by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:45 AM ET, Wed May 27, 2015
Just two weeks after Amtrak Train 188 crashed in Philadelphia and killed eight people, Amtrak announced Tuesday that the company would be adding inward-facing cameras to many of its locomotives.
According to a statement from Amtrak, all locomotives in the ACS-64 fleet in service in the Northeast Corridor will be retrofitted with the cameras by the end of 2015, and all new trains will have the cameras installed before they are put into service.
The demand for cameras inside the locomotives comes as a result of Train 188's engineer, Brandon Bostian, telling authorities and investigators that he has no recollection of the moments before the accident.
Amtrak president and CEO Joe Boardman released a statement, "Inward-facing video cameras will help improve safety and serve as a valuable investigative tool. We have tested these cameras and will begin installation as an additional measure to enhance safety."
The retrofit installation of the cameras will begin first with the 70 ACS-64 locomotives that power all Northeast Regional and long-distance trains between Washington, New York and Boston. The cameras will also be installed on the Keystone Service between New York, Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
After the Northeast Corridor is retrofitted, Amtrak will also look to install the cameras on Acela Express power cars and diesel locomotives. Before the changes were implemented Tuesday, locomotives only had outward-facing cameras and advanced systems that monitor locomotive and engineer actions.
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