‘Tap’ is a reminder on train safety

The issue: The recent slow-motion collision of two mostly riderless trains in Bridgeport caused no serious injuries. Metro-North officials, in fact, described the incident as a “tap.” The “tap” nevertheless injured three of the railroad’s workers, two of whom were taken from the scene on stretchers, according to Bridgeport city officials.

The Federal Railroad Administration is going to investigate the incident. So, at the moment, there’s no way to know what happened.

But given history, it is disconcerting that the two trains — one an empty Waterbury branch train, the other a Metro-North service train — moving at a snail’s pace, by most accounts, could collide.

Metro-North has been a focus of the FRA at least as far back as 2013, when a serious derailment near the Bridgeport-Fairfield line injured 75 people.

As noted by Hearst Connecticut Media columnist Jim Cameron in a news story on last Thursday’s incident, “I’m not overly concerned, unless there proves to be a failure of the safety systems that are in place.”

Metro-North remains under a year’s-end deadline to complete installation of the technology called Positive Train Control, a computerized network of GPS, sensors, transmitters and other equipment that can take control of a train that, for whatever the reason, is running dangerously.

We are in no way suggesting that Thursday’s incident occurred because of the lack of a PTC system.

But a “tap” that injures three people is a sobering reminder of the importance of safety systems.

Among problems PTC can detect — and take corrective action — are a train traveling too fast for conditions and operating on a closed track.

Experts believe PTC could have prevented a 2013 crash on the Harlem line in the Bronx that killed four passengers. In that case, an engineer with an undiagnosed case of sleep apnea fell asleep at the throttle, allowing the untended train to accelerate to a speed of 82 mph as it negotiated a curve that called for a 30 mph maximum.

What we wrote: Thankfully, years have passed since the last deadly incident involving a MetroNorth train. That, however, is no reason for officials to take their eyes off the ball and ease up on the push to equip this heavily traveled commuter line with the protection of the potentially life-saving technology of Positive Train Control.

The deadline for installation is Dec. 31. And that is a deadline that’s been once extended. It should not be extended again.”

Editorial: April 22, 2018

Where it stands: Last spring, Metro-North officials said PTC installation was more than 60 percent complete. David Mayer, then the chief safety officer for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, of which Metro-North is a part, told a congressional committee he believed all MTA lines would meet the deadline.

Thursday’s incident in Bridgeport should be a reminder to all involved of the need to keep shoulders to the wheel to maximize safety for the riders of this heavily traveled commuter line.