UPDATE 1-U.S. Congress close to extension on train safety deadline -aides

(Adds details about talks, paragraph 3)
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. House and Senate are
"very close" to reaching bipartisan agreement to extend the Dec.
31 federal deadline for passenger and freight railroads to
implement new safety technology for avoiding major accidents, an
aide said on Friday.
Details of the discussions were not available. But a House
Transportation Committee aide said participants were "fairly
optimistic" about reaching a deal soon to extend the deadline
for positive train control, or PTC, after two weeks of "good
conversations."
One aide said four principal lawmakers from the House and
Senate, Republicans as well as Democrats, agreed on a course for
the talks more than a week ago and instructed staff to work out
the language of an agreement.
"We think we are very close," the aide told reporters. A
Senate aide also acknowledged that bipartisan discussions were
making progress.
PTC is a complex communications system that can avoid
derailments and other accidents by automatically slowing or
stopping a train under risky circumstances. U.S. safety
officials say the technology would have avoided the May 12
Amtrak derailment that killed eight people and injured more than
200 in Philadelphia.
Most U.S. railroads are expected to miss the Dec. 31
deadline for adopting the technology, and have threatened to
suspend freight and passenger service on major lines after Jan.
1, 2016, if lawmakers fail to grant an extension. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N11N1EJ
Railroads say PTC implementation has been hampered by high
costs, bureaucratic delays and technological hurdles.
House lawmakers introduced legislation last month to extend
the deadline for at least another three years. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12018O
But aides said the House measure's blanket extension for
railroads could run into opposition in the Senate. Senators
enacted their own bipartisan measure in July that would allow
the U.S. Transportation Department to approve extensions on a
case-by-case basis.
The House committee aide said a compromise agreement could
be added to a six-year bipartisan transportation bill for
funding roads and bridges that could come to the floor in two
weeks. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12G18J
But lawmakers could decide to use a different legislative
vehicle to move an extension forward more quickly.
"Our first step is to try to come up with a provision that
the House and Senate can live with," the House aide said. "And
then we'll have to come up with a strategy for how and where to
get that done."
Rail operators have warned that they could begin notifying
customers of possible service suspensions as early as the end of
October.