Railroads told to get busy on braking
Automatic technology might have saved train
WASHINGTON – Railroads must act urgently to meet a deadline of Dec. 31 to adopt automatic braking technology, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a letter to 47 of the nation’s railroads made public Tuesday.
Chao’s call to action came after an Amtrak train derailed Dec. 18 near Seattle, killing three passengers, after going 80 mph into a 30-mph curve.
Federal investigators continue to study what caused the crash, but rail experts said the braking technology, called Positive Train Control, could have slowed the train. At the time of the crash, the system was installed but not operational.
That accident and other fatal crashes in recent years have stoked the urgency for the technology, which can slow down or halt trains that aren’t obeying posted speed limits or track signals.
The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended braking technology since 1970. Since that time, the board counted 146 accidents or derailments that could have been avoided, and there were at least 300 fatalities and 7,000 injuries by 2015.
In the letter sent Dec. 27, Chao said the Federal Railroad Administration “has been directed to work with your organization’s leadership to help create an increased level of urgency to underscore the imperative of meeting existing expectations for rolling out this critical rail-safety technology.
“Advancing the implementation of Positive Train Control is among the most important rail safety initiatives on the department’s agenda,” Chao wrote.
Congress required railroads to adopt automatic braking after a collision in Chatsworth, Calif., in 2008 between a commuter train and a freight train killed 25 people.
Chao said after reviewing the latest data about the progress railroads are making that many of the nation’s railroads had fallen behind schedule and would need to step up their efforts to meet the deadline.
About 45% of the freight-railroad track and 24% of the passenger-railroad track have automatic braking in operation, the Department of Transportation said. Twelve railroads reported installing less than half the equipment needed by Sept. 30.
The technology collectively provides signals between tracks, trains and dispatch centers to slow down speeding trains or to stop them at the appropriate signals if the engineer isn’t responding.