A federal agency has issued safety recommendations following December’s fatal Metro-North commuter train derailment in the Bronx. The recommendations come in the form of a letter to Metro-North’s president.
The National Transportation Safety Board issued the recommendations amid its ongoing investigation into the derailment. NTSB officials say event recorder data showed the train was going 82 mph as it entered a 30-mph turn. While Metro-North has since installed so-called approach permanent speed restriction signs at the derailment location, the NTSB urges the railroad to survey its entire system and install such signs at other locations. The NTSB also recommends the use of inward- and outward-facing audio and image recorders to help with safety compliance and accident investigations. Democratic Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney commends the recommendations, taking the opportunity to urge passage of his Commuter Rail Passenger Safety Act. The legislation would help railroads finance automated technology known as positive train control. Two of the four passengers killed in the derailment lived in Maloney’s district.
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