Page 18 - Train Control News Today

A vote in the house, perhaps a vote in the senate today. it is december 19th, 1:00 a.m. in washington state. thats where we start this morning. federal investigators on the ground in dupont, washington. to probe the deadly derailment of an amtrak train. three people were killed, 100 injured when all but 1 of the 14 cars jumped the track. speed was a critical factor. >> preliminary indications are that the train was traveling at 80 miles per hour in a 30 miles per hour track. there are also quest...

Is still recovering. they are waiting to speak with them as well as look at this track to see what else they can learn. andrea? >> and to you. what about positive train control. we knew it was not available in philadelphia on that curve and was then put in. isnt it supposed to be required? wasnt it congressionally mandated? >> thats right. in 2008 after the crash involving a metrolink train and a union pacific freight train that killed 25, congressmandated the pbc be implemented and they gave th...

Nearly three times the speed limit. >> they also confirmed the newly upgraded stretch of track had not yet been equipped with positive train control or you may hear ptc. that is a congressionally mandated high-tech safety system to keep trains from crashing. and it keeps -- and the date keeps getting pushed back when those train operators need to implement it. >> nbcs blake mccoy joins us live now from the crash scene in dupont, washington. blake, what have you got? >> reporter: ali and stephani...

Addressed and been prioritized in this legislation. we are going to be very excited to sign it hopefully in the coming days. >> early reports are indicating that the fatal amtrak derailment in washington similar to the 2015 derailment in philadelphia could have been prevented by positive train control which congress passed in 08 and was supposed to be on all lines by 2015. that has been pushed back and only on a quarter of passenger lines right now. is this white house considering any steps to s...

Activated by the railroad. the republican congress poised to file an extensive rewrite. the entire tax code today. the bill is not so popular. well break down the final numbers and what they mean for you. massive tax reform, corporate tax cuts really, what it boils down to. welcome back to "early start." im dave briggs. >> and im christine romans. tuesday morning, 31 minutes past the hour. federal crash investigators on the ground this morning to probe that deadly derailment of an amtrak pas...

Weve got crumbling infrastructure in this country. the american society of civil engineers say we score about a "d" on our physical infrastructure. >> problems with our infrastructure that cover our rails, cover our roads, bridges, water supplies, our natural electric grid have been preceding a pace in a terribly negative way. no president, no congress, nobody has shown the political will or leadership to tackle the complexities of theess projese . and theres no silver wand to wave. everybody ca...

Using positive train control. the system uses gps, wireless radio, and computers to stop trains from colliding, derailing, and speeding. >> the slightest oversight and you are in this jackpot and thats why we really, for 25, 30 years, the national transportation safety board has been begging the railroad industry to implement positive train control. every time he gets close, our congress pushes it back. >> many of the dozens injured are still hospitalized tonight. ten are said to be in serious c...

That was just upgraded. im just a short distance away from where this crash happened. this is the first day of this corridor running, and this was upgraded to handle amtrak trains traveling at a higher rate of speed, a max speed of 79 miles per hour. now, amtrak did tell cnn that at this point, they can confirm that the positive train control, that it was not activated, so there are going to be a lot of questions about this technology, why wasnt it activated? and amtrak also released a statement...

But they have said that the train wasnt using the latest safety system, which is a system known as positive train control. had positive train control been in effect, that system might have been able to slow down the train remotely if in fact it was going too fast for that curve. so interstate 5 in washington is still closed and it will be. this is a huge accident. a terrible derailment. well let you know more as you learn more over the course of this hour. this is still very much a developing st...

I know its early in the investigation, but isnt that what it looks like? >> yes. we are going to find out exactly weath whether the positive train control attributed to this, it can prevent these exact types of accidents which are over speed derailments, as well as other types of accidents, train to train accidents and work zones, and its a life-saving tool that should be implemented nationwide. >> i know you have not interviewed the engineer yet, and i know you need to rule out personal failure...