Page 32 - Train Control News Today

That concussion subsides. kate? >> the investigation clearly really in the middle of it right now as you said ntsb want to speak with bostian to get his take on what happened there at the controls. we were also -- youre learning more about some of the messages that bostian reportedly had posted online in the past especially regarding train safety. tell me more about that. >> reporter: yeah, thats right, kate. bostian seems to be someone who was very concerned with train safety. now, in a post to...

Erin? >> hi. 32-year-old brandon bastion is someone who is very concerned about train safety. a series of posts to a train forum, he laments that railroads were not more pro active in installing positive train control. that is the same safety system that in a grim ironic twist the ntsb says could have prevented the crash of amtrak 188. let me read you to some of the posts that we believe bastion made to that online forum. one post, dated march 11th, 2011. he writes, "i wish the railroads had bee...

Schumer of new york responding in a statement saying speaker boehners comments are patently false, experts have made clear positive train control could have prevented the tragedy in philadelphia. by the way, u.s. news reported overnight the train technology was actually installed on the tracks near the crash site but not working. president obama said last night that there is a need for more infrastructure spending though pointing out that the cause of the accident hasnt been confirmed. michaela ...

Lamented that the positive train control could have stopped the accident. he said at any point over the previous 80 years the railroad could have implementing some form of technology on the line where that fateful wreck happened it took an act of congress to get them to do this. and had they been more reactive from the get-go. >> the reality is that they have had nearly a hundred years of opportunity to implement some sort of system to mitigate humor error, but with a few notable exceptions have...

That are going to be served between bakersfield and fresno and doesnt connect into a major metropolitan area. its not how much money you spend, its where you spend the money and we are spending billions. >> the house appropriations committee voted down a democratic amendment that would have offered $825 million for the technology known as positive train control and according to the ntsb if that technology had been in place this accident wouldnt have happened? >> exactly. but we had given amtrak ...

This tragedy. remember, 200 were injured. eight people were killed. joining me now frommed in is attorney michael ollie who is representing bruce phillips. thank you for being us with. if you can just answer how is your client doing today? >> hes doing better. hes been released from the hospital which is good news. hes got a long road ahead of him. he still has major concussion. he has orthopedic and neurological injuries. he will be out of work for some period of time. but will hopefully work t...

Next part of it, relay stations along the tracks themselves. to tell them where switches are p. what position theyre in. potential hazards, crossings and overall ground patrol effort which brings all of that information together and turns it into one simple graphic that would show up for any engineer out there. showing him or her precisely when the train need to be slowed down. how much time itll take at that weight and at that length after train, that sort of thing and if they do not responding...

Engineers lawyer will present? >> absolutely. frankly, if i were a train engineer i would want this positive train control to help me in case i made a mistake. he obviously screwed up here and just to echo what mr. francis was saying this positive control technology that exists amtrak is using in other parts, but this is the busiest corridor in the united states and this is the place you would want to put it in first, and why they didnt do that i dont know. possibly a funding issue and managing ...

Tracks here are in good shape. he also pushed back on these claims that perhaps these tracks here are in detearriorateing condition. he says theyre very well-maintained tracks. take a listen to what else he told us just a short time ago. you heard the news 106-mile-per-hours in a 50-mile-per-hour zone. what was your initial feeling? >> we knew that was too fast. >> what do you say to people who say, if it was installed, it could have been prevented this fatal accident? >> i would say had it been...

Metro north crash north of manhattan where the tired train conductor zoned out and four people died. and what happened in philadelphia, for some reason heading into that 50-mile-an hour curve that train was being driven at over 100 miles an hour. the cars flung off the rails. yeah positive train control would have prevented this crash too. but the system is not in place yet. amtrak has been slowly getting that system in place piece by piece, doing this here and that there. they have positive tra...