New Technology Could Have Averted Los Angeles Train Crash

Sept. 16, 2008— -- A coast-to-coast monitoring system that would have prevented last week's train collision that killed 26 commuters in California could be available in five years, the Federal Railroad Administration said Monday.

High on the National Transportation Safety Board's wish list, a "positive train control" system would monitor trains' locations and speeds and stop them from colliding if engineers miss signals or other mistakes transpire.

Although multiple products fall under the "positive train control" umbrella, many systems use GPS technology and digital communications to enforce speed restrictions and monitor movement.

If Los Angeles' Metrolink and the area's freight railroads had installed such a system, Friday's accident could have been averted, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman told reporters in a Monday teleconference.

Since the early 1970s, the safety board has been calling on the railroad administration to require railroads to install cab signals and automatic train control on main lines that accommodate both freight and passenger trains.

The national safety board investigates transportation accidents and issues recommendations, while the railroad administration disseminates and enforces rail safety regulations.

In the past three decades, as the safety board has investigated cases in which human error led to fatal accidents, it has stepped up its advocacy of systems that compensate for human mistakes and include collision avoidance.

In 2005, the Federal Railroad Administration established positive train control performance standards for the railroads and is now testing positive train control systems along 2,600 miles of track in nine projects in 16 states, Boardman said.

In the Northeast, high-speed Amtrak trains running along 240 miles of track in parts of Maryland and between New Haven and Boston already use the technology.

"We strongly support the PTC," Boardman said at Monday's teleconference, referring to positive train control.

"We could do this as quickly as five years, maybe even quicker than that if everything comes together right," he said.