Current:Home > MarketsPennsylvania train crash highlights shortcomings of automated railroad braking system -WealthRoots Academy
Pennsylvania train crash highlights shortcomings of automated railroad braking system
Chainkeen View
Date:2025-04-10 09:11:43
The collision of three Norfolk Southern trains in Pennsylvania early this month highlights the shortcomings of the automated braking system that was created to prevent such crashes.
None of the circumstances the National Transportation Safety Board described Tuesday in its preliminary report on the March 2 derailment would have triggered the automated positive train control system to stop the trains.
Not only was the system incapable of stopping the second train before it smashed into the back of a stopped train, but it also couldn’t stop the third train. It ran into the derailed cars blockings its track when it arrived less than a minute later.
“PTC today has not generally been designed to protect them in that situation,” railroad safety expert Chris Barkan said.
Congress required railroads to develop the positive train control system after a deadly 2008 collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth, California. That crash killed 25 people, including the Metrolink engineer, and injured more than 100. It took more than a decade and roughly $15 billion for the railroads to design and complete the system, but it only works in certain circumstances.
In this Pennsylvania crash, the eastbound train that smashed into a stopped train in Lower Saucon Township along the Lehigh River had slowed to 13 mph (21 kph) after passing a restricted speed signal. But without a stop signal, the braking system would not have been triggered.
The three railcars that derailed after that first collision blocked the adjacent track, and the third train smashed into them at about 22 mph (35 kph). The braking system relies on information from the railroad’s signals to stop a train, and it can’t detect when something is blocking the tracks. But given that the third train arrived less than a minute later, there wouldn’t have been enough time to stop it anyway.
Six railcars, including three carrying ethanol and butane residue, derailed along with two locomotives on the third train, sending the locomotives into the river. No hazardous materials spilled other than the diesel that leaked from the locomotives into the river. The seven crew members aboard the three trains had minor injuries.
Norfolk Southern estimated that the crashes caused $2.5 million damage, but the Atlanta-based railroad declined to comment on the NTSB’s preliminary report. The final report that will detail the cause won’t be completed for more than a year.
NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said preliminary information “suggests that PTC limitations were involved in the accident” and no mechanical problems have been found at this early stage.
The NTSB said its investigation will focus on the railroad’s rules, procedures and training. Norfolk Southern’s safety practices have been in the spotlight since one of its trains derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023. That train released hazardous chemicals and caught fire in a derailment that prompted calls for changes in the industry that have largely stalled.
Federal regulations require crews operating a train in restricted speed areas to slow down enough that they will be able to stop within half the distance they can see. The NTSB said a light rain was falling at the time of the crash, but it didn’t say whether that impeded what the engineer and conductor could see. The report also didn’t say whether there were any curves or hills that made it hard for the crew to see the stopped train.
Barkan, who leads the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said a large number of collisions have occurred because crews failed to properly observe restricted speed.
veryGood! (7916)
Related
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- 2024 Emmys: Zuri Hall Details Custom Red Carpet Gown She Designed
- 2024 Emmys: Hannah Montana's Moisés Arias Proves He's Left Rico Behind
- Prosecutors: Armed man barricaded in basement charged officers with weapon, was shot and killed
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- NASCAR at Watkins Glen: Start time, TV, live stream, lineup for 2024 playoff race
- Justin Jefferson injury update: Vikings WR 'hopefully' day-to-day following quad injury
- 'The Life of Chuck' wins Toronto Film Festival audience award. Is Oscar next?
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- South Dakota-Portland State football game called off due to illness within Vikings program
Ranking
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- MLB playoffs: Does 'hot team' reign supreme or will favorites get their mojo back?
- A Minnesota man gets 33 years for fatally stabbing his wife during Bible study
- Hailey Bieber's Dad Stephen Baldwin Describes Her and Justin Bieber's Baby Boy Jack
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Taylor Swift rocks Chiefs T-shirt dress at Bengals game to support Travis Kelce
- Winning numbers for Mega Millions drawing on September 13; jackpot reset to $20 million
- Brian Kelly bandwagon empties, but LSU football escapes disaster against South Carolina
Recommendation
Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
Buying a house? Four unconventional ways to become a homeowner.
Emmys best-dressed: Stars winning the red carpet so far, including Selena Gomez, Anna Sawai
2024 Emmys Fans Outraged After Shelley Duvall Left Out of In Memoriam Segment
Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
2024 Emmy winners and presenters couldn't keep their paws off political cat jokes
Brian Kelly bandwagon empties, but LSU football escapes disaster against South Carolina
Report shows system deficiencies a year before firefighting foam spill at former Navy base