RR Privatization in Action - Japanese Train Crash [View All]

[JPZenger]

George W. wants to kill AMTRAK and privatize passenger rail service.

Look what happened in Japan yesterday. Over 70 people were killed when a passenger train derailed and crashed into a building. The line had been privatized. According to NPR this morning, the company had been under pressure to reduce costs. The engineer of the train had only been on the job one year. NPR said that the engineer had been delayed because he overshot a station and had to back up. Then he apparently tried to make up the time by traveling at an excessive speed.

You can also look at Britain about the disaster that occurred when British passenger rail was privatized in the 1990s.