Metrolink Trains On Track For Crash-Avoidance Tech

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The commuter train network that crisscrosses Southern California now has an advanced crash-avoidance system on all the tracks it owns.

Metrolink announced Wednesday that its 341 miles of track have been equipped with "positive train control." The safety technology allows remote dispatchers to control engines if they speed or blow through stop signals.

The remaining 171 miles of track that Metrolink trains use are owned by freight companies, which are supposed to install the control system by year's end.

The goal of positive train control is to prevent human error, which is responsible for about 40 percent of accidents.

Congress mandated the technology in 2008 after a Metrolink engineer ran a red light and crashed head-on with a freight train, killing 25 people and injuring more than 100 others.

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)