The proposed construction of a positive train control tower along an existing railroad right of way in Lehighton could be extended.

According to public documents, Norfolk Southern Railway Company has proposed to build the train control tower north of the intersection of Forge Street and the railroad.The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 requires Class I railroads to install PTC systems on tracks that carry passengers or toxic-by-inhalation materials.As originally written, the RSIA mandated that PTC be put into service by the end of 2015, according to Dave Pidgeon, manager of public relations, Norfolk Southern Railway Company.However, Pidgeon said Norfolk Southern Railway Company has proposed to extend that deadline to 2020."We support that because it's vitally important that a system like PTC be installed correctly, that it be tested, that employees are trained on it, and all of that takes time," Pidgeon said. "In order to do that, we have to make sure it is installed with proper equipment."Pidgeon added, "PTC is one part of the strategy to raise the level of safety performance on the railroad; it's something that we are working very hard to get installed on our network.""We're fully committed to it from a cost standpoint and physical standpoint," he said.Positive train control describes technology designed to automatically stop or slow a train before certain accidents occur, according to Norfolk Southern's website.In particular, PTC is designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, derailments caused by excessive speed, unauthorized incursions by trains onto sections of track where repairs are being made and movement of a train through a track switch left in the wrong position, according to the website.