The recent Amtrak train that plunged off an overpass near Dupont, Washington appears to be a fault of design-based safety being ignored. When the U.S. Congress established Amtrak, it became a U.S.-owned passenger railroad company that relied on renting railroad track owned and used by other railroad companies. Amtrak, contrary to the development of aerospace technology that takes on a system safety approach to eliminate hazards by design, appears to focus towards reliance on operator (engineer) performance. Initial inquiry into possible reasons for speeding of the train pointed to the engineer, who might have been temporarily distracted from the performance of his duties. With available technology and track design, curves requiring a maximum train speed limit should also be capable of handling travel at speeds greater than what the design calls for to further ensure for safe travel. In addition, rather than rely just on the train operating engineer to reduce speed for transit on curves, the available technology of GPS automated speed control should be a necessary requirement on all trains. Over the years, such safety recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have not been enforceable by law, and thus ignored by Amtrak.
To ensure for the safety of passengers and others, trains operating today need to incorporate design-based safety rather than to hope for perfect engineer-operator performance. Investigation of the Dupont catastrophic occurrence that that killed three passengers and injured some eighty others, revealed that the conductor trainee was in the engine cab that may have created a distraction of the operating engineer. This ridiculous speculation leads nowhere when compared to available design safety features that should have be installed.
An alternate safe railroad transportation system is needed to reduce our congested highways. Congress created Amtrak, which developed into a money gobbling monster that is dependent upon continuous government funding. There is little control on safe design for the rented railway tracks Amtrak trains use for travel. Amtrak high-speed trains are in competition with slow-moving bulk railroad freight train companies that have little incentive to build or improve rail tracks to accommodate high-speed passenger trains. Local community financial support is needed to aid the funding of safe high-speed rail traffic. Perhaps Amtrak needs to sell bonds similar to what municipalities and electric company cooperatives do to fund their electrical distribution systems. Government owned businesses should be self-sufficient and be able to make a profit for the U.S. Treasury.
