President signs rail safety act
President Bush signed the Rail Safety Improvement Act on Thursday, requiring that passenger and certain freight trains have high-tech emergency braking systems by 2015.
He also signed a companion measure providing more than $12 billion for Amtrak, which recently reported a record ridership of 28.7 million in fiscal year 2008.
The bill was toughened in the wake of the Sept. 12 Metrolink-Union Pacific freight train crash that killed 25 people and injured 135 in Chatsworth. Metrolink and local freight carriers recently said they would install so-called positive train controls even sooner in the Los Angeles Basin, where commuter trains often share tracks with freight traffic.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Republican presidential candidate, voted against the bill earlier this month. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the Democratic candidate, voted for it. Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) -- a frequent Amtrak rider -- did not vote.
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