AMTRAK—A MATTER OF PRIORITIES
Sadly as soon as the Amtrak accident happened, statements were made that it was due to insufficient infrastructure spending by Congress.
For all transportation, the primary thing the public and the users want is SAFETY. If you get this really fast train to deliver you to your destination quickly, but you die in the process, what good is it? It is incumbent on management to insure that safety has the highest spending priority and that everyone who uses that means of transportation gets to go home safely. Since the news is now reporting that the speed limitation safety equipment will now be installed on the portion of track where the accident took place, the question comes up as to why didn’t management already have it installed?
The reason is that management did not have rider safety at the top of their spending priority list. The need for speed control was established and nothing was done. Was money spent on other projects given a higher priority? The answer appears to be yes and then the question is why?
Amtrak management must be held responsible for this accident.