Video cameras that monitor train crews inside the control cab and the tracks outside could soon be standard equipment on US locomotives, potentially preventing accidents such as the deadly Metro-North derailment last month in the Bronx.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has taken a major step toward requiring inward- and outward-facing cameras on all trains, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announced Sunday at Grand Central Station.
The senators have pushed for the new safety measure in the wake of last month’s train derailment at Spuyten Duyvil that killed four passengers.
Schumer said the cameras would help stop the widespread bad behavior by crews on the Long Island Rail Road that was exposed Sunday in The Post.
The Post revealed that there were nearly 900 rule infractions by LIRR workers in the last five years, including sexting while taking tickets, playing video games while driving and letting a passenger take the controls.
“Once they are installed, it won’t happen,” declared Schumer. “It’s hard to imagine that playing Angry Birds while driving a train would not lead to an accident.”
The cameras are not a new idea.
The National Transportation Safety Board recommended them in 2008 after a passenger train and freight train collided in California, killing 25 people.
“They just sat on those recommendations,” Schumer said.
The FRA now has begun the rule-making process that after several months could make the cameras mandatory.
The cameras will serve as a deterrent for dangerous behavior and allow rail officials to monitor and correct it, said the senators.
The video also would provide potentially important information following a crash.
Currenlty, only Amtrak locomotives and California’s Metrolink commuter trains have outward-facing cameras that record signals and gate crossings.
New York’s Metro North and the Long Island Railroad have neither inward- nor outward-facing cameras to protect the hundreds of thousands of people who commute by rail into Manhattan.
“Simply put, cameras can help save lives,” said Blumenthal. “There is no reason that these cameras should not have been in place well before now.”
Schumer said they wanted to “salute” FRA for responding to pressure and taking action.
“They have learned their lesson and I haven’t seen an agency hop to more quickly to try and deal and prevent future tragedies. So I give them a lot of credit,” he said.