Railroads requested a five-year delay to install safety mechanisms, but some legislators said that deadline is too far off.
A mandate to install new safety equipment on railroads, called Positive Train Control, may be delayed by three to five years if a vote passes in the Senate. The House approved a bill delaying the measure.
The bill gives railroads until the end of 2018 to install PTC. They could also seek a waiver for an additional two-year extension on a case-by-case basis.
Federal accident investigators said the technology would have prevented an Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia last May that killed eight people and injured about 200 others. It uses GPS, wireless radio, and computers to slow or stop trains automatically when needed.
Amtrak had installed the technology on tracks were the crash occurred, but it hadn't been tested yet.
The 2008 Rail Safety Improvement Act had set a deadline of December 31, 2015 for PTC to be installed on railroads. NPR's Jeff Brady reported that Amtrak expects to have PTC installed by the deadline along the Northeast Corridor and between New York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Railroads requested a five-year delay to install PTC, but some legislators said that deadline is too far off.
The Connecticut Mirror reported that U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal was among those who balked. "I will work for a reasonable measure that provides adequate time, but holds railroads accountable through year-by-year review of progress toward fully-implemented PTC," he said.
The bill also extends the government's authority to spend money on highway programs through November 20 in an effort to buy time for Congress to pass a long-term transportation bill. Current authority is due to expire on Thursday.
This report includes information from The Associated Press.
