Will We Soon See IP Camera Systems on Metro North Railway Trains?

Americans are turning to public transportation in large numbers.  According to a press release issued by  The American Public Transportation Association, more than 10.65 billion trips were taken in 2013. That’s the highest ridership since 1956 which coincidentally was the year Dwight D Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act, leading to the construction of miles of new roads and the subsequent rise of the suburbs.

Unfortunately, here in the metropolitan New York area, where public transportation is the choice of many commuters, this  news was tempered  by press coverage of numerous train incidents some resulting in multiple deaths and/or  injuries. The most serious and frightening occurred early in the morning of December 1, 2013 when a Metro North commuter train failed to negotiate a sharp curve and derailed, killing 4 passengers and injuring over 70.

It has been established that the train approached the curve in the Spuyten Duyvil sction of the Bronx at a speed of 82 mph whereas the speed limit at that point is actually 30 mph. Further questions involve whether the engineer night have dozed off, or as his lawyer phrased it “went into a daze.”

If we are to go by recent press events, it may be likely that one day soon we’ll see IP camera surveillance systems on board trains. The timeline of demands and recommendations played out like this.

December 8, 2013 

Posing the Question

Senators Charles Schumer of New York and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut held a Sunday morning joint press conference in Grand Central Station. 

  (Personal disclosure – yours truly just happened to be passing through at the time and came upon them!)

The senators each beseeched the Federal Railroad Administration to require cameras be installed in train cabs, pointed at the train operator as well as at the tracks, Schumer saying“ Inward facing cameras may help railroad managers detect dangerous patterns amongst engineers ahead of time, and also help investigators determine the cause of a future rail accident."

Blumenthal’s opinion was

“Audio and video recording tools can help prevent operator error and equipment failure.”

This was not the first cry for IP camera security systems and IP camera recording software to be installed in an effort to improve rail safety. The national Transportation Board, the very agency conducted the investigation of the Bronx derailment had been petitioning the Federal Railroad Administration for on-board cameras since 2008 when a train accident in California took 25 lives.

January 12, 2014

Receiving an Answer

Senators Blumenthal and Schumer were back at Grand Central for another press conference in which they announced they'd received a letter from a Federal Railroad Administration official updating them on the measures that were being taken. 

According to NBC News4 in New York, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo said the Association of American Railroads initiated a safety camera pilot program in early 2013 and that his agency has been monitoring the benefits.Based on what they’d seen, the Railroad Administration planned to propose a rule that would require video cameras be installed in all trains.

Several railway systems including Amtrak have been using cameras to record crossings and signals but should another incident occur, even a minor one, data recovered using IP camera recording systems would provide forensic evidence that could be used to remedy unsafe driver practices or infrastructure insufficiencies.

  

February 18. 2014 

Recommendations Made

Regulators from the National Transportation Safety Board, based on its investigation of the fatal Metro North accident made a formal recommendation that new speed limit signs be posted along the tracks and that network video recorders be installed on every train.

 The New York Daily News quoted  NTSB Chairperson Deborah A.P. Herschberg as saying in a press release “The images and audio captured by recorders can be invaluable to our investigators…..Understanding what is happening inside the cab just prior to a crash can provide crucial information about how to prevent future accidents.”

With that Senator Schumer was back at Grand Central Terminal and we’ll let him have the last word.

 “With these recommendations, the NSTB is confirming what we’ve said all along. Inward and outward facing cameras will greatly improve safety on Metro North and all other railroads.

Whether you're a senator, business owner, school or hospital administrator or security director, if organization needs or is thinking of installing IP camera security systems, Kintronics can help you design one to fit your needs. Call 914-944-3425 to speak to a sales engineer or fill out a form to request information.