On Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at 1:01:21 PM UTC-4, Jishnu Mukerji wrote:   
      
   > It might be worthwhile reading this very disturbing Wall Street Journal   
   > article, if you can get past the subscriber pay wall:   
   >   
   > http://www.wsj.com/articles/amtrak-crash-probe-indicates-basic   
   safety-measure-wasnt-deployed-1459885465   
      
   Thanks for the reference.   
      
   From the article:   
      
   "Crews performing work on a stretch of Amtrak's heavily   
   traveled Northeast Corridor on Sunday apparently didn't   
   put in place what is known as a supplemental shunting device,   
   in apparent violation of Amtrak's own worker-protection rules,   
   these people said. The device, which is clamped to the track,   
   completes an electrical circuit to alert the signaling system   
   that the track is occupied."   
   ...   
   "As for the shunting devices, Amtrak work crews don't always use   
   them, this person said. "It's pretty common they don't use them,"   
   this person said. "The attitude is, 'Ah, we're only going to be   
   here for a little bit--we're going to get in and get out of here.'   
   The more responsible people use them all the time." "   
      
      
   In the comments section following the article, we get the   
   usual ideological complaints blaming the accident on Amtrak   
   being a government agency.  I guess the privately owned   
   freight railroads never have had an accident, nor did the   
   predecessor companies who operate on the NEC.   
      
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