LOS ANGELES - Metrolink engineers could soon be watched by live video cameras installed in commuter train locomotives, but the onboard surveillance proposal is drawing criticism, the Associated Press reports.
The proposal comes more than three months after a Metrolink train hit a freight train head-on in Chatsworth, killing 25. The engineer was illegally texting messages just before the crash.
Metrolink board member Richard Katz says the real-time surveillance cameras, which could be installed within six months, are designed to enforce safety rules. It would also eliminate the need for an extra crew member.
But railroad unions say the costly plan will be ineffective and an invasion of privacy, and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein says it's difficult to understand how cameras will be a more effective.
(This item was distributed Dec. 29, 2008, by the Associated Press.)
