Bob Casey: I’m Unsure if Crash Related to Money, But ‘Regardless Amtrak Needs More’

SCHIEFFER: "We are going to go now to Senator Bob Casey. He is at the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. He rides this train twice a week. Do you think, Senator, that something should have been done that wasn’t done and that’s why we had this accident or was it just simply this train was speeding?"
CASEY: "Well, Bob, I think we’ve got to wait for the results of the investigation to be certain, but the little information we do know about speed and about the nature of the curve and— and the— the— the basic facts that are on record right now I think indicate that we’ve got to make sure that as your— as Mister Sumwalt just said that we have positive train control in place, so if you are a member of Congress, as I am, and the law says as it does that by the end of the year positive train control has to be implemented and deployed, we have to make sure that we do everything possible to support Amtrak in completing that assignment."
SCHIEFFER: "Well— well explain—"
CASEY: "They are committed to it. Yeah."
SCHIEFFER: "—to those who may not know, what is positive train control? What does that mean?"
CASEY: "It’s— the good— it’s a— it’s a technology that allows the— the— the train engineer, if— if— if he or she is not slowing the train down appropriately, it can override that human error if the train is moving too fast. It’s a— it’s among other things sensors and technology that allows— allows that train to slow down when it should and to comply with the speed regulations in addition to sensing other problems on the— on the tracks so it’s remarkably effective technology. We got to make sure that it’s on every— every model of the track."
SCHIEFFER: "Do you think Amtrak has— do you think Amtrak has done enough to ensure passenger safety or are there things that need to be done here?"
CASEY: "Well, I think that an incident like this crosses us to question a lot of things. Once we have the facts, and, as you know, NTSB will be providing more facts in a preliminary report and then down the road maybe as long as a year a full-scale report. We have to make sure that as— that the Congress reacts appropriately to that. We should not. The Congress should not put Amtrak in the position of— of choosing between positive train control safety and fixing crumbling bridges. We have to do both. And we’ve got to make sure they have the resources to do that. We don’t know the— the connection between funding and this incident. But, regardless, Amtrak needs more funding. I’ve been advocating for years. And, at a minimum, I think we should fund what the President proposed as opposed to what was done the other day in the House Appropriations Committee."
SCHIEFFER: "Well, do you think there will be a congressional investigation or will you let it go with this NTSB investigation?"
CASEY: "I would guess that— that the Congress in its oversight role would have some sort of investigation beyond the routine— beyond the routine appropriations debates but— but that’s really up to the— the relevant committees in House and Senate."
SCHIEFFER: "All right. Well, thank you so much, Senator, thank you."
CASEY: "Thanks, Bob."