Posted on 05/16/2015 8:53:05 AM PDT by CedarDave
The Federal Railroad Administration has reportedly ordered Amtrak to modify its signal system to protect against speeding around sharp curves along the Northeast Corridor, including the one where a train derailed Tuesday night killing eight people.
The Wall Street Journal , citing a person familiar with the matter, reports Amtrak will change its current automatic braking system to protect against speeding trains at the curve where Northeast Regional Train 188 in Philadelphia derailed.
National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said Thursday that such a circuit would have prevented the Amtrak derailment Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
That’ll solve it. Also, make speed limit signs on interstates the size of billboards. Traffic accidents/fatalities will plummet.
BTW, this also puts the lie to those members of Congress who say that if Amtrak infrastructure was funded properly, this accident wouldn’t have happened. The infrastructure, especially in the NYC area, is old and subject to failure (Hudson River tunnels, for example). But to use this accident as a hammer to argue for money for a technology not yet proven when an existing one, if installed, could have prevented the accident, shows how insensitive and greedy the Democratic politicians are.
Speed limit signs the size of billboards don’t automatically stop your car if you exceed the speed limit - the existing technology, if installed, does stop a train.
How many sharp curves are there on the DC to NYC run?
How many times has Bostain traveled this corridor?
Lots of questions the leftist media and Obama do not want to ask.
I’ve got a $50 GPS that plugs into my cigarrette lighter and tells me if I’m speeding on just about any road in the country.
Why can’t the government-run railroad just fix this problem?
Believe it or not, it’s more complicated than that.
The RR I worked for charged Amtrak to use their tracks and paid penalties for delaying Amtrak trains. Amtrak didn’t maintain the infrastructure.
Just getting back to the idea that
The
driver
of
the
train
was
speeding.
More taxpayer boondoggle added to the taxpayer boondoggle that Amtrak has been since it’s inception is...taxpayer boondoggle.
End it, don’t “mend” it.
Amtrak owns, operated and maintains the passenger tracks between Washington DC and NYC. Northeast of NYC to Boston tracks are owned by Amtrak, Metro North, CDOT or the state of Massachusetts depending on location. With some minor exceptions, other Amtrak trains are hosted by the major US railroads including BNSF, UP, NS and CSX.
The difference is your GPS doesn't automatically stop your car if you're speeding (However, that doesn't mean that Big Brother isn't always looking at ways to monitor and control you're driving speed, and where you have been. )
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.