The commuter rail line serving Ventura County has received a federal grant to install a groundbreaking new early warning system for people, animals or objects which could be in the path of an oncoming train.
The $1.3 million grant will allow the technology to be tested on a 1.5 mile section of Metrolink’s Ventura County rail line. It will use artificial intelligence equipped cameras, radar, light detection and sensors to identify intrusion on the track’s right-of-way. It can then automatically slow, or stop trains as they approach the area.
The test will take place between Haskell Avenue, and Van Nuys Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, which is on the Ventura County line.
Metrolink officials say they’ve received $2.3 million dollars in federal funding for the effort.
They say the technology could save lives, noting that more than half of the deaths involving Metrolink trains hitting people last year were suicides.
