Seems to me PTC is an idea whose time has come. Yes, it will be expensive, but to the extent some railroads may bear the cost of an investment with a low ROI, that is a problem they have brought onto themselves by inadequate attention to training and supervision. I got a hint of that some years ago when an Amtrak engineer friend encouraged me to call him on his cell phone while he was on duty (I could hear his horn tooting while he trundling along at 79 mph). And he was the kind of good employee who followed the rules. I was in engine service and an operating officer way back when, and the idea that railroads would allow on duty employees to use cell phones for personal use is a non-compute...to me it would be a firing offense. I also spent some time in Washington with the FRA and saw the legislation and regulatory process up close and personal. There are a lot of checks and balances built into the system. My guess is there will be a lot of give and take before anything is cast in concrete. Legislation is just a beginning, and even the legislation can be changed. I don't hear the railroads screaming yet. There is a lot of good information in this discussion. Hopefully the debate over PTC can avoid the fog of partisan politics. It should be a nuts and bolts safety debate, including the economics.

JBWX