Speed Control Was Installed, Not On at Time of Amtrak Crash

U.S.News ^ | May 14, 2015 | By Alan Neuhauser

[Jim Robinson]

A computer system that allows speeding trains to be slowed remotely – potentially averting deadly derailments – was installed in the section of track in Philadelphia where Tuesday’s fatal Amtrak crash occurred but had not been turned on, congressional sources tell U.S. News.

“The PTC was installed in the section of track where the Philadelphia accident occurred, but for whatever reason had not been turned on, the PTC in that section,” Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., tells U.S. News, referring to "positive train control."

His account was corroborated by Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.

“The tracks had PTC, the train had PTC,” Harris says.

Both congressmen are members of the House Appropriations Committee, which contacted Amtrak for more information about the crash.

The train, Amtrak Northeast Regional 188 from the nation's capital to New York City, was hurtling at more than twice the recommended speed limit when it jumped the tracks just after 9 p.m. Yet the technology that could have slowed it had not been enabled – allegedly because of delays in installing the system, Harris, Dent and a third congressional source say, citing communications between the Appropriations Committee and Amtrak.

"According to Amtrak, PTC was installed in the section of track where the Philly accident occurred," a committee source writes in an email to U.S. News. "There have been delays in 'turning it on' associated with FCC dealings and getting the bandwidth to upgrade the radios from 900 MHz to something higher (for more reliability)."

Amtrak's application for the bandwidth needed to use the positive train control system was approved in "early March," an FCC official says.

[NormsRevenge]

Reckun if it was a coal train. Mitch would be there. His hand on the throttle. ;-)

[RitaOK]

Automated controls can not be over ridden by the engineer? That isn’t all that comforting, is it?

If engineer boy wants to shoot selfies, or even wants to save the train, nevertheless, he can never over ride the automated controls?

The Left wants a world where no one is EVER accountable, responsible, or enjoys/suffers ANY consequences.

[Publius]

This train’s rails have up to 70mp limits;

First off, let's define the FRA's speed limits for trains. Outside of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, which is a special case, freight trains are restricted to a top speed of 70 mph, and passenger trains are restricted to a top speed of 79 mph. There are specialized rights of way where passenger trains are allowed a top speed on 110 mph.

On the Northeast Corridor, the top speed is 150 mph, but there is only a short stretch in New England where that speed is permissible. The rest of the Corridor has a top speed of 135 mph, but that is not everywhere, just certain stretches.

The place where the accident occurred has a speed reduction from 80 mph to 50 mph due to the curve at Frankford Junction. The clown that was driving the train was moving at 106 mph through the 80 mph zone, and he hit the 50 mph zone at 102 mph.

In 1943 the same thing happened when the Pennsylvania Railroad's hotshot Congressional Limited jumped the tracks at that exact spot due to operator error. That time 79 people were killed. There were fewer people killed this time because our passenger cars are built more strongly.

[Domangart]

That was not just the train. That was the brand new train with all the latest bells and whistles.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Uh-oh. Someone mentioned maybe the employee unions complained about the device. That is an interesting theory. Perhaps they thought it cut down on man hours in some way.

[NativeSon]

50,000+ trains passed that same curve without a hint of a problem, yet this one is going over TWICE the allowed speed. Answer that question, and you have the answer to the problem.

Global Warming
George Bush
Hateful, partisan Republicans that hate
Global Warming
Walker does not have a college degree

[spodefly]

My understanding is was not yet active because the FCC was languishing over granting use of the frequencies used by the system ...

[cpdiii]

In a study using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III data, Cochran and Mays15 recently found that 19.3% of their sample of men who have sex with men (MSM) had attempted suicide, compared with 3.6% of the men who had only female sexual partners

I have no problem with gays and their lifestyle so long as it does not infringe on my rights. What they do and how they live is their business, not mine.

For arguments sake I present the following:

You take someone you love to the airport and you have the choice of two aircraft to put them on. Both aircraft leave at the same time, both aircraft will arrive at the same time and both tickets cost the same amount.

Will you put your child, wife, husband etc. on the aircraft that has a pilot with an attempted suicide rate that is 5 times greater than the other pilots rate?This is not rocket science.

Cut and paste into your browser for full article http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447240/

[NativeSon]

The real question is why are trains even designed to go over the speed limit in the first place.

I take that exact route... the trains travel at high speeds and my Garmin clocked my trip 2 weeks ago at 133 mph.

[Publius]

The speed limit for that short stretch of curved track is 50 mph. The rest of the Northeast Corridor has top speeds that range from 135 to 150 mph.

[CedarDave]

In 1943 the same thing happened when the Pennsylvania Railroad's hotshot Congressional Limited jumped the tracks at that exact spot due to operator error. That time 79 people were killed. There were fewer people killed this time because our passenger cars are built more strongly.

The cause of that wreck was not operator error, but an over-heated journal that failed at the curve.

