(The following story by Serena Maria Daniels appeared on the Orange County Register website on September 22.)
ORANGE, Calif. — In the aftermath of the Metrolink crash that claimed 25 lives in Chatsworth, the Orange County Transportation Authority gave its support to legislation today that would increase train safety
A bill working its way through the state Senate would require trains be equipped with a so-called positive train control system technology that would stop the train in case a conductor or engineer failed to respond to signals.
“It’s critical that a uniform system be developed nationwide with the assistance of the Federal Railroad Administration,” said OCTA board member Art Brown.
By next year, Metrolink plans on installing 107 new collision-resistant cars that would limit the energy of a crash to the locomotive and help prevent impact in passenger cars.
In other regions of the country—such as the rail corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston — trains are equipped with the positive control technology that stops them automatically if there is the danger of a collision.
Officials from the Federal Railroad Administration said that the new technology would cost about $2 billion to implement nationwide.