Safety – Page 13 – Railfanning.org

NTSB Identifies Signal Failure in DC Crash

September 22, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued nine safety recommendations, six of which are urgent, as part of its investigation into the collision between two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) trains on June 22, 2009. The trains crashed on the Red Line near the Fort Totten station in Washington. The NTSB’s recommendations address concerns about the safety of train control systems that use audio frequency track circuits, authorities said. As part of its investigation, the NTSB said it discovered that a failure occurred in which a spurious signal generated by a track circuit module transmitter mimicked

Play it Safe When it Comes to Railroad Crossings

September 22, 2009 Todd DeFeo

MARIETTA, Ga. – It was the Fourth of July, and the town square was packed with revelers waiting to see the evening’s fireworks display. The town square was closed for the event, and the nearby railroad tracks were quiet – or so it seemed. Before long, that unmistakable sound ruminated in the distance. The warning bells started to clang. Red lights flashed. The gates started to lower. A locomotive with freight cars in tow started to round the corner. The engineer sounded the customary warning horns – long, long, short, long. At that moment, it became obvious to some pedestrians

Amtrak and Capitol Corridor Support California Rail Safety Month

September 4, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

OAKLAND, Calif. — Amtrak and the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) are joining efforts during September to raise public awareness about highway-rail grade crossing safety and trespass prevention as part of California’s first ever “Rail Safety Month.” Working with California Operation Lifesaver, freight and passenger railroads and other rail safety partners, Amtrak will participate in “Officer on the Train” events in cities throughout the state during the month of September. The key element of this program is to have local law enforcement officers ride in the locomotive to witness what train engineers observe daily — motorists driving illegally through

UP, Operation Lifesaver Campaign Urges Pedestrians to Use Common Sense Around Railroad Tracks

August 26, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Look both ways before crossing! Many of us heard this warning as children and common sense says to heed it when crossing streets.That same warning applies when crossing railroad tracks, where not looking can have deadly consequences. Union Pacific Railroad and Operation Lifesaver have joined forces in San Antonio to launch a bilingual awareness campaign aimed at promoting safety around railroad tracks. The campaign, which runs through September, reminds Alamo City residents to use common sense when approaching railroad tracks. The Common Sense Campaign is specifically aimed at 18- to 34-year-olds, the group most likely to

WMATA: Metro Implements Stricter Hiring Standards

August 19, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Metro has implemented stricter hiring standards, including applicants for frontline and safety sensitive positions. The new standards went into effect earlier this month. “Our frontline employees are the face of Metro,” said Metro General Manager John Catoe. “We want the strongest applicants for every open position. These new hiring standards are meant to help us find only the best and brightest employees to help move more than one million customers each day.” Under the new hiring standards, job applicants for “frontline positions” will be disqualified from the applicant pool for any number of reasons, including one or more

Washington Metro Announces ‘Safety Stand Down’ Following Employee fatality

August 10, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

Federal Railroad Administration Awards $1 Million Rail Safety Grant to Operation Lifesaver

August 6, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo announced a $1,015,000 grant for Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), providing the Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit organization support to continue its wide-ranging public education outreach efforts to raise awareness about the potential hazards at grade crossings and the dangers of illegal trespassing on railroad property.In 2008, there were 2,395 grade crossing incidents resulting in 287 deaths, as well as 453 deaths due to rail trespassing, slightly fewer than similar incidents in 2007. “Despite decreases in the number of train-vehicle collisions, promoting railroad safety is as important as ever,” Administrator Szabo said. “Through this sustained public-private

Norfolk Southern’s ‘Train Your Brain’ Public Safety Campaign Fills Summer Calendar in Indiana

July 24, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NORFOLK, Va. — A giant pink eyes-wide-open walking brain has been spotted among summer crowds in Indiana, drawing attention to Norfolk Southern’s “Train Your Brain” safety campaign. Without saying a word, Brainy wows audiences with a hapless, almost human nature that reminds people to be safe around highway-rail grade crossings and to avoid trespassing on railroad property. In the third year of Norfolk Southern’s unconventional safety campaign, Brainy seems to have reached new heights of popularity in northern Indiana. Brainy has appeared at the Potato Creek Festival in North Liberty, the St. Joseph County 4-H Fair in South Bend, the

Three WDW Cast Members on Leave Following Deadly Monorail Crash

July 9, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Three Walt Disney World resort employees are on leave following a monorail crash between two trains that left one of the drivers dead, CNN reported. The network’s Web site quoted a Disney spokesman as saying the action is “part of an investigative process, not a disciplinary action.” The three employees include a manager, the pilot of the second monorail train and a maintenance shop cast member. The manager was at an off-site restaurant at the time of the crash, WESH-TV reported. On July 5, Monorail Pink backed into another train, Monorail Purple, near the Ticket

Five Killed at Mich. Grade Crossing

July 9, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Five people were killed today when they drove around the gates of a grade crossing and their car was struck by an approaching Amtrak train, police said. “It looks like they probably did go around the arm,” The Associated Press quoted Sgt. Mark Gajeski as saying. “They went around the gate.” All five victims are believed to be teenagers. According to published reports, the crossing’s gate and flashing lights appeared to be working at the time of the wreck. “There is every indication the train crew was doing exactly what it should have been doing and