Expert Says Positive Train Control Eliminates Human Factors
Train safety expert Carl Berkowitz, Ph. D. discussed the value of a system called positive train control in a televised interview with Maurice Dubois of the CBS New York affiliate. The discussion came after the Oct. 29 train crash in Hoboken, NJ, that injured 100 passengers and killed a woman who was standing on the station platform.
Berkowitz explained that positive train control maintains the appropriate speed for a train, depending on where the train is at the time.
“You can’t leave everything in the hands of the individual because of human factors involved, and the reason for positive train control is to take human factor out of the equation and to make the system safe,” he said.
Installation of the system “was something that was mandated years ago, and the railroads just kept avoiding doing it. They didn’t want to spend the money. They didn’t think it was an important issue. So they let it go,” he added.
