Tax Cuts for Rich instead of Key Safeguard to prevent Train Derailments

[L. Coyote]

Republicans have their priorities,. Emptying the US Treasury for their billionaire patrons is at the top of that list. Infrastructure has been scratched off.

Congress Delayed Key Safeguard That May Have Prevented Washington Train Derailment

The Amtrak train that crashed Monday was not using a new technology that can stop accidents before they occur.

WASHINGTON ― Congress delayed the implementation of an advanced safeguard that could help prevent railroad accidents like the one in Washington state Monday.

At least three people were killed and dozens more were injured after an Amtrak passenger train heading from Seattle to Portland, Oregon, plunged off an interstate highway overpass, law enforcement officials said.

Amtrak officials said a new safety mechanism called “positive train control” was not activated at the time of the derailment. The train was traveling on an inaugural run of a high-speed service route.

The Amtrak Cascades 501 service was approved to reach speeds of up to 79 mph, but investigators late Monday said that that the train was traveling 80 mph in a 30 mph zone at the time of the incident. Officials said it was “too early” to tell why the train was going that fast.

Positive train control is a system meant to automatically stop trains before certain accidents happen ...............

[Cicada]

1. The train safety devices would cost $22 billion, tax cuts trillions

And the 22 billion will be spent anyway, railroads said they needed a delay. So the real cost of doing it now is just interest on 22 billion, maybe 3 billion.