The National Transportation Safety Board has said that a data recorder recovered from the crash of a New Jersey Transit train in Hoboken recorded no information about the incident:
A data recorder that could have helped investigators answer why a New Jersey Transit train crashed in Hoboken last week was not working, the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday. "Unfortunately, the event recorder was not functioning during this trip," NTSB Vice Chairman Bella Dinh-Zarr said. Investigators said the data recorder was over 20 years old.
The NTSB is looking for a second data recorder from a newer passenger car. The recorder could provide information on the train's speed, use of brakes and throttle position. The train's engineer, identified as Thomas Gallagher, told NTSB investigators the train entered the Hoboken station at 10 mph. Witnesses have said the train was speeding as it entered the station instead of slowing down.
New Jersey Transit had already been under scrutiny for safety issues before the crash. A roof (possibly containing asbestos) which had collapsed on top of the train during the accident is now preventing investigators from inspecting the scene.
Also at Reuters and The Guardian .
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Tuesday October 04 2016, @09:06PM
The reason why many government operations are inefficient is not that they are government-driven, it's because they are government monopolies. Monopolies tend to be inefficient, no matter whether run by the government or by a private organization.
I suspect the problems have more to due with budget cuts rather than efficiency. Government run services tend to be better run than private interests at the price simply because they are required to perform first, not make a profit. That however, cannot withstand the political grandstanding that has taken over budgeting. As a result, something like a data recorder doesn't even make the "wait list" for replacement until it is discovered to be non-functioning, and only then does the process to get replacing it funded start. There is probably a lot of our infrastructure held together only by rust and inertia.