The Amtrak Derailment Wasn't An "Infrastructure" Issue. It Was Human Error

Amtrak, like the Post Office, is a government run entity.

This government entity, by law, is required - by the government that runs it - to install the so-called Positive Train Control system on all its tracks.

(The P.T.C. is a safety system designed to slow trains independent of human input if an engineer makes an error in judgement)

The Northeast Corridor is the only part of Amtrak that operates in the black. The rest of this government entity just hemorrages money, as all government entities do. In fact, taxpayers subsidize $60 of every Amtrak ticket sold every day.

The Northeast Corridor is also the most heavily used of all the Amtrak lines. More people use it per year than all the other lines combined, if I remember correctly.

Guess what Northeast Corridor does not have installed on its tracks, particularly the section of track where this latest derailment occurred. If you guessed the P.T.C., you win a prize (if I had any to give out).

So we have a government entity that doesn't make a profit and doesn't prioritize how to spend the money for a system that is mandated by the government and the government's answer to a derailment that killed at least seven people is......give them more money...

According to all available evidence, this was a tragedy caused by human error, as the train was travelling at 106 mph in a 50 mph zone, not because of any "infrastructure" problem.

Kudos to the voices of reason making this known, and shame on those - from both sides of the aisle (but mostly liberals) - who are trying to make this into a political issue. ~ Hunter