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Tue 12 May, 2015 11:47 pm
This is going to be a problem. For years the debate about do we want passenger trains, how much, and who should run them has been simmering but not resolved. This might be the time.
The NEC (NorthEast corridor) is an embarrassment by the way, efforts to rebuld the 1920/1930's system has been going on for decades, and is going poorly. Not surprisingly this is not only due to lack of funds, but also poor management from the government agencies that run the thing. Putting down 300,000 defective ties in the 1980's, then needing to pay most of the cost to replace them far earlier than programmed is but a single example.
Bonus points for who ever get closest to picking the actual reopening of the section of rail. I say partial service thurs, full service friday
What we need are high speed bullet trains, by damn. Think of the destruction would with those.
@roger,
roger wrote:
What we need are high speed bullet trains, by damn. Think of the destruction would with those.
Dont worry, you and I will be dead before America has High Speed Rail.
@hawkeye10,
If we're not, those high speed trains and present trackage will get us there lots sooner.
@roger,
roger wrote:
If we're not, those high speed trains and present trackage will get us there lots sooner.
The NEC cant run HSR, the track ROW is too curvy. Because we live in a litigious society, the number of tunnels, and because the area is built up it would cost over $100 billion to make the NEC HSR ready. Turns out that buying city land, paying lawyers and building rail trenches(to counter the noise pollution and thus get judges to sign off on plans) and tunnels gets spendy. That probably will not happen in my kids lifetime.
Taking a curve way too fast......that is a personnel problem. METRO NORTH I think it was did the same thing about two years ago.
@hawkeye10,
Running a train at 106 mph when it is supposed to go 50 is a rookie mistake. We look like idiots to the rest of the world.
I would like to find out if there are videos of previous runs by the same engineer. He might have been slowly speeding it up from one run to the next. Thrill seeking or other, I will not guess.
@edgarblythe,
This normally is the engineer "zoning out" (there is a more fancy term that escapes me), not something that is intention or related to drugs/drinking.
@hawkeye10,
I know about zoning out. It happened to me once, when driving a car. I had a minor accident as a result. I still think it's relevant to check old videos.
If you call for better gun control after a mass shooting, you're exploiting a tragedy. If you call for more investment in infrastructure after an Amtrak derailment, you're exploiting a tragedy. Good. Let's exploit a few tragedies to make this nation better.
@jcboy,
Quote:The source reports that Bostian’s prior train—Acela express 2121—suffered what is known as a “cab signal failure” after it departed New York for Washington at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
As a result, Bostian could not rely on the electronic indicators and audible alerts in the cab that present an engineer with the information conveyed by the hundreds of trackside signals, along with the advised speed.
Instead, Bostian would have been required to directly observe, register and interpret the signals with no backup in the event he happened to miss a crucial one because he was momentarily distracted or his vision was obscured.
An engineer in these circumstances cannot lose his focus for even an instant for fear he will miss an alert advising him of a train up ahead or an upcoming switch or any number of other circumstances that would require him to slow.
“It’s absolutely crazy on the nerves,” the source says.
If the cab signal failure had been detected before departing the station, Railroad Rule 554 would have precluded Bostian from leaving until the system was repaired and tested
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/15/amtrak-engineer-was-frazzled-by-prior-route.html
Makes perfect sense. Amtrak systems are becoming increasingly unreliable due to lack of funding.
Amtrak did not resume full service till today. Investigators are still trying to determine if the engineer was rattled by someone throwing something at his windshield. The train was traveling through an area that is known for this sort of thing.
@hawkeye10,
Quote:The Metro-North train engineer who fell asleep at the controls right before his commuter train derailed as it sped through a curve — killing four — has been cleared of any criminal charges, it was revealed Thursday.
William Rockefeller was doing 82 mph on a 30 mph curve when the train flew off the tracks on Dec. 1, 2013, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The engineer suffers from sleep apnea and said he felt “dazed” a moment before the train jumped the track near the Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx, the NTSB said.
The decision not to charge Rockefeller, 48, was made several months ago, said Terry Raskyn, spokeswoman for Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson.
“There was no finding of criminality,” Raskyn said.
“There was a medical condition here. That was one of many factors I’m sure that was looked into during the investigation,” Raskyn said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/metro-north-engineer-avoids-charges-2013-crash-article-1.2222693
Short of showing up for work stoned or drunk criminal charges for deadly error are very controversial.
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