BARTS RAIL SAFETY REGULATIONS: NEW AND IMPROVED? The California Public Utilities Commission passed new regulations which is says, make it the nations leader in rail safety regulation. Thats a bold claim considering its own track record. its just gonna be a matter of time before something happens again, said Eric Williams, President of the San Francisco MUNI Transport Workers Union. Four years after first proposing them, the California Public Utilities Commission finally adopted what it calls new, all encompassing rail safety regulations, most notably, requiring three way communications between employees on the ground, in the train and in central control. CPUC Commissioner Carla Peterman proposed the new regulations first drafted in 2008. This decision will make California the first state in the nation such comprehensive rail transit safety rules, said Peterman But, outspoken MUNI Transport Workers President Eric Williams was not impressed. Its a day late. With the agencies around the Bay Area, particularly in the Bay area, the emphasis is not on safety. We talk about safety but it is really? asked Williams. In fact, these new regulations had to be substantially upgraded after the October 19th BART deaths, because, as originally written, they would not have prevented the accident. This is not the first time the CPUCs existing rules proved ineffective. In 2008, 25 L.A. Metrolink passengers died and another 135 were injured because a texting train operator ignored a signal causing a head on collision with a freight train. A month later, BART Track Inspector Jim Strickland was killed by a train while walking along a track. Nine years later., the two BART rail deaths in Walnut Creek. Michael Peevey is President of the CPUC. To a certain extent, he seems to lament how regulations get promulgated, In some ways we play catch up on these safety things, not because of lack of intent, or intentions, but by the very nature of the industries we oversee. That , say the CPUCS critics, that is just as true with its regulation of utilities, best evidenced by the San Bruno blast that killed eight three years ago.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 00:39:25 +0000
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