"We actually have some speed controls in place, but not the full functionality."
Jim Redeker
The New Haven commuter rail line will be first on the Metro-North system to implement a safety feature called positive train control, but it won’t be fully operational until 2018. That was the update given by Transportation Commissioner Jim Redeker, speaking in the wake of the fatal crash in Hoboken, New Jersey.
A New Jersey Transit train crashed into a platform at the station Thursday, killing one person and injuring more than 100. Redeker told reporters that positive train control can help regulate the speed of trains independently of the driver.
"We are well along the way of implementation on the New Haven line, but it is not operational today," he said. "Elements of it are, but not the full safety pieces. So we actually have some speed controls in place, but not the full functionality. That will happen by 2018."
"In Connecticut we are as vulnerable to this kind of crash due to excessive speed or driver error, because Metro-North lacks positive train control and it is absent from parts of our tracks," he said.