The crash in Hoboken this morning highlights one of the safety problems that NJ Transit has been working on (stalling) for a number of years. Could this accident been avoided if Positive Train Control (PTC) had been in operation?
PTC was mandated by the Federal Government back in 2008 after a commuter train crash in California. This system was supposed to be in operation by the 1st of January of this year and yet it has not been implemented as of today’s date.
By now you might be wondering what PTC is and how it works, so here is an explanation:
PTC is an unprecedented set of highly advanced technologies designed to automatically stop a train before certain types of accidents occur. Specifically, as mandated by law, PTC is being developed to prevent:
– Train-to-train collisions
– Derailments caused by excessive speed
– Unauthorized incursions by trains onto sections of track where maintenance activities are taking place
– Movement of a train through a track switch left in the wrong positions
PTC will not prevent accidents caused as a result of:
-Track equipment failure
– Improper vehicular movement through a grade crossing
– Trespassing on railroad tracks
– Some types of train operator error
Without getting very technical (boring) the train carries a transponder that communicates with a central monitoring system and if a non-allowed condition occurs then it notifies the operator of the train that something is wrong. And if the operator does not act the PTC system overrides the operator and stops or slows the train. In the train crash at Hoboken PTC would have stopped the train, but of course this system is not operational as of yet and it may take until 2018 or even later for it to become operational.
In my opinion our Congress, spearheaded by Senator Cory Booker, has allowed this situation to stagnate by extending the operational deadline past January 2016. The implementation of PTC should have been a much higher priority than it has been and now in the light of what has happened it should be fast tracked (no pun intended). The safety of the rail riding public is at stake and their safety has been taken for granted when it should have not been.
Hopefully everything that can be done to get PTC up and running as soon as possible will happen. Up to and including any extra funding by the Federal Government to get this very much needed safety system up and running before another avoidable accident happens.
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
