Rep. Bill Shuster (R–PA), the Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, recently released a statement about the bipartisan Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2015, also called 3819, which was recently introduced.
The bill is designed to fund as well as extend the authorization of federal highway and transit programs to November 20. The extension would also affect the deadline for applying Positive Train Control technology.
“I am confident that we can resolve the differences between the House and Senate measures and producing a final product that’s good for our nation’s infrastructure,” Shuster said. “This extension will allow the highway bill process to continue moving forward without shutting down transportation programs and projects across the country.”
Applying the Positive Train Control technology is important to the U.S. economy, Shuster added.
“This legislation also includes a necessary, bipartisan extension of the deadline for implementation of Positive Train Control technology,” Shuster said. “We need to extend the Positive Train Control deadline as soon as possible to prevent significant disruptions of both passenger and freight rail service across the country. The sooner we extend this deadline, the more certainty we will give our agricultural, manufacturing, and chemical industries to ensure there will be no supply-chain disruptions.”
Economic as well as commuter railroads would be affected without the bill’s extension.
“Without an extension of the Positive Train Control deadline, freight railroads have indicated they will suspend shipments of certain chemicals, such as chlorine used to purify drinking water and anhydrous ammonia used in fertilizer, well before the end of the year,” Shuster said. “In some cases, companies that produce these chemicals already have been forced to begin their production shutdown processes. In other cases, some freight railroads may suspend all shipments of commodities. Passenger rail service will also be impacted: commuter railroads will have to suspend operations, and Amtrak service outside of the corridor between Washington and New York will stop.”
