Still Safe--but Could Be Safer : Making trains even less likely for tragedy

It now appears that the worst accident in Amtrak’s history had nothing to do with its own safety procedures and everything to do with outside circumstances. Still, a report compiled by the General Accounting Office before the deadly incident shows that Amtrak and the federal government could be doing more to improve the overall safety procedures that govern the nation’s passenger rail system.

Amtrak’s Sunset Limited No. 2, which originated here in Los Angeles, was bound for Miami with 206 passengers and crew members aboard when it suddenly plunged off a wood and steel railroad bridge into a bayou north of Mobile, Ala. At least 44 passengers and crew members died in the tangled wreckage.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and other federal and state agencies have found solid evidence that a barge had strayed off course and struck the span, possibly displacing track and causing the derailment.

Other possibilities--including sabotage, mechanical failure and structural defects in the 84-year-old bridge--won’t be discounted until the investigation is complete.

In light of the GAO report, authorities will want to know whether the train carried emergency equipment inside the passenger cars that was accessible and functioning at the time of the accident.

The GAO reported evidence that some trains lack basic equipment such as fire extinguishers and first-aid kits. Some passengers who survived the Sunset Limited’s plunge into the bayou complained that their cars had no flotation devices.

The study also roundly criticized Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration, the agency that regulates rail safety, for what it called a lack of effective safety standards and controls regarding both preventive maintenance and repair schedules for the fleet of 1,798 passenger rail cars.

The report by Congress’ investigative arm even charged that in some instances Amtrak had disregarded safety procedures “when parts were not available or when there was insufficient time for repairs before a car was placed into service.”

Over the years train travel has become much safer; 1992, for example, saw the fewest rail accidents ever. And before Wednesday’s tragedy, only 48 passengers had died in rail accidents since Amtrak was created in 1970.

Even so, the GAO report deserves serious consideration by Transportation Secretary Federico Pena. Amtrak has had a good safety record. But no one can be satisfied until all the pressing questions are fully answered. The millions who use railroads every year deserve those answers.