The U.S. House has passed a bill this week to delay Positive Train Control three to five years. That’s welcome news to agriculture as the mandates deadline at the end of the year was expected to cause shipping delays for inputs and grain. However, Senate action is still needed to ensure the deadline extension. The bill passed on a voice vote with little debate. The Association of American Railroads, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the Government Accountability Office have all said that the railroads did not have enough time to comply with the previous law before the Dec. 31 deadline. The Washington Post reports Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster added the extension to a highway funding bill, hoping to encourage the Senate to follow suit.
