Association of American Railroads (AAR) President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger said that America’s freight rail industry is making progress on positive train control (PTC) and remains committed to ensure all is being done to safely reach the goal of nationwide interoperability.
Union Pacific‘s infrastructure in Oregon and Washington state will see $85 million in track and signal work that the railroad says will enhance employee, community and customer safety while increasing rail operating efficiency.
The National Transportation Safety Board says analysis of phone records of the locomotive engineer operating Amtrak 188, Brandon Bostian, did not indicate the phone was in use at the time of the accident, which occurred on May 12.
As a result of work completed in March 2014 in response to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Emergency Order 29, Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Metro-North Railroad are already in compliance with the recommendations made recently to all U.S. passenger railroads by the Federal Railroad Administration in its Safety Advisory 2015-03.
In its ongoing investigation of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) train accident at L’Enfant Plaza on January 12, 2015, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators found problems with certain electrical connections in WMATA’s system that require immediate action and issued a safety recommendation.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a safety advisory recommending actions that passenger railroads take to prevent trains from speeding. The advisory is the latest in a series of steps FRA has taken to keep passenger railroads safe for the traveling public.
AskRail™, the mobile application developed as an added safety tool for first responders, continued its industry-wide roll out with a demonstration at BNSF‘s Chicago (Corwith) Intermodal Facility on June 8.
Railway Interchange 2015 host associations say they are gearing up for the biggest event to-date. With four months to go before the event, indoor and outdoor exhibition space is sold out and 60 percent of available hotel rooms have been reserved.
An Aecon Group Inc. consortium, Crosslinx Transit Solutions, has been selected by Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario as the preferred proponent for the development of the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit project in Toronto.
Jerome Marullo has joined the Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp. Railway Division as Eastern Regional Advertising Sales Manager, with responsibility for Railway Age, Railway Track & Structures and International Railway Journal. He replaces Mark Connolly, who retired on May 22, 2015 after nine years with the company.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) released a series of technical reports on truck size and weight for peer review and public comment as a step toward the completion of the comprehensive study required in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) joined the international rail transportation community to raise awareness among cyclists and pedestrians about the dangers of railroad grade crossings during the 7th Annual International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) June 3. Major U.S. freight railroads hosted ILCAD events across the U.S. with an additional 43 countries and numerous international railroad organizations and companies doing the same worldwide with a focus on the common message: “Take your time, don’t risk your life!”
At a hearing concerning the May 12 accident of Amtrak 188 in Philadelphia, Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Boardman reiterated the railroad’s commitment to implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) by the end of 2015.
Norfolk Southern is bringing its Train Your Brain public safety campaign to central and south Georgia to remind people to be safe and alert around railroad tracks and trains.
Billboards, with photos and captions, such as “She needs story time” and “Your fan club is waiting,” will remind motorists that their families and loved ones depend on them to return home safely.
“The images are intended to grab drivers’ attention and encourage them to cross tracks safely,” said Cayela Wimberly, Norfolk Southern’s director of grade-crossing safety. “Our goal is to save lives by educating people that trying to beat a train across railroad tracks or walking or playing on tracks is potentially deadly and always illegal.”
The billboards are going up in communities along the Interstate 75 corridor from Macon to Valdosta. Georgia was selected for this year’s annual campaign because of the high number of deaths and injuries resulting from vehicle-train and trespassing incidents. In 2014, the state ranked fifth-highest in the U.S. in highway-rail grade crossing collisions and tenth-highest in trespassing incidents.
The campaign’s mascot, “Brainy,” a giant wide-eyed pink walking brain, will make appearances at fairs, festivals and sporting events to remind people to be smart and alert at highway-rail grade crossings and to avoid trespassing on railroad property.
In addition to the billboards, Train Your Brain safety messages will appear on gas pumps and ice chests at convenience stores, in movie theaters, on game tickets at 38 high schools and on homework folders at 63 public elementary schools. To encourage safe driving habits, rail safety kits will be distributed to 3,600 students enrolled in driver’s education programs at 18 public high schools.
Now in its ninth year, Norfolk Southern’s “Train Your Brain” public safety campaign has run in Alabama, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee, reminding more than seven million people to make safe decisions around tracks and trains.
Additionally in the name of safety, the Indiana Rail Road (INRD) and Indiana Operation Lifesaver hosted an “Officer on a Train” event June 2.
Law enforcement officers from Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Johnson and Morgan counties and Indiana University participated in a train ride from Indianapolis to Bloomington and returned.
A live video feed delivered real-time views from the front of the locomotive to participants, so officers could monitor the behavior of motorists and pedestrians on INDR mainline. The live feed also provided a point of discussion among law enforcement and railroad officials on how to better work together to promote grade-crossing collision prevention and trespassing prevention.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, 59 Indiana residents were killed or injured in preventable grade crossings accidents in 2014, which is 10 more than in 2013 and fourth highest among states, trailing only California, Illinois and Texas.
The day after “Officer on a Train,” June 3, is the 7th Annual International Level Crossing
Awareness Day, created to send a message to public to act safely around grade crossings.
“All too often, there are news headlines of a tragic yet wholly preventable accident involving a grade crossing collision or a trespasser who was struck by a train,” said Eric Powell, INRD manager, intermodal and economic development. “Indiana Rail Road’s infrastructure is in the best condition in its history, but our trains cannot stop on a dime to avoid collisions with motor vehicles or pedestrians. Through coordination with law enforcement, we hope to raise awareness about these vulnerabilities and to change public behavior around railroads. It’s all in the name of protecting the public and our employees.”
The Transportation Research Board is accepting proposals until September 15, 2015, for the Safety IDEA Program, which supports the development and testing of innovative concepts and methods for improving railroad safety or performance.
Union Pacific released state investment plans for Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma that the railroad says will enhance community safety, as well as improve railroad efficiency.
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) will conduct a track renewal project on a portion of its Route 15 trolley line from June 14-September 19, 2015, which was originally installed in the 1950s.
The annual Rail Summit, held in Chicago, Ill., at the Union League Club of Chicago, was well attended by transportation executives and decision makers discussing this year’s theme of the supply chain including railroads, waterways and trucking.
Wednesday’s commute for riders on New York City Transit’s (NYCT) A Line was delayed due to damage caused by copper cable thieves who vandalized cable from subway tracks near Howard Beach, Queens.
Union Pacific will invest a combined $82 million in to projects in Louisiana and Missouri in 2015. These improvements are part of the railroad’s $4.2 billion capital investment for the year.