The overheated journal box on the front axle of car #7 finally froze up. It took only an instant for the next events to occur. At 45 mph, the front axle of Car #7 snapped in two. The broken axle fell and caught under the front truck of the car catapulting the front end of car #7 skyward. The car rose to an almost vertical position before it fell back to earth. Then, rolling over and over, Car #7, with over 50 passengers aboard, hit the upright of the signal tower, lengthwise. The impact peeled the roof off the car along the line of windows "like opening a can of sardines".

[Publius]

Thank you.

[Cementjungle]

http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/456/621/ATK-12-023%20Amtrak%20to%20More%20Than%20Triple%20PTC%20Track%20Miles%20%2803-22-12%29.pdf

[Presbyterian Reporter]

But, of course, as we all well know it is still Bush’s fault.(sarc)

Never will the media blame the Obama regime for anything.

This little factoid kinda negates the talking points that the tightwad conservatives have not been spending enough money on infrastructure.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

So you are telling me that I (taxpayer) paid for this system and somebody turned it off? How would “more spending” solve this problem?

[CedarDave]

Here is another piece of information that has been lost in the morass of conflicting stories about PTC. From an opinion article at CNN by Fred Frailey (long time Trains Magazine writer and columnist):

Meanwhile, Amtrak has its own version of positive train control, called Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System. Its sophisticated technology is tested and known to work. Alas, its adoption has been slow in the Amtrak-owned Northeast Corridor, operative only between Boston and New Haven, Connecticut, on a short stretch of New Jersey just outside of New York City and in parts of northern Maryland.
The danger train travel can't banish

The irony is that this technology was installed and operating for southbound trains at this location because of the dramatic speed reduction from 110 mph to 70 mph or lower. It was not installed northbound because the speed reduction required to safely take the curve was not considered significant enough to warrant it's installation. Based on what I have read elsewhere, to install that technology would only require a few days labor for hardware work and very little software programming.

In summary, the PTC commotion regarding this specific location is mainly BS and I would expect that the current system will be in and working at that location well before the end of the year. As for PTC, Boardman or no one else can guarantee it will be working flawlessly by the start of 2016. As Frailey states:

Not until 2017 or 2018 will the large railroads finish installing positive train control. And until they do and flip the switch, there's no guarantee that it will even work. One fear is that positive train control will choke on its own complexity and slow the railroad network to a crawl.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

Nadar should know ... note the following ...

In 2000, Nader made his first bid for the U.S. presidency. He ran on the Green Party ticket and was accused of taking votes away from Democrat Al Gore in a very close election. Nader was called an election “spoiler” by some since Gore ended up losing the key state of Florida by only 537 votes.

Ignoring the harsh criticism, Nader ran for president again in 2004 as an independent. He announced in February 2008 that he’s running for president as a third-party candidate. With Matt Gonzalez as his vice-presidential running mate, Nader has gotten their ticket on the ballot in 45 states, and they are running as write-in candidates in the remaining states. With Matt Gonzalez as his vice-presidential running mate, Nader has gotten their ticket on the ballot in 45 states, and they are running as write-in candidates in the remaining states.

[CedarDave]

So you are telling me that I (taxpayer) paid for this system and somebody turned it off? How would “more spending” solve this problem?

Currently it doesn't work; what does work is the system that Amtrak currently uses on some segments of the NEC but for what ever reason didn't see fit to install over the entire route. See my #56.

[NoCmpromiz]

Pennsylvania Railroad's hotshot Congressional Limited jumped the tracks at that exact spot due to operator error.

Ummm..

Not exactly. You err in stating 'operator error' unless you have a really good source that contradicts every other report on the accident. If so I would be interested in seeing it.

Here's what is commonly reported about that accident:

Everything appeared in order as the train passed through North Philadelphia station ahead of schedule and slowed its speed, but shortly afterward, 
as it passed a rail yard, workers noticed flames coming from a journal box (a hot box) on one of the cars and rang the next signal tower at 
Frankford Junction, but the call came too late. Before the tower man could react, disaster struck as the train passed his signal tower 
at 6:06 pm traveling at a speed of 56 mph. The journal box on the front of car #7 seized and an axle snapped, catching the underside of the 
truck and catapulting the car upwards. It struck a signal gantry, which peeled off its roof along the line of windows "like a can 
of sardines". Car #8 wrapped itself around the gantry upright in a figure U. The next six cars were scattered at odd angles over the tracks, 
and the last two cars remained undamaged, with bodies of the 79 dead lying scattered over the tracks. As it was wartime, many servicemen 
home on leave were aboard who helped the injured..

In total, 79 passengers died, all from cars #7 and #8, and 117 were injured, some seriously. The inquiry quickly established the overheated 
journal box as the cause of the accident......

Source..

[TBP]

Those nasty Republicans didn’t want it on.