EDITORIAL: Getting train safety on the right track

Aug. 28--The South Shore Line received some welcome news recently when it was awarded an $8 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration to help pay for a high-tech safety system.

The Positive Train Control system is intended to make freight and passenger transportation safer by automatically stopping a train before certain types of accidents occur.

South Shore President Mike Noland described the project as a "massive undertaking" with all the train systems across the country making improvements at the same time.

The federal government ordered the safety system installed after a series of accidents and deaths. The tipping point for the FRA came in 2008 when a Union Pacific freight train and a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on near Los Angeles. The collision was the result of a Metrolink train running through a red signal before entering a section of single track where the opposing freight train had been given the right of way by the train dispatcher. Twenty five people were killed.

The safety system initially was mandated to be in place by the end of 2015. However, given the system's high cost and the limited number of contractors to handle the number of train lines that must be upgraded, railroads lobbied for Congress to push back the deadline. The federal government has now ordered the system to be in place by year's end and Noland said South Shore will meet the deadline.

Noland said the cost of the safety system is $100 million and will be bonded at $6 million per year for 25 years.

Though the cost is high, it is worth the investment in public safety. The impact of train accidents tends to be forgotten until another one happens and more lives are lost.

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