Making Commuter and Freight Trains Safer

In September 2008 a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth, Calif., killing 25 people and injuring more than 100. On Dec. 1, 2013, a Metro-North commuter train derailed in the Bronx, killing four and injuring dozens of others. The train’s engineer had fallen asleep and failed to slow the train from over 82 mph to the maximum authorized 30 mph as it entered a curve.

These and many other incidents could have been avoided, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, if railroads had implemented positive train control (PTC). They were supposed to do just that by the end of 2015. They missed the deadline, but got a reprieve, with Congress pushing back the deadline for PTC implementation to 2018.

Congress first mandated PTC in 2008 for rail lines used to transport passengers or toxic-by-inhalation materials. The unfunded mandate gave railroads seven years to comply. Questions arise: Why push back implementation to 2018? Why the delay? Will PTC actually help, whenever we get there? And what will it mean to emergency managers?

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