MTA to expand rail safety technology

MTA officials Monday said new speed-prevention and alert systems will be added to Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road locations and trains, after the fatal Dec. 1 derailment in the Bronx.

The MTA will reconfigure existing anti-collision technology to warn engineers that a train is speeding. This will be done at four curves by March and at five movable bridges on the New Haven line by September.

The change was added to the Spuyten Duyvil curve after the derailment. Meanwhile, the LIRR, which uses such a speed-prevention system at nine locations, will expand the technology to seven locations by March. By the end of 2014, Metro-North will bring an engineer alert system on a third of trains that lack the technology.