veen don't know if you've seen this story yet or not. Basically, a train derailment occurred on a new stretch of track between Tacoma, WA, and Olympia, WA. Three fatalities, numerous other injuries. Train going 80mp along a 30mph curve.
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veen: I did actually see it all over Twitter and Facebook. Amtrak is behind schedule on their implementation of train control sytems:
Much has been made of the fact that, once again, positive train control—the automatic braking technology, integrated between cars and tracks, that can detect danger and halt trains—had not been switched on. In 2008, shortly after a fatal collision on Metrolink in L.A. County, Congress mandated PTC implementation on all railroads that carry passengers and/or potentially toxic freight by 2015. Although the upgraded trains and tracks in Washington were equipped for the technology, the system was not slated to go live, corridor-wide, until 2018.
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2017/12/passenger-rail-has-an-accountability-problem/548687/
Sadly, it takes deadly accidents to spur safety developments:
The National Transportation Safety Board first recommended the use of “automatic train control” in 1970, a year after two Penn Central commuter trains collided, killing four people and injuring 43.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/19/amtrak-derailment-seattle-washington-positive-train-control