People who are into railroading are still discussing the accident in Hoboken yesterday. Much of the talk is about New Jersey Transit’s asking for and apparently getting official permission to exempt the Hoboken station from installing PTC. Interestingly, there have been conflicting statements as to whether or not PTC would have prevented the accident….
The argument for and against government regulation goes on. And on. And on. What I object to is the knee jerk reaction by conservatives who oppose any new regulation simply as a matter of ideology. No doubt some government regulation is overblown and intrusive. Maybe even unnecessary. But most is sensible and needed. (By the…
Several years ago, following a deadly collision in California, Congress directed the nation’s railroads to install a safety system known as PTC (Positive Train Control). It uses global positioning and computer technology to prevent such accidents, but it’s costing many billions of dollars. The federal mandate also applied to Amtrak for its track along the…
It may simply be my instinct to look for ulterior motives whenever Rupert Murdoch’s fingers touch anything, but I do believe the venerable Wall Street Journal has slid farther to the right since Murdoch acquired it. Bolstering that view, I’ve come across a recent article in the WSJ relating to passenger rail which included information…