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comment by wasoxygen
wasoxygen  ·  3236 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why Can't America Have Great Trains?

    A seven-car Amtrak train traveling from Washington, D.C., to New York City derailed in Philadelphia while taking a sharp turn at 106 mph, more than twice the speed limit on that stretch of track. Several cars flipped over, throwing riders and luggage against the walls; 8 people were killed and more than 200 of the train’s 238 passengers were injured. “It was like being in the dryer,” said one passenger. The FBI investigated the possibility that the train had been struck by a grapefruit-size projectile, and friends of the train’s engineer said he was an “unabashed nerd” who “loved everything about trains.” “I’m not inferring that this accident happened because he was gay,” said a right-wing radio host, “but I do think it’s an interesting part of the story.” A member of the National Transportation Safety Board said that positive train control, an automatic speed-control system installed on certain sections of track, could have prevented the derailment; Amtrak reported that it had not implemented P.T.C. on the curve involved in the accident because of budget constraints; and the House Appropriations Committee voted to decrease Amtrak funding by $252 million. “When you give them money, they squander it,” said John Mica (R., Fla.), who called the rail agency a “Soviet-style operation.” In Russia...

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user-inactivated  ·  3235 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I, too, read that this morning. Wonderful counterpoint.