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TRANSPORTATION: RAILROAD: DISASTERS :
UNITED STATES: CITIES: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA:
Amtrak Says Shortfalls and Rules Delayed Its Safety System
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Amtrak Says Shortfalls and Rules Delayed Its Safety System
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and JAD MOUAWAD
MAY 14, 2015
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/us/amtrak-says-it-was-
just-months-away-from-installing-safety-system.html
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A shorter URL for the above link:
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http://tinyurl.com/kjagzde
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WASHINGTON The Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia on Tuesday
night was equipped with an automatic speed control system that officials
say could have prevented the wreck, which killed eight passengers and
injured hundreds. But the system, which was tantalizingly close to being
operational, was delayed by budgetary shortfalls, technical hurdles and
bureaucratic rules, officials said Thursday.
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In 2008, Congress ordered the installation of what are known as positive
train control systems, which can detect an out-of-control, speeding train
and automatically slow it down. But because lawmakers failed to provide
the railroads access to the wireless frequencies required to make the
system work, Amtrak was forced to negotiate for airwaves owned by private
companies that are often used in mobile broadband.
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Officials said Amtrak had made installation of the congressionally
mandated safety system a priority and was ahead of most other railroads
around the country.
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But the railroad struggled for four years to buy the rights to airwaves in
the Northeast Corridor that would have allowed them to turn the system
on.The transponders were on the tracks, said one person who attended a
Thursday morning briefing for congressional staff members. But they also
said they werent operational, because of this ongoing spectrum issue.
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Despite the delays, the system may have been just months from being
operational when Northeast Regional Train No. 188 careered into a sharp
curve at over 100 miles per hour, twice the posted speed, and hurtled off
the tracks Tuesday night. The Federal Communications Commission had
approved Amtraks application for the purchase of wireless spectrum from an
entity called Skybridge Spectrum Foundation on March 5, clearing the way
for final tests on the system, a spokeswoman for the commission said.
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If the system had been operational, there wouldnt have been this accident,
said Representative Robert A. Brady, Democrat of Pennsylvania.
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Since the crash, Amtrak has come under sharp questioning about why
positive train control was not already in operation. Addressing those
concerns in a news conference Thursday, Joseph H. Boardman, Amtraks chief
executive, confirmed that the system was close to the testing phase,
adding that he expected that the technology would be operational
throughout the Northeast Corridor by the end of the year.
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The complete article may be read at the URL above.
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