Automatic Braking System Weighed for Freight Trains

Federal regulators are considering requiring automatic emergency braking systems on at least some freight trains amid evidence that such devices likely would have prevented the collision of an Amtrak passenger train and three locomotives, officials said Thursday.

Evidence from speed recorders indicates the three linked-up Conrail locomotives were traveling at least 60 m.p.h. when they passed through an approach signal 1.7 miles from the track junction where the collision occurred Sunday, according to investigators.

Fifteen people were killed and more than 170 were injured in the crash near Baltimore.

Recorder Readings Studied

Preliminary readings of speed recorders show the locomotives did not slow down until they were about a half-mile from the junction, when the engineer applied the brakes after seeing a stop directive on a second signal near the junction.

According to several sources close to the investigation, an automatic braking system similar to the type found on many passenger trains would have automatically begun to slow down and halt the Conrail locomotives six seconds after they passed through the first signal.

The devices are in Amtrak passenger trains operating in the busy Northeast Corridor, but not on freight trains. Railroad industry representatives have argued that the automatic brakes, although suitable for short passenger trains, could cause derailments and add to the seriousness of some accidents if used on freight trains that often have 100 or more cars.

But last weekend’s accident is likely to fuel a debate over whether the devices should be required at least on freights operating in the Washington-Boston corridor, where they intermingle with high-speed passenger trains.

“That’s one of the issues that we’re going to look at. . . . I think it needs to be evaluated,” John Riley, head of the Federal Railroad Administration, said Thursday when asked whether the automatic braking system ought to be required on some freight trains.

Agency Advocates Devices

Riley said the federal regulatory agency “is an advocate of the devices” and, in fact, provided the money for the automatic braking system used on Amtrak trains.