rohr turbo wrote:ryanov wrote: There is no comparable situation on a roadway...everyone who's operated a car knows what I'm talking about.Actually I disagree. Car drivers have to watch 4-8 nearby cars (on an interstate in traffic) that can swerve or brake at any moment and then immediate evasive action is necessary. Car drivers often don't have pre-knowledge of the road they're driving, but must still do so safely. Cars have to merge with others, judge whether they can stop at a yellow, look out for bikers/pedestrians, negotiate puddles/ice, etc. I'd think unexpected obstructions/debris are more common on a roadway than railway.
Cars have steering wheels -- locomotives don't!
Yes NEC locomotives go faster and engineer must memorize the route. But with no other vehicles to consider, that shouldn't be such a difficult tradeoff.
If I'm wrong, please explain.
Philadelphia accident was caused by a human's confusion of location and speed limit. This is why I argue that more automation would assist human, fallible engineers. (Eventually automation will replace the humans in such tasks, IMO.)
The rules that govern the use of PTC on Amtrak state that you cannot allow the system to operate the train, you must be qualified on the territory and equipment. There is no Ill let the computer take care of that. Let me say the system does work. I understand the loss of life is not acceptable if it could be prevented, however the amount of $$$$$$$ that went into this system is crazy when all that was needed was a simple cab drop. Engineers know not to speed and go by those pretty red thingys but shit happens. Its called the loss of situational awareness, Crew Resource Mangement is something we all are taught and give refreshers on every year in rules class. The program was developed by the airline industry as humans are not perfect.
Now Ill ask a simple question of some of the luminarys in this thread. What happens when the system fails and it will. What happens if there is an incident with the PTC up and running? How does one operate with the system cut out do to failure? Ill wait for your answer.
Wall-E