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Re: Metrolink locomotive cameras lead to probes of 2 engineers
Author: Unk Diego
Date: 05-28-2010 - 18:24
S.S. Sam Taylor Wrote:
> The job of the operating employee is to operate per the rules and conditions of the job.
> And if they don't fit your style, there are plenty of other jobs available, so simply move
> along.
This opinion is simply scary.
For the record, I am not employed in the railroad industry. If it was up to the bosses in the railroad industry, wouldn't link & pin couplers, and wooden passenger coaches with open fire stoves still be legal? The owners and upper level bosses don't have to work the rails, they only need to maximize profits. Safety is an expense to them, and nothing else.
If these bosses cared about safety, why do they insist on clinging to their obviously and fatally flawed staffing system for freight railroad engineers and conductors? Why do they insist on linking PTC to the one-man train crew? The Metrolink train crew share the rails with the freight crews, and visa-versa. Logically, shouldn't every crew who operates on the same rails as Metrolink, regardless of whose tracks they are on, or if they are hauling passengers or double-stacks, be subject to the same safety rules and cameras? Wasn't the Metrolink Placentia tragedy caused by a freight crew on non-Metrolink tracks? The only real difference was the details, the speeds and directions, involved.
And Metrolink, being a public agency, makes things worse. Politicians, and the people they hire, will never stand up to power like the railroad industry. And there is always the question, in the public sector, of how much is it going to cost. Without any discussion of what the benefit might be. How much does it cost to put camera in every cab, and hire someone to monitor them -vs- how much does it cost to put cell phone jamming equipment in the cab (that does not need to be monitored). And which one directly solves the problem -vs- gives someone a chance at immunity from lawsuits after some disaster has already happened? Do the math.
I am not a railroad worker, but I have spent a good part of my working life engineering safety equipment. Safety starts at the bottom, the people who are "hands-on" working the job. In my job, when safety fails, they don't have hands any more. The people working the rails have a vested interest in safety, and most have families. The owners, high level bosses, and the bean counters they hire do not. Who are you going to trust?
>
> The fact that there are people on this board that
> express
> opinions like Diego is simply scary.
>
> I was just reading that so far this year, on the
> Long
> Island Railroad, there have been 8 incidents of
> passing
> a red light. The passengers are outraged. But, I
> imagine
> that it will take some sort of horrific accident
> to clamp
> down and run a safe railroad. In Southern
> California, the
> lessons have been learned, and cameras are just
> part of the
> daily job.
> The job of the operating employee is to operate per the rules and conditions of the job.
> And if they don't fit your style, there are plenty of other jobs available, so simply move
> along.
This opinion is simply scary.
For the record, I am not employed in the railroad industry. If it was up to the bosses in the railroad industry, wouldn't link & pin couplers, and wooden passenger coaches with open fire stoves still be legal? The owners and upper level bosses don't have to work the rails, they only need to maximize profits. Safety is an expense to them, and nothing else.
If these bosses cared about safety, why do they insist on clinging to their obviously and fatally flawed staffing system for freight railroad engineers and conductors? Why do they insist on linking PTC to the one-man train crew? The Metrolink train crew share the rails with the freight crews, and visa-versa. Logically, shouldn't every crew who operates on the same rails as Metrolink, regardless of whose tracks they are on, or if they are hauling passengers or double-stacks, be subject to the same safety rules and cameras? Wasn't the Metrolink Placentia tragedy caused by a freight crew on non-Metrolink tracks? The only real difference was the details, the speeds and directions, involved.
And Metrolink, being a public agency, makes things worse. Politicians, and the people they hire, will never stand up to power like the railroad industry. And there is always the question, in the public sector, of how much is it going to cost. Without any discussion of what the benefit might be. How much does it cost to put camera in every cab, and hire someone to monitor them -vs- how much does it cost to put cell phone jamming equipment in the cab (that does not need to be monitored). And which one directly solves the problem -vs- gives someone a chance at immunity from lawsuits after some disaster has already happened? Do the math.
I am not a railroad worker, but I have spent a good part of my working life engineering safety equipment. Safety starts at the bottom, the people who are "hands-on" working the job. In my job, when safety fails, they don't have hands any more. The people working the rails have a vested interest in safety, and most have families. The owners, high level bosses, and the bean counters they hire do not. Who are you going to trust?
>
> The fact that there are people on this board that
> express
> opinions like Diego is simply scary.
>
> I was just reading that so far this year, on the
> Long
> Island Railroad, there have been 8 incidents of
> passing
> a red light. The passengers are outraged. But, I
> imagine
> that it will take some sort of horrific accident
> to clamp
> down and run a safe railroad. In Southern
> California, the
> lessons have been learned, and cameras are just
> part of the
> daily job.
