There have been a number of high profile train accidents in the past couple of years that have killed or injured both passengers and employees. Unfortunately a report released from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) shows that while some have made safety improvements and have implemented a technology designed to prevent accidents, many lines still have a long way to go in implementing the safety technology.

Positive Train Control (PTC) monitors train positions with digital radio, GPS and signals on the tracks. If necessary it can slow or even stop trains that have ignored signals, and can prevent trains from collisions or derailing due to speed.

In the report released last Wednesday, it appears that many railroads have yet to install this technology even though Congress mandated in 2008 that railroads had seven years to implement the technology. Last year they extended that 2015 deadline by three more years because railroads said they were having difficulty meeting the deadlines and finding the money to make the updates. They will have until the end of 2018 to get the systems in place, however text in the last extension said that if that deadline hits they could extend deadlines for two years to railroads that have the systems installed but have not yet finished testing them.

The FRA is issuing quarterly reports that track each railroad’s progress towards meeting their PTC goals.

Some railroads have stepped up. BNSF Railway says that of its 5,000 locomotives, 4,309 have the technology capabilities. Union Pacific, on the other hand, has just 13 of their 5,656 locomotives up to date. Freight railroad companies seem to be on a slightly faster track than passenger railroads. Freight railroads have equipped 34 percent of locomotives compared to passenger’s 29 percent, and have installed 73 percent of radio towers compared to passenger rail’s 46 percent.

The railroad industry is not averse to the trail control technology, they say. Union Pacific says they are currently working on a $2.9 billion project in implementing PTC. SEPTA, a big passenger railroad around Philadelphia, has updated all of their locomotives and installed all their planned radio towers and track segments. The NJ Transit Rail has yet to equip any locomotives, install any towers or finish any track. Similar bad reviews were given to other big commuter lines like the Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road. These are lines that have experienced bad accidents recently, and the National Transit Safety Board says the PTC technology could go a long way in preventing those kinds of accidents.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road, received $1 billion in loans from the FRA last year.

Sarah Feinberg is head of the FRA, and said that she hopes railroads get the updates done well before the extended deadline.

“Every day that passes without PTC, we risk adding another preventable accident to a list that is already too long,” she said.