SunRail got a permission to hold off on implementing a technology to stop trains from exceeding track speed limits.
SunRail says part of the problem is they are not the only rail system that runs on the 61-mile-long track.
“We just want a system that works with all the trains coming through our corridor,” Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Olson said. “We are not the only system running on the 61 and a half miles. We got freight trains and we got Amtrak coming through.”
In 2008, Congress required commuter and freight train systems to install the technology by 2018. SunRail got permission for a two-year delay.
Passengers such as Jasmine Willingham are concerned SunRail will not meet its deadline to have positive train control installed by 2018.
“It is definitely something that needs to be looked into,” Willingham said.
The technology could have prevented the tragic Philadelphia derailment that killed eight people in 2015.
“If something were to happen to our engineer the train would come to a stop right now, but positive train control takes it one step above that,” Olson said.
Olson said positive train control keeps a train-to-train collision from happening and prevents a runaway train from occurring.
Olson said SunRail is in talks with those freight railroads that travel on the same track. FDOT is also looking at where to get funding. It could cost up to $35 million to implement. The money could come from grants.