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Philadelphia Amtrak train derailment

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kranky said:
The railroads kind of get a raw deal in that the government doesn't pay for their infrastructure like they do for airlines and truckers.
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I agree with this, and trucks don't pay anything like their fair share of highway maintenance costs.
 
Phoenix86 said:
You missed a couple details. Amtrak is owned by the gov't so they are even more on the line for the infrastructure.

Amtrak has it's own version of PTC. WTF, the government arm of the rail doesn't even use the same standard passed by congress?

Republicans in congress are proposing to REDUCE the budget to "help". The general idea is to push it towards privitaization but if you don't have that full plan in place simply reducing funding isn't the right move... Increasing it is. Oh, but they bitch about how the money isn't being spent effectively. If only they had budgetary oversight, oh wait, they DO!
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The push towards privatization is a strange one, considering the origins of Amtrak. In addition, anytime Amtrak proposes cutting lines that are losing too much money, Congress freaks out (much like military base closures)… It keeps enough money going towards Amtrak to let it limp along, but does not allocate enough to improve its current standing via capital acquisition and rail improvements.
 
Kelvrick said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe if the gas tax was still used entirely for road/infrastructure instead of being raided for other projects?
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It's certainly not the only issue with road funding. Wonder why our bridges are crumbling?

But hey, transportation probably isn't that important.
 
A mutual friend of ours just talked with me and said that Brandon is seriously distraught because of the deaths and that he really doesn't know what happened. He voluntarily gave blood samples and handed over his phone. Brandon is seriously a safety freak and i can't even begin to believe that he fell asleep or put the train at risk. After all the evidence that has come out so far I'm starting to think that something broke the windshield (per the most recent reports), struck him, knocked him out and then he came to just before the curve and applied the emergency brake system... but then again, he doesn't remember and everything at this point is speculation. From some of the things I've heard in the media, including the mayor, there will be some serious apologies to be had if it turns out he really wasn't responsible for the accident.
 
Wow, what an interesting development. After reading a bit about the guy, and what's posted here I commented to a co-worker how this is exactly the type of person you WANT doing the job. It doesn't seem like a job to him, but a passion.

It's truly tragic to begin with, but if it turns out this was an attack of sorts and he's innocent, just wow.
 
Phoenix86 said:
Wow, what an interesting development. After reading a bit about the guy, and what's posted here I commented to a co-worker how this is exactly the type of person you WANT doing the job. It doesn't seem like a job to him, but a passion.

It's truly tragic to begin with, but if it turns out this was an attack of sorts and he's innocent, just wow.
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That's how I felt when reading the initial reports on him. But trains get rocks thrown at them all the time, and I don't see how even having one hit the windscreen would cause you to run a train into that curve so far above line speed. Perhaps he simply got distracted talking to the other driver about the incident.
 
Phoenix86 said:
You missed a couple details. Amtrak is owned by the gov't so they are even more on the line for the infrastructure.

Amtrak has it's own version of PTC. WTF, the government arm of the rail doesn't even use the same standard passed by congress?

Republicans in congress are proposing to REDUCE the budget to "help". The general idea is to push it towards privitaization but if you don't have that full plan in place simply reducing funding isn't the right move... Increasing it is. Oh, but they bitch about how the money isn't being spent effectively. If only they had budgetary oversight, oh wait, they DO!
Click to expand...
And then the government (FCC) prevented the government (Amtrak) from turning on their PTC system in Philly:
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/05/14/exclusive-train-control-was-installed-turned-off-at-time-of-amtrak-crash-congressmen-say
 
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