Page 43 - Train Control News Today

>> the reason it wasnt there is, what money? it costs a lot to put it into place, is that it? >> it costs billions. and one of the other challenges is we have multiple rail lines operating. its not just a single national rail carrier. we have at least six major freight carriers. we have multiple short lines. we have multiple passenger lines. the integration of those systems has proven to be more challenging than first thought. but we cannot stop. and the government needs to help. and the idea th...

So we have called for positive train control for many many years. its on our most wanted list. congress has mandated that it be installed by the end of this year. so were very keen on positive train control. we feel that had such a system been installed in this section of track, this accident would not have occurred. [ inaudible question ] is this train equipped with a dead man switch? some have it, some dont. oftentimes in place of the dead man switch they have an alerter. if theres no activity...

Thousands of people who are familiar and who take this train, this route. and again, if it is indeed the case that there was some sort of incident with a csx freight train, mary how does that happen? >> well it happens because of problems on the track and scheduling the cars on the track and not getting enough information to the engineers of the train. now, that is one of the things that this system called positive train control wont solve all the problems. it cant, for example, an accident of a...

Opportunity to restore cut that is were going to be implemented and they didnt do it. so cameras cost money. everything that we are talking about, positive train control, cameras in there, you know people suggested to me today, you know what about seatbelts? all these things cost money. a lot of money comes from the federal government wolf. there has to be an understanding to use your resources wisely. while we were at d.o.t. we placed a high priority if not the number one priority on safety. i ...

Railroads in our country? >> hi am sure statistically it is safe compared to auto travel but theyre trying to get railroads put in place which they do have in some quarters has been postponed and put off and it is law makers letting them do this. 20 years ago there was a head on collision and they promised the families that they would put positive train control in. 20 years later it is not there. is all about the money no doubt about that. jenna: a lot of conversation over the next several days....

Accident. the same token, it would have prevented the type of accident we are here to investigate. we think its time to have it implemented. >> there was no positive train control outside of new york city in westchester when the train derailed going too quickly, is that right? >> thats exactly right. that was in the bronx. we have already made a determination that ptc would have prevented that accident. its designed to prevent four things. one of the four things is prevent derailments due to ove...

Do you know? >> you know i dont know wolf. positive train control was something we worked on a lot when i was at d.o.t. it was mandated by congress so its actually in the law that positive train control must be implemented not only by passenger rail but freight rail. it is an expensive item but, i know that amtrak was very near to having it implemented close to where this accident took place. im not precisely sure what the reason was that it wasnt -- had not been installed at the time of this cr...

Absolutely preventable. and we need to consider technologies like positive train control. >> what possibly other than human error could result in the train going 106 miles an hour into that curve as opposed to 50 miles per hour? >> well you know, it is really early in the investigation. its not just about ruling things in. but its also about ruling things out. they have got to test all of the systems the displays, things like the speedometer, to make sure everything is working as designed so tha...

It also could be be the train control system and what concerns me in this accident this area should have come under basic positive train control system in the end of 2012. >> positive train control, so our viewers know that is a system that is leak a autopilot of the plane. it regulates the train. >> it controls the speed of the train and makes sure it is safely complying. >> you are saying that the train should have come upper that requirement but obviously was not? yeah even if the engineer fa...

We have widened the area about 45 minutes or so. we sent out another 25 philadelphia police officers and supervisors in a widened search area to continue to search. we will not rest or stop. we will maintain focus on trying to get as much information as possible about search and rescue capacity and until we are firmly convinced that we have searched every possible place, we will not end those efforts. >> mayor, as you know theres something called positive train control. thats supposed to be able...