American Notes RAILROADS

Two weeks after the Amtrak-Conrail collision outside Baltimore that claimed 16 lives, investigators from the Federal Railroad Administration had yet to find an equipment failure that would account for the tragedy. Instead, said FRA Administrator John Riley, the probe was focusing on the "human performance" of the train crews -- and the evidence was disturbing.

For starters, both trains were speeding: the Amtrak passenger train was 23 miles over its limit of 105 m.p.h., and the Conrail freight locomotives were traveling at 62 to 65 m.p.h., although a signal had warned the crew to slow down to 30.

Blood and urine samples from the Conrail crew indicated marijuana use by Engineer Richard Gates and Brakeman Edward Cromwell. Though the FRA has not said whether the amounts found are sufficient to prove Gates and Cromwell were intoxicated at the time, railroad workers are forbidden to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The National Transportation Safety Board now recommends that all trains operating between Washington and Boston be equipped with automatic braking devices that would stop a train even if engineers did not heed track signals.