prior to this horrific accident, in chatsworth, california, in 2008 which resulted in 25 deaths, led congress to mandate ptc for most class one and passenger rail service. ptc technology while challenging to implement, has demonstrated that it can prevent major crashes and incidents caused by human error. ptc would have likely prevented several recent accidents such as the one i mentioned in washington state. it is imperative for railroads to implement this safety system as soon as possible. in fact, congress has mandated that all required railroads in pla meant ptc by december 31st of this year with an extension until 2020 for railroads that can demonstrate their system is fully functional but may need additional testing. while most class one freight companies, as well as amtrak, are on schedule to meet the ptc deadline of december 31st, 2018, last month federal railroad administration released a list of 14 railroads that are at risk of neither meeting the ptc deadline, nor satisfying the legal criteria to qualify for an extension until december 31st of 2020. many of the railroads o