The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) yesterday announced the grant recipients who will receive $197 million in competitive grant funding to help commuter and intercity passenger railroads meet the deadline at the end of next year to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) systems to improve safety.
The $197 million in PTC grant funding, authorized under the FAST Act, will be provided to 17 projects in 13 states. The FRA and FTA received 27 eligible applications requesting $455 million, more than double the $197 million that Congress authorized. The FRA was responsible for the selection of the grant recipients, and the FTA will award and administer the grants during FY 2017.
PTC systems are designed to prevent certain train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zones, and trains routed to the wrong tracks because a switch was left in the wrong position. The grants under this program will be used to install PTC technology, including back office systems and wayside, communications, and onboard hardware equipment associated with railroads’ PTC systems.
Grants will be awarded to the following commuter railroads and state and regional transportation entities:
- Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (JPB) – Calif.
- Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) – Calif.
- Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) – Fla.
- South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) – Fla.
- Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) – Ill.
- Regional Transportation Authority (Metra) – Ill.
- Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) – Mass.
- Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) – Md.
- Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) – Mo.
- New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) – N.J.
- Rio Metro Regional Transit District (Rio Metro) – N.M.
- New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) – N.Y.
- Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) – Ore.
- Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) – Ore.
- Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) – Pa.
- Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro) – Texas
- Utah Transit Authority (UTA) – Utah
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Source: U.S. DOT
