Positive Train Control
BG9 said:
Couldn't the train speed could be calculated from the stations many security camera feeds. Or were they also not working?
Yes and I suppose you might also infer indirectly that the train was going too fast by virtue of it crashing instead of stopping.
Both reasons are no good because they rely on me Understanding Something to make a judgement. Somewhere out there, there's a Software Engineer who we can task with data recovery and properly hold accountable for telling us the naked truth.
How convenient. Either he had a medical situation or a lawyer told him what to say (or both).
jimmurphy said:
Engineer can't remember anything.
The fundamental issue is the technology exists today to avoid these types of accidents. Why hasn't the technology been installed yet?
If engineer was knocked unconscious, even briefly, it's possible or even likely he wouldn't remember the events immediately preceding. I speak from experience about this, as confirmed by some reading....
otoh, yahooyahoo's suggestions are also reasonable possibilities.
Memory loss around trauma is pretty common. It may come back in days or weeks, or never at all. This could be the case even if he noticed a problem and tried to stop it before the crash.
mjc said:
If engineer was knocked unconscious, even briefly, it's possible or even likely he wouldn't remember the events immediately preceding. I speak from experience about this, as confirmed by some reading....
otoh, yahooyahoo's suggestions are also reasonable possibilities.
While remembering he was not speeding:
The engineer of the train told National Transportation Safety Board the
train was going 10 miles per hour as he entered the station, felt fully
rested and does not remember the fatal crash, NTSB vice chair Bella
Dinh-Zarr said at a press conference.
yahooyahoo said:
The fundamental issue is the technology exists today to avoid these types of accidents. Why hasn't the technology been installed yet?
Depends where we put our priorities. Do you want good mass transit? Or that new aircraft carrier and it supporting strike group? Or that F35 fighter costing over 1.5 trillion dollars?
Besides the cost of acquiring the equipment to support a carrier strike group (the carrier, cruisers, destroyers...) is the cost of running it. Its over 7 million dollars a day.
BG9 quotes: "The engineer of the train told National Transportation Safety Board the
train was going 10 miles per hour as he entered the station, felt fully
rested and does not remember the fatal crash, NTSB vice chair Bella
Dinh-Zarr said at a press conference."
Sounds about right to me. I clearly remember going through a yellow light and scanning ahead for cross traffic, 1/2 block or less before hitting a racoon and being thrown off my motorcycle. I have no recollection of the collision or fall at all, just what people have told me, then coming to in the gutter. ah youth.
BUT the important part here is adequate funding and modernization of public transit.
mjc said:
BG9 quotes: "The engineer of the train told National Transportation Safety Board the
train was going 10 miles per hour as he entered the station, felt fully
rested and does not remember the fatal crash, NTSB vice chair Bella
Dinh-Zarr said at a press conference."
Sounds about right to me. I clearly remember going through a yellow light and scanning ahead for cross traffic, 1/2 block or less before hitting a racoon and being thrown off my motorcycle. I have no recollection of the collision or fall at all, just what people have told me, then coming to in the gutter. ah youth.
BUT the important part here is adequate funding and modernization of public transit.
Yep. The problem is that we shouldn't even have to ask the engineer how fast he was going. The data recorder (which wasn't working) should tell us that.
Also, if he was going 10 mph when he entered the station, I am sure the passengers noticed a sharp acceleration prior to the crash.
The conductor had some interesting comments. I heard the update on the radio but don't have an article.
He effectively said he didn't notice the speed because he was dealing with the passengers. The train was four cars instead of the normal five so it was standing room only and the conductor didn't have time to collect all the tickets due to the crowding.
BG9 said:
yahooyahoo said:
The fundamental issue is the technology exists today to avoid these types of accidents. Why hasn't the technology been installed yet?
Depends where we put our priorities. Do you want good mass transit? Or that new aircraft carrier and it supporting strike group? Or that F35 fighter costing over 1.5 trillion dollars?
Besides the cost of acquiring the equipment to support a carrier strike group (the carrier, cruisers, destroyers...) is the cost of running it. Its over 7 million dollars a day.
Mass transit is at the mercy of state priorities far more than Federal. Anyway, that $7 million is a drop in the Arabian Sea compared to the Pentagon's $600 billion yearly budget. And defense tops the mountain of money the Feds (and states like ours) shovel on those who already have the most.
Not hard to figure out why we have the worst mass transit in the developed world, and infrasructure inferior to several developing nations. With over half of Federal discretionary spending going to defense and 2% on transportation, and refusing to even have driver's pitifully small user fees keep up with inflation it's not hard to figure out how we got here. Read this and weep (unless you're a member of Congress or defense contractor)....
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/military-spending-united-states/
http://usa.streetsblog.org/2013/01/23/drivers-cover-just-51-percent-of-u-s-road-spending/
That said, transit agencies are far more dependent on state support than Federal. When this horrific accident occurred I resisted the urge to reflexively blame Christie for slashing NJT subsidies by 90% since taking office. But the looming unprecedented FRA safety violations, apparently the result of those cuts, diverting $5 billion in capital money to cover operating expenses, and recent exodus of experienced top managers replaced by incompetent Christie enforcers, confirm my first instinct sadly could be correct.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/09/30/nj-transit-train-crash-funding-woes/
http://www.northjersey.com/news/analysis-nj-transit-problems-aren-t-fading-away-1.1603206
Like many have noted, until we know the cause we can't say who's at fault. We can say in furthering his title of worst Governor ever (Simpsons fans know who's voice should be used for that label), Christie's literally ruined the state's transportation network, and left a time bomb that if not quickly defused will lead NJT down the path of NYC TA in the 70s and 80s. And that's after hobbling the region's economy by comandeering and wrecking the Port Authority.
As for PTC at Hoboken, that is the complex passenger yard in NJT's system. It will be the most costly and difficult to outfit, and has been publicly slated as the last location to be upgraded. With the deadline 2 years away and no money, I don't see any possibility of true PTC being online there anytime in the near future.
Engineer can't remember anything.