In 'Why New York's Subway Lines are Missing Countdown Clocks,' James Somers examines the connection between New York's fixed block system and notifying the public about train arrival times. During the 1930's, engineers wanted to make sure that there would never be a collision between trains. This system was called an interlocking system, or fixed block system, which was made up of switches and signals. On August 28th, 1991, the system failed. A train derailed when the driver fell asleep, killing five people when it crashed into multiple support columns. This was never supposed to happen, but by the time the emergency brakes were triggered, it was too late. There wasn’t enough track to allow the train to slow down in time, as the fixed block