UPDATE: Wall Street Journal Reports What We All Assumed
An Amtrak train involved in a fatal crash here appears to have been traveling at more than 100 miles an hour as it entered a sharp curve where it derailed Tuesday night, killing at least six people, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation.
The speed limit in that section of track drops to 50 miles per hour, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
This seemed painfully obvious… to everyone but reporters openly throwing around the word “explosion” last night… the minute you saw the map of where the train went off the tracks.
That said, there were three distinct flashes. Here’s a GIF of video obtained by NBC 10. I would assume this is power lines or transformers blowing:
An automatic train control system designed to prevent speeding was not in place where Amtrak Train 188 crashed, killing seven people and injuring more than 200.
The train’s engineer, who has not been identified, declined to give a statement to police investigators and left the East Detectives Division with an attorney, police commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said Wednesday.
…
Amtrak crews have been installing “Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement” on the Northeast Corridor and other Amtrak rail routes, and were to install the system this year in the Philadelphia area.
…
Positive Train Control, which includes Amtrak’s system, is required by federal law to be installed on all passenger and major freight railroads by the end of this year.
But many railroads have asked for more time to install the expensive systems, and Congress is considering extending the deadline to 2020.
Why aren’t trains fully automated?
UPDATE: Oh, this is why:
#BREAKING: House Committee rejects bill to increase Amtrak infrastructure funding, hours after deadly derailment (CNN)
— Brian Taff (@briantaff6abc) May 13, 2015
UPDATE 2: Noted dope Chris Stigall fails to connect the dots:
@briantaff6abc @CrossingBroad um, has anyone read why this happened yet? It's not Congress. http://t.co/X7X65nSevE
— Chris Stigall (@ChrisStigall) May 13, 2015
No, it’s not congress. But I think there’s a pretty reasonable argument to be made that more money means better, more expediently installed safety systems. I mean, it’s kind of crazy that some sort of fail-safe wasn’t already installed.
UPDATE 3:
If only trains had the same AI that video game you bought in 1998 had.
