February 14, 2020

Anthony Coscia
Chairman of the Board
Amtrak
1 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20001

Chairman Coscia:

I know we both share a common commitment to successfully implementing Positive Train

Control (PTC) in accordance with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)-mandated
deadline of December 31, 2020 at both our agencies. At the MTA, both the Long Island Rail
Road (LIRR) and Metro-North Railroad (MNR) are working hard with our PTC System
Integrator to meet that deadline, and I appreciate the regular PTC Executive meetings that
include FRA, Amtrak, LIRR, MNR and other Northeast Corridor (NEC) rail properties that
focus on accomplishing key milestones, as we all work towards implementing this important
safety technology.

It has come to my attention that Amtrak recently notified LIRR that it will miss its commitment
to deliver Back-to-Back (b2b) functionality on Amtrak’s on-board software by the end of this
year. This b2b functionality is required for interoperability with LIRR, and – as I understand
it – the revised Amtrak schedule now shows this b2b software update to be delivered in May
2021. I find it shocking that Amtrak has not yet contracted with either Burns, Siemens or
another contractor to perform this critical b2b interoperability work.

In mid-2018, at NEC PTC meetings also attended by the FRA, LIRR identified b2b scenarios
that would impact interoperability with Amtrak at Harold Interlocking, which would affect
successful implementation of PTC, and raised these issues in the NEC meeting. In
subsequent NEC PTC executive meetings chaired by the FRA in 2019, LIRR and Amtrak
agreed to complete various tasks required to achieve interoperability, which included a
commitment by Amtrak to implement b2b by the end of 2020. At LIRR, we remain committed
to achieving interoperability with Amtrak, and have already done so where Amtrak is the
host – as demonstrated by LIRR successfully beginning PTC operation last month on
Amtrak territory through the East River Tunnels into Penn Station.

I am also aware that Amtrak has proposed an alternative solution, to mitigate any risks that
would be introduced by this delay in implementing b2b after December 2020, and to allow
Amtrak to continue operating on LIRR territory. Both LIRR and our PTC System Integrator
have reviewed this alternative solution. Based on our initial assessment, we do not find the
workaround satisfactory as it poses safety concerns and would negatively impact a
significant number of LIRR customers, and we provided comments on February 5, 2020 to
both Amtrak and the FRA to that effect. We also had subsequent discussions with Amtrak
staff reiterating our concerns.
Anthony Coscia
Chairman – Amtrak
February 14, 2020
Page 2

Any alternative proposal required to mitigate Amtrak’s delay in meeting the December 2020
deadline that negatively impacts LIRR service would be wholly unacceptable. As we both
know, LIRR carries 587 trains and 240,000 passengers through Harold Interlocking a day,
ten times more than the 42 trains and 24,000 passengers that travel through the same
territory on Amtrak.

Given the importance of PTC – a critical safety technology – and the federally mandated
deadline of December 2020, I request the following:

1. Our first shared priority should be focused on meeting the December 2020 deadline at
both our properties. At both LIRR and MNR, we are focusing our teams and working
urgently to accomplish this. It is imperative that Amtrak do the same. I ask that Amtrak
and your System Integrator do everything possible to meet the federally mandated
deadline on PTC, including prioritizing and accelerating the schedule for b2b
functionality to the original commitment of implementation by the end of this year.

2. On a parallel path, we will continue to work with Amtrak on any alternative proposals –
should Amtrak miss its commitment for interoperability – to mitigate delays and allow
continued operations, while Amtrak completes its remaining work on PTC. Any
alternative proposal must be safe and not impact LIRR service. Any alternative proposal
must also account for LIRR impacts in its analysis, and allow LIRR to collaborate with
Amtrak in developing the solution.

3. We will be requesting a joint executive meeting with the FRA, Amtrak, LIRR and MNR
to address the urgency of this interoperability issue and potential impacts on operations.

Thank you for your attention on this shared priority, as I know we both understand the
importance of ensuring PTC is implemented on time, and in a way that allows both our
properties to continue operating. Interoperability is a key element of the PTC mandate and
is essential to safely operate Amtrak trains on LIRR tracks through Harold Interlocking, and
for LIRR to operate on Amtrak tracks. Our team looks forward to working closely with yours
in the coming days and weeks to ensure we can all provide safe, secure, and reliable daily
service for all our customers.

Sincerely,

Patrick J. Foye
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Metropolitan Transportation Authority