Pols: Rail Safety Agency To Rule On Train Cams

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published January 12, 2014 at 8:03 PM EST

Two U.S. senators say a federal rail safety agency plans to propose a rule regarding the installation of video cameras aboard trains to monitor drivers and record accidents.

Sen. Charles Schumer, of New York, and Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, said Sunday that they had been informed by the Federal Railroad Administration that it would begin the process of establishing the rule sometime this year.

It would cover cameras installed in train cabs to record unsafe behavior by drivers and outward-facing cameras that scan the tracks.

The National Transportation Safety Board has urged the Railroad Administration for several years to boost the use of safety cameras.

Schumer and Blumenthal publicly urged the FRA to act last month, following a deadly commuter train derailment in New York City.

New York News

Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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