the more serious point is, perhaps the whole New Mexico folly needs to be addressed as a single issue and not as multiple ones.
It sure should! Unfortunately we won't see that from the short-sighted Martinez administration.
Given how busy that KCT trackage is (BNSF transcon mainline, plus others), is it accurate that the 6 Amtrak trains/day are the only ones that would trigger the requirements that PTC be installed?
It's *sort of* accurate.
For some inexplicable reason, the Secretary of Transportation / FRA have allowed TRRA and KCT to get away with running massive numbers of dangerous hazmat shipments over these lines without triggering the PTC requirement. The non-Class I carriers are not *automatically* required to install PTC. However, the FRA could simply order them to install PTC at any time. Based on the intent of the law, the FRA *should* order them to do so. From 49 US Code section 20157:
(f) Other Railroad Carriers.— Nothing in this section restricts the discretion of the Secretary to require railroad carriers other than those specified in subsection (a) to implement a positive train control system pursuant to this section or section 20156, or to specify the period by which implementation shall occur that does not exceed the time limits established in this section or section 20156. In exercising such discretion, the Secretary shall, at a minimum, consider the risk to railroad employees and the public associated with the operations of the railroad carrier.
The Class Is (who own TRRA and KCT) looooove to try to force their costs onto other entities; it's a habit they probably developed during the 'bankruptcy era' of the 1960s-1980s.
In short, this is more malicious behavior by the Class I execs. They should be smacked down hard by the FRA, which should simply tell KCT and TRRA that they're required to install PTC due to the high number of hazmat shipments and to stop blaming Amtrak.
This is basically a loophole which TRRA and KCT are trying to exploit. The FRA -- or the Secretary of Transportation -- can close the loophole on its own. Or if they refuse to do their job, Congress can be asked to close the loophole by applying the PTC rules to non-class I carriers. (They would still only apply to lines with 5 million gross tons of traffic annually, or passenger traffic. I'm pretty sure TRRA and KCT have more than 5 million gross tons of traffic annually.)
It's also worth noting that FRA routinely grants exemptions for:
(2) Passenger service is operated on a segment of track of a freight railroad that is not a Class I railroad on which less than 15 million gross tons of freight traffic is transported annually and on which one of the following conditions applies:
....
(ii) If the segment is signaled (e.g., equipped with a traffic control system, automatic block signal system, or cab signal system) and no more than 12 regularly scheduled passenger trains are operated during a calendar day.
Which indicates that there are more than 15 million gross tons travelling on the TRRA and KCT lines. They really should be ordered to install PTC period.
If you want to look at the actual law, it's here:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/20157
And consider donating to Cornell's LII; it costs them money to keep all this law on line.
