Why Trains Crash (NOVA, 2017)

 

 

 

Why Trains Crash is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2017.

 

It is an episode of the long-running program NOVA which focuses on science and technology (season 44, episode 13).

 

The topic is safety on trains in three countries: the US, Canada, and Japan.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Writer, producer and director: Larry Klein

** Narrator: Jay O. Sanders

** Run time: 53 minutes

 

Several persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names (in alphabetical order and divided into three categories):

 

# 1. THE US

Luis Carrasquero – Metrolink

Steven Ditmeyer – Transportation technologist

Sarah Feinberg – Federal Railroad Administration

Christopher Hart – National Transportation Safety Board (chairman)

Steven Jenner – NTSB

 

William Keppen – former locomotive engineer (train driver)

Sergio Marquez – Metrolink (dispatch)

Keith Millhouse – Metrolink (former chairman)

Patrick Murphy – train crash survivor

 

Jim Paulson – train crash survivor

Ted Turpin – NTSB

David Tyrell – National Transport Systems Center (senior engineer)

Cheryl Whitney – mother of a train crash victim

 

# 2. CANADA

Yannick Gagne – resident of Lac-Megantic (café owner)

Pierre Lebeau – resident of Lac-Megantic (photographer)

Donald Ross – Transportation Safety Board of Canada

 

# 3. JAPAN

Seiji Abe – Japan Railway Company

Yutaka Hatano – Japan Railway Company

Hideki Sakai – Japan Railway Company

 

What do reviewers say about this film? On IMDb it has a rating of 71 per cent, which corresponds to 3.5 stars on Amazon.

 

On the US version of Amazon there are at the moment six reviews of this product. The average rating is five stars.

 

If you ask me, the former rating (IMDb) is too low, while the latter rating (Amazon) is very appropriate. Why?

 

Millions of people travel on trains every day; not only in the US, Canada and Japan, but all over the world. Safety is a serious topic. It is literally a question of life and death. In this film the topic is covered very well. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

 

PS. For more information, see the following books:

 

** Positive Train Control: Issues and Economics for Improved Rail Safety by Rahul O. Salter (2013)

** Train Wrecks: A Pictorial History of Accidents on the Main Line by Robert C. Reed (HC 1988, PB 1997)

 

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