A recent CSX Transportation employee bulletin obtained by Trains News Wire informed train service employees to expect more inward facing cameras and cell phone detectors inside of its locomotive fleet. According to the document, the detectors are triggered whenever a mobile device is turned on and available to a cellular network. If a device has its cellular and Internet functions turned off, or to “airplane mode,” the detectors will not trigger an alert.
“While we don’t always share specifics about how the company deploys technology that enhances safety or security, we are expanding the use of inward-facing cameras and will also equip locomotives with cell phone detection technology as we install the new cameras,” CSX Media Relations Manager Laura Phelps says in a prepared statement for Trains News Wire.
She says the technologies can help the railroad to “…recreate the sequence of events, pinpoint problems and make improvements that further promote safety.”
Norfolk Southern is taking a similar approach.
“We plan to install cameras in additional units in 2017,” says NS representative Susan Terpay. “Active cell phone detection technology was added to a small number of locomotives in 2016, and we will continue this program in future years,” Terpay says.
Neither CSX nor Norfolk Southern indicated which company is supplying the cell phone detection technology.
