A Streetcar Named Disaster

The Houston Review takes a hard look at Houston's new MetroRail transit system.

1 minute read

March 21, 2004, 5:00 AM PST

"The problems to date are widespread and growing. Before it even opened MetroRail already boasted the dubious record of five automobile-train collisions in barely a month of test runs, thus relegating transit police to blocking duty along the tracks for opening weekend lest another accident replace rail itself as the top evening news story. Constant technical glitches and another ten automobile-train collisions since service began have placed MetroRail on target for becoming the most accident-prone transit system in the nation... MetroRails tribulations derive almost entirely from an inherent yet neglected system design flaw: the operation of trains in mixed traffic." (The Houston Review is an independent, conservative, student-run journal of news and opinion serving the Houston area.)

Thanks to Laura Kranz

Read the full story: A Streetcar Named Disaster

Sunday, March 7, 2004 in The Houston Review

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