This is why I moved out of Philadelphia. Not at all surprised. If this turns out to be true, nobody will be.<p>And just another wonderful example of why news organizations shouldn't print the names of people thought to be at fault until they learn the truth. Mayor Nutter had been saying some nasty things about this conductor and I'm sure a lot of people have picked up on it and have decided for themselves he killed those seven people. We don't know yet what happened. It was irresponsible journalism to print his name.
It is quite common in India to have rocks/pebbles hurled at the trains by kids, basically as a source of amusement. Mostly happens in rural areas but I've seen it happen in more urban places as well. I've personally experienced a pebble bouncing off the window grill and miss my forhead by an inch. I remember reading about a man dying due to this few years ago but can't find the source.
I take issue with the lack of positive train controls but moreso with the facts reported in the final paragraph. I was under the impression that locomotives had dead-man switches. The last paragraph implies that either the locomotive did not have a deadman switch or that maintaining it becomes so automatic for the operator that he mindlessly kept it up during his state of shock.<p>In light of all the difficulty reported in installing the positive train controls which rely on trackside signalling equipment, I don't see why a GPS based train control system is not feasable, or at least one that gives instructions or sounds alarms in the cab. I'm only a layperson when it comes to locomotives, but my 2007 model Garmin GPS nav does tell me what speed limits are on nearly every road and warns me of upcoming turns.
In the Bay Area, BART does a pretty good job of fencing off the surrounding area when its on level ground (because of the danger of the third rail). There's always a fence with some sort of razor wire on top, and no grade crossings for people to get in close to the train. I suppose it'd be possible to shoot at the train or throw objects from nearby buildings, but it'd require a lot more luck and skill.