HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — It’s been said repeatedly that Positive Train Control, or PTC, could’ve prevented the Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia. Senator Richard Blumenthal is proposing a plan to radically overhaul rail safety throughout the country and make PTC an immediate reality.
“This four-point plan will be a sweeping, comprehensive, urgent set of measures that will overhaul our rail safety system,” he said.
The plan would implement Positive Train Control, which overrides human error, make railway crossings safer, and place cameras facing inward and outward in the engineer cabs.
“Washington has become complicit because year after year, Congress refuses to allocate funding to make the rail line safe,” said Sen. Chris Murphy.
Both senators say a lack of funding also played a role in the Philadelphia Amtrak crash that killed eight people Tuesday.
“Everyday, people boarding trains from this place are only one human error away from tragedy, death, injury,” said Sen. Blumenthal.
The four-point plan also includes investments to infrastructure. Senator Murphy blames aging and crumbling infrastructure for the 2013 Metro-North crash in Bridgeport.
“Here in Connecticut, our trains are driving over 100-year-old bridges, and tracks that don’t get nearly enough maintenance and inspection,” he said.
At the end of 2016, the New Haven to Springfield, Mass. commuter line should be completed. Officials say it will be equipped with PTC.
