Speed a factor in the 2013 Spuyten Duyvil Metro-North derailment that killed seven and injured 60
WASHINGTON – In the wake of the recent Washington state Amtrak train derailment killing three and injuring dozens more, New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand joined with 11 other Senate Democrats to hold railroads accountable for failing to implement sufficient safety measures.
The senators want Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to provide a status report on railroads’ implementation of positive train control (PTC), a technology that prevents trains from colliding and speeding. Congress mandated that it be fully implemented by the end of 2018.
The PTC system was installed on the Amtrak line, but not activated and investigators determined the train was traveling at 80 mph in a 30-mph zone.
The NTSB has been urging the adoption of PTC since 1970 after a Darien, Connecticut collision killing four people. The lawmakers wrote that following the 2008 Chatsworth, California crash that killed 25 people, Congress mandated that railroads implement the technology.
Following fatal train incidents on the Metro-North Railroad line a couple of years ago, the MTA said it would implement PTC on the Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road systems.
