It would be interesting to know the rest of the story on this. Is this due to political pressure, or is the FRA unhappy with Metro-North? The FRA generally doesn't issue an Emergency Order against a railroad without something specific in mind.

To my knowledge, Metro-North's pratices of cab car and single enginer is common practice for many Amtrak and commuter agencies, and as far as I know a dead man is still legal. But the EO basically forces them to run an engineer and a second qualified person in the cab until they modify their ATC to provide for speed restrictions or complete PTC installation, assuming anyone will be able to comply with the PTC deadline. In addition to supply issues, I heard that the FCC is refusing to grant permits for most PTC towers, and the railroads were having trouble getting frequencies in urban areas.

Somehow Metro-North has royally pissed off the FRA or something else is involved. The FRA references the other incidents in the last year - apparently one was a track defect, another a dispatcher error, and the CSX garbage train they claim is undetermined - yet none of them suggest another excess speed or fatigue issue. The order doesn't mention Amtrak or CSX as being subject to the same rules, but if they are operatiing over Metro-North's track wouldn't they be?

This is a wierd Emergency Order in my opinion. If overspeed events such as this are truly a widespread issue, why doesn't the EO apply to all US railroads? Anybody else think either Metro-North is being punished or the "all accidents are preventable so are therefor outlawed regardless of cost or reason" applies here? Can we now expect a new EO after every major incident?

Everything reasonable should be done to prevent deaths and injuries in the rail industry, but let's think smarter on effective ways to make a real difference. I personally agree that a second qualified person should be in the cab, but note that the FRA is willing to accept electronic oversight which comes with its own potential design and maintenance flaws.