corridor have, on some of the rail issues and some of the highway issues too," Thune, a key GOP chairman, said Tuesday.
But Democrats say the measure doesn't offer enough money for Positive Train Control and will give railroads too much additional time to install the system.
"A lot of good efforts were made to try to come up with a better proposal, but it hasn't worked yet," Casey said. He and a number of Democrats from the northeast huddled with Thune on the Senate floor Sunday night, but apparently to no avail.
Aides to several other Democrats have complained about the way the bill has been developed.
Thune's measure would give railroads until 2018 to install Positive Train Control, instead of the end of this year, as currently required. He and some other lawmakers had previously pushed for giving rail lines five more years.
Railroads have said that technical hurdles and budget crunches have prevented them from moving faster on a safety mandate Congress imposed in 2008. Without an extension, some rail lines say they may have to shut down for fear of the potential fines or liability they could face.
The American Public Transportation Association, which represents commuter rail lines, released a letter Tuesday praising the Positive Train Control provisions in Thune's bill.
But Democrats say three more years is too long, and that the language in the bill leaves wiggle room that could allow rail lines to avoid penalties even if they don't have the new safety system active by 2018. They have pushed for more stringent rules and fines to force railroads to move faster.
The safety system, though, is just part of the equation as lawmakers weigh a more than 1,000 page transportation bill that Senate Republicans hope to pass this week. The House has passed a transportation package that does not include changes to the safety system deadline or new money for Positive Train Control, and is urging the Senate to adopt that measure before Congress leaves for the summer.
Even if the Senate approves the new safety funding and deadline, it's not clear if those plans will eventually clear the House. The differences are likely to linger until Congress returns to iron them out in the fall.
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