Positive Train Control is a technology and topic that has been around for years. It is not just for passenger trains. It is for all rail throughout this country, freight and passenger alike. The North East Corridor is owned by the government (Amtrak). If the government was so serious about implementing this technology it would have set an example and done so years ago (on the most heavily utilized rail line in this nation mind you). I am no fan of Congress but this is a matter that could have been dealt with a long time ago. Some one has to pay for it.One of the National Transportation Safety Board's main safety recommendations for trains is to have automatic braking, called positive train control, for a train traveling too fast for conditions along a section of track. But the cost of upgrading tracks and trains with the equipment has prevented the adoption of positive train control by a congressional deadline set for the end of 2015.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...l-fatalities-safety-recommendations/27230569/
For what it is worth, the North East Corridor is in dire need of repairs from Boston to Norfolk VA.