Will NJ Transit halt service on January 1? It’s up to Congress

Will NJ Transit stop running on January 1? It could be up to U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and members of the New Jersey congressional delegation.

Railroads are facing a December 31 deadline to install Positive Train Controls (PTC) on their systems that would stop trains if they were operating too fast and would help prevent collisions and derailments. Large fines would be imposed if they operate without PTC being installed beyond that date.

Booker, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, is joining other Senators in seeking a three-year extension of the deadline.

"Not one railroad, commuter or freight, told us that after seven years of work and with three months to go before the legal deadline for full implementation of Positive Train Control that they have been certified by the Federal Railroad Administration as compliant with the requirement," said Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and Chairman John Thune at a Senate hearing on Thursday.

Congress mandated in that Amtrak, commuter railroads and freight railroads install PTC by the end of this year after the derailment of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia earlier this year and a 2014 Metro North derailment in the Bronx. Both incidents were blamed on speed. Amtrak, which maintains the Northeast Corridor rails used by NJ Transit, still has to do extensive testing of the system but will meet the deadline, officials have said.

NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder in a statement said, "Despite best efforts, technical and other challenges mean that NJ Transit will be unable to meet the current PTC implementation deadline. NJ Transit anticipates full PTC implementation in 2018."

NJ Transit is making some progress on PTC installation.

"Overall, the system design is progressing steadily; vehicle hardware design is complete. Right-of-way mapping to create the fundamental PTC design database is completed. More than 5,000 transponders have been procured, and installation on the right-of-way will begin this month," said Snyder. "Four hundred and forty NJ Transit locomotives and cab cars will be equipped starting in November."

Complicating the installation is the fact that these items  are not "off the shelf" and requires extensive testing and development.

"Without a PTC extension, it is unclear whether NJ TRANSIT will be able to operate passenger service as of January 1, 2016," said Snyder, adding that the entire NJ Transit system would be affected by a shutdown.

Thune expressed support for the installation of PTC but said a shutdown would "wreak havoc" on both passenger and freight service.

"Our nation does not have the transit bus capacity to move these displaced riders," said Thune. "This will dramatically increase the number of people who are stuck in traffic each day and decrease the safety of our transportation system."

Sarah Feinberg, who has been Acting Federal Railroad Administration chief  for the past nine months pending confirmation, is set to enforce the deadline."We will enforce the law as of the deadline of Dec. 31, so on Jan. 1 we will enforce the deadline and the law," said Feinberg at her confirmation according to The Hill. “We do not have the authority to extend the deadline."

An extension would have to come from Congress.