(Reuters distributed the following article by John Crawley on November 7.)
WASHINGTON — Federal safety investigators are renewing their push for technology that can be applied nationwide to automatically stop trains if they violate signals, saying it is long overdue.
In a letter sent on Thursday to the Association of American Railroads, the National Transportation Safety Board (news – web sites) recommended the freight rail group establish priorities and aggressively work to resolve long-standing technical obstacles.
“While the safety board understands that (train control technology) is complex and expensive, the board remains convinced that these systems provide the best approach to reduce human-error collisions,” safety board chairman Ellen Engleman said.
The recommendation was prompted by the board’s finding last month that crew error most likely caused a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train to ram a commuter train last year outside Los Angeles, killing two people. Investigators said a train control system would have prevented the accident.
The Federal Railroad Administration is working on standards for train control technology but an industry source said regulators would not likely set a deadline for implementing them and would probably leave it to freight companies and equipment manufacturers to resolve the most important issues.
Although the safety board has investigated 30 collisions since 1999 where control systems might have prevented the accidents, there is little or no consensus outside that agency that they are needed across the country. But there is some agreement the enhancement would boost efficiency by letting railroads run trains closer together.
The most modern train control systems use global positioning satellites to monitor separation and systems to engage brakes if a locomotive ran a warning or stop signal. For years, Amtrak and all other trains on its heavily traveled Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston have used less sophisticated technology for automatically stopping trains if they violate signal speed limits.
An FRA spokesman would not disclose details of the pending U.S. regulation but said the rule would address the thorny problem of how to operate control systems seamlessly nationwide.
There is a national freight network but tracks, signals and trains are operated by individual railroads. Most have similar equipment and systems but they are not identical. Amtrak utilizes freight-owned tracks outside the Northeast.
Tom White, a spokesman for the freight rail association, would not comment on the safety recommendation. “There is no one answer to that question now. But it has to work. It can’t be 90 percent effective and you have to makes sure it is something you can afford,” White said.
He said the industry is testing a system in Illinois, which probably will not be completed for a couple of years. “This is not off-the-shelf technology. It requires a great deal of testing.”