Metro-North to start safety camera testing in cabs, passenger areas
The railroad says the cameras will improve safety and deter crime
The move was in response to a 2014 recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board in the wake of the fatal Spuyten Duyvil train derailment.
The inward- and outward-facing test-run cameras will monitor activity in the engineer's control area, the track and wayside areas and the passenger areas in an attempt to improve safety, aid in investigations and, in the case of the passenger cameras, deter crime.
The passenger area cameras will not record audio and notices will be posted to inform customers of the cameras' presence.
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The railroad's parent agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, announced its intentions to install the cameras in February 2014. That November it approved a 36-month, $17.9 million contract with Sepsa North America to do so.
The railroad said after the test period finishes, it will finalize the camera designs, with regular production and installation on all of the railroad's trains expected to start in the third quarter.
The December 2013 Spuyten Duyvil derailment killed four and injured 70 others, after the New York City-bound Hudson Line train hit a curve in the Bronx at 82 miles per hour, 50 miles per hour faster than the speed limit in that area.
The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the train's engineer, William Rockefeller fell asleep due to an diagnosed sleeping disorder and a dramatic shift in his schedule.
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