Amtrak to put inward-facing cameras in trains after Philly crash
Amtrak says it’s on course to begin outfitting 70 locomotive cabs with inward-facing cameras while investigators continue to examine the deadly derailment that claimed eight lives two weeks ago in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The company said in a statement on Tuesday this week that the
nearly six-dozen ACS-64 trains operating across the Northeast
Corridor will be fitted with cameras by the end of the year, and
that all new locomotives will now be equipped with surveillance
features before going into service.
“Inward-facing video cameras will help improve safety and
serve as a valuable investigative tool,” Amtrak President
and CEO Joe Boardman said in a statement. “We have tested
these cameras and will begin installation as an additional
measure to enhance safety.”
Tuesday’s announcement comes two weeks to the day after the
seven-car Northeast Regional No. 188 derailed in Philadelphia en
route to New York. Investigators are still trying to determine
what caused the train to accelerate to upwards of 106
miles-per-hour as it approached a curve in the tracks before
derailing, killing eight.
READ MORE: Video shows Amtrak train speeding
before derailment; death toll stands at 8
The Federal Railroad Administration ordered Amtrak to implement
new safety measures in the wake of the derailment, but didn’t
offer any suggestions with regards to surveillance cameras. The
National Transportation Safety Board has been recommending that
the FRA mandate the use of those devices for years, however, and
said in 2010 that cabs should be fitted with cameras to
discourage employees from misbehaving on the job after an
investigation into two separate crashes put train workers at
fault.
“The performance of operators of both trains was just
egregious,” NTSB member Robert Sumwalt told USA Today in
2010. “Something does need to be done across the nation to
try to discourage this type of behavior.”
On Tuesday, Amtrak’s Boardman told reporters in a conference call
that Amtrak has always favored the installation of surveillance
cameras.
Taking an additional measure to improve safety, #Amtrak will install inward-facing video cameras in locomotives: http://t.co/dVvwq3KIqN.
— Amtrak (@Amtrak) May 26, 2015
"We've been supporting it all the way along," Boardman
said, according to the Associated Press. "It's just a matter
of working out some of those details ... there may be some
adjustments we have to make later down the road, but I think it's
time to do it and I'm doing it."
Metrolink, a transit service in place in the greater Los Angeles
region, became the first railroad in the United States to install
surveillance cameras in the cabs back in 2007, but the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen filed a lawsuit
to block the cameras, citing privacy concerns.
US Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) told AP this week
that he hailed Amtrak’s decision but wants to make sure the
company goes about installing cameras and implementing procedures
in the best possible way.
"Inward-facing cameras, with the right privacy protections
for employees, are a critical way to make our railroads
safer," Blumenthal said. "Cameras improve accident
investigations, deter unsafe behavior, and detect compliance with
safety laws, which is why I have urged their installation as soon
as possible."
According to Amtrak, the first 70 locomotives to be outfitted
with cameras will be from the fleet of ACS-64 trains that serve
the Northeast Corridor, including stops in Washington, New York
and Boston.
