September 16th, 2008
Technology could have averted fatal LA train crash
Positive train control” technology - already in use in some parts of the country — could have avoided last week’s fatal train crash in southern California, the Federal Railroad Administration pronounced yesterday. PTC includes GPS and digital communications to enforce speeds and monitor movements.
Twenty-five people were killed and 138 injured.
The time is now, FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman said in a press conference, for national implementation of the technology. It is currently in place on Amtrak trains in parts of Maryland and between New Haven and Boston.
“We could do this as quickly as five years, maybe even quicker than that if everything comes together right … What’s frustrating is that this isn’t something you can just pronounce and move forward.
It’s not really a simple goal here. … This has been a long and tortuous road for [the railroads], along with us and the NTSB — those of us who want to have this happen faster. [ABC]
To make this happen, though, Congress is going to have to step in with substantial funds. Tough at a time when the government is running record deficits and bailing out financial institutions.
In an editorial today, the LA Times called for federal funding.
Considering that the federal government has an interest in rail safety, increased use of public transportation and the installation of a uniform interstate system, it should provide matching funds. Commuter rail systems should share the costs as well.
LA’s Metrolink railroad has one of the worst commuter-rail fatality records in the U.S. In 2005, a Metrolink crash killed 11 people.
And as it appears the train engineer was texting on his cellphone at the time of the crash, the California Public Utilities Commission will vote this week on regulations making it illegal for engineers to use phones while operating a train.
“Some railroad operators may have policies prohibiting the personal use of such devices, but they’re widely ignored,” Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said Monday. “Our order would make it the law and we’ll go after violators. We owe it to the public.” [AP]
