Clock ticking to install safety improvements for Brightline trains

By: Gil Smart, Treasure Coast Newspapers

The speedy Brightline trains will present a unique hazard when they begin zipping through Treasure Coast communities.

But unless Florida East Coast Railway gets its act together, the fast trains could be even more perilous.

By the end of the year, Florida East Coast Railway — which owns and operates tracks between Miami and Jacksonville, including the main corridor through our region — is supposed to install important safety upgrades known as "positive train control."

The technology, which uses GPS and other technologies to monitor train positions, can automatically slow or stop trains to prevent collisions. A 2015 congressional order instructed Florida East Coast and 40 other railroads to implement PTC by Dec. 31, 2018…