Washington, DC – In the wake of Friday’s deadly train collision in the San Fernando Valley, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer (D-both Calif.) today introduced legislation that would require all major U.S. railroads to install “positive train control” systems designed to avoid collisions.

The legislation would require:

• Freight and commuter railroads to come up with plans for such systems within one year of enactment;
  
• Set a deadline of December 31, 2012 for these systems to be in place on rail lines designated by the Department of Transportation as high-risk, involving use by major freight and commuter railroads;
  
• Set a deadline of December 31, 2014 for installation of these systems on all major rail lines. Priority must be given to rail lines that carry passengers, or that are used to transport hazardous materials; and 
  
• Authorize the Secretary of Transportation to assess fines up to $100,000 on rail carriers that fail to comply.

Rail safety experts say a positive train control system could have prevented Friday’s collision of a Metrolink commuter train with a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth. The collision killed 26 and injured 138 people, 40 of them critically.

“My heart goes out to the families of those killed, and to the dozens of people injured in this deadly crash,” Senator Feinstein said. “The fact is, this collision could have been avoided had there been a positive train control system in place. In my view, that’s sheer negligence.

“And it should be totally unacceptable to the American people that we have rail systems in which two trains going in opposite directions share a single track – with only a signal light to stop a collision – when technology exists to prevent a crash. This legislation will fix this. Nowhere is this needed more than in Southern California, where the majority of Metrolink’s 388 miles of track are shared with freight trains. We must install positive train control as quickly as possible. There is no excuse for inaction.”

“In light of the terrible accident in Chatsworth, we must do everything in our power to accelerate the placement of technology to act as a safety back-up,” Senator Boxer said. “This tragedy must push us toward swift passage of the Feinstein-Boxer legislation.”

The Rail Collision Prevention Act would:

• Require commuter railroads and major freight railroads to develop plans for implementing positive train control systems within one year of the legislation’s enactment. 
  
• Also require that these plans must be submitted to the Secretary of Transportation for approval within one year of the legislation’s enactment;
  
• Set a deadline of December 31, 2012 for these systems to be in place on rail lines designated by the Department of Transportation as high-risk, involving use by major freight and commuter railroads;
  
• Set a deadline of December 31, 2014 for installation of these systems on all major rail lines. Priority must be given to rail lines that carry passengers, or that are used to transport hazardous materials; and 
  
• Provide the Secretary of Transportation the authority to assess civil penalties, up to $100,000 per violation, against railroads that fail to submit, certify, or comply with plans for implementing positive train control systems.

Background:

The National Transportation Safety Board has called for installation of positive train control systems to avert collisions, particularly on high-risk track shared by freight and passenger trains.

Here is how positive train control systems work:

• Digital communications are combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to monitor train locations and speeds;
  
• These systems can detect: excessive speed; improperly aligned switches; whether trains are on the wrong track; unauthorized train movements; and whether trains have missed signals to slow or stop.
  
• If engineers do not comply with signals, the system automatically brings the trains to a stop.

In March, a report published by the Senate Commerce Committee concluded that installation of positive train control systems in the United States would prevent 40 to 60 train collisions annually. The report also found that, on average, these systems would prevent seven fatalities and 55 injuries per year.

Positive train control systems have been put to use only in limited areas, including the Northeast and between Chicago and Detroit. California has no positive control systems in place, although Southern California has the most track shared by freight and passenger trains in the United States.

Rail safety officials have said that in addition to the recent Metrolink crash, positive train control systems could have prevented two fatal train accidents in recent years:

• The August 23, 2002, crash of a freight train into a Metrolink train in Placentia. In that crash, a Burlington Northern engineer and conductor failed to see a yellow signal warning them to slow down and prepare to stop. Three people on the Metrolink train were killed, and more than 260 were injured;
  
• The January 6, 2005, derailment of several railroad cars in Graniteville, South Carolina. A railroad employee failed to properly line a track switch, resulting in the derailment. Chlorine gas was released, and nine people died.

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