Posted on 05/19/2015 10:28:05 AM PDT by Olog-hai
The union for Amtrak’s locomotive engineers on Tuesday urged the railroad to put a second engineer at the controls of trains on the busy Northeast Corridor, where a derailment killed eight people and injured more than 200 others.
“The public would never accept an airline operation with a single person in the cockpit,” the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen said in a statement. “There is no reason that rail employees and rail passengers’ lives should be viewed any differently.”
Brandon Bostian, 32, was alone in the locomotive of Train 188 when it derailed May 12, about 10 minutes after departing Philadelphia for New York.
Amtrak hasn’t had a second crew member in the locomotive of its Northeast Corridor trains since Congress ended the requirement in the early 1980s, the union said.
Amtrak didn’t immediately comment on the union’s request. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
The union agreed to cutting down train crew size and getting rid of an extra front cab crewmember, the fireman, some time ago. It also agreed to eliminating a crew member position in the rear of the train by eliminating the caboose and replacing it with a tail light.
I think we might be safer with no engineers. Those new locomotives are practically idiot proof, but Brandon Bostian still managed to crash one. Almost like it was done on purpose.
If I applied this quote to the Real-Truth-Translator “There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be a 2nd engineer” would say “Dead bodies are a great way to lobby for more high paying union jobs.”
Uh, that worked for Germanwings...
which would (more or less) double the number of unionized engineers needed.
Sure. This will only cost $1 billion more per year on the budget.....
I don’t trust bots either. They’ve been in place on the Washington Metro for ages, but they’ve killed people too.
So two crew members crash a train while playing poker, dominos, watching Netflix, having sex, ...............
What Amtrak must install are systems to monitor if the train is going on the track at excessive speed or running a red signal.
Reportedly, ACSES (or the Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System, Amtrak’s version of automatic train stop) was installed on that part of the line, but reportedly not switched on.
And remember, any system can be defeated if one’s will is to harm.
US regulations make such systems very expensive to install and maintain.
No single man crews, period. The disaster in Ontario should be enough to persuade anyone.
Some railroads (a few, not many), are pushing for just an engineer, and no conductor or brakeman.
If you want one crew member running a train, then you would have no problem with only a pilot and no co-pilot or flight crew on a commercial airliner, or a captain of a ship, and no XO on board.
Amtrak is the epitome of a government run organization.
Why? They will just both get amnesia and walk away unaccountable. Well, unless they are conservatives, especially of the unfavorable races and religions.
One of the things that hurt private railroads’ bottom line in addition to lots of regulations and taxes was the legal requirement for keeping firemen employed after steam locomotives were replaced with diesels.
Positive Train Control, the system receiving so much attention in the news since this crash, is capable of operating the train with no on-board human operator. It is currently used on a number of light-rail systems.
But I thought it wasn’t the engineer’s fault?
Unions can’t keep their lies straight.
I’m not sure having two gay engineers in the cab at the same time is going to improve safety.
Coupling...uncoupling...the caboose
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