This year has been a big year for train safety issues, in particular for nearby Metro-North Railroad in New York and Connecticut.
How safe are our trains and at what cost can we have better safety?
Last week I had a chat with Jeremy of Critical Transit talking about these critical questions about safety, including some national trends that affect commuters in Boston on a daily basis.
Ultimately, many train crashes are preventable. Computer systems on the Orange Line, Red Line, and many lines on the commuter rail protect passengers daily. The Blue Line still relies on the same physical automatic train stop system used in New York, but the Green Line still desperately needs a $721 million safety upgrade. The South Coast Rail commuter rail expansion will cost well more than twice that. Which do we fund?
While we don't have high speed trains running through our tunnels, similar safety systems that could have prevented this summer's accident in Spain could prevent the next Green Line accident.