ELMWOOD PARK, Ill. — The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of an accident that occurred at a highway-railroad grade crossing in Elmwood Park, Ill., was a combination of factors including the intersection
angle, the heavy holiday traffic and the complex street and rail pattern and related signal interactions at the intersection.
“Despite the […]

WASHINGTON — The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation announces that the Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security Subcommittee NTSB Reauthorization Hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. June 5 has been postponed.
A new date and time for the hearing will be announced as soon as it is available.
The hearing is expected to focus on the activities […]

WASHINGTON — The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security Subcommittee will hold an NTSB reauthorization hearing.
The hearing will focus on the activities of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and its legislative reauthorization proposal. The NTSB’s current authorization expires on Sept. 30.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., will chair the hearing, […]

BOSTON — Two Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains collided near Newton, Mass.
The National Transportation Safety Board is dispatching a Go Team to investigate the collision. NTSB Rail Investigator Wayne Workman will serve as Investigator-in-Charge and lead the 7-member team.
Board Member Kitty Higgins will accompany the team and serve as spokesman for the on-scene investigation.

WASHINGTON — National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark V. Rosenker told members of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) that, while grade crossing accidents and railroad employee fatality rates have declined in the past quarter century, there is still room for improvement.
Addressing rail executives at the AAR’s annual safety awards luncheon, Rosenker called upon attendees […]

WASHINGTON — Norfolk Southern Railroad’s inadequate rail inspection and maintenance program resulted in a rail fracture from an undetected internal defect, which is to blame for an October 2006 derailment.
Contributing to the accident was the Federal Railroad Administration’s inadequate oversight of the internal rail inspection process and its insufficient requirements for internal rail inspection.
On Oct. […]

WASHINGTON — To increase public awareness about the causes of specific train accidents and to reduce the need for individuals to submit Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is for the first time making its investigation reports of major train accidents and other incidents available online, FRA Administrator Joseph H. […]

TOLEDO, Ohio — The National Transportation Safety Board today dispatched two investigators from its Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations to investigate an accident that occurred early yesterday morning at CSX’s Stanley Yard near Toledo, Ohio.
A CSX Transportation employee switching rail cars on one track was seriously injured after being struck by a […]

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the collision involving a Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority train with a maintenance truck in Woburn, Mass., was the failure of the train dispatcher to maintain blocking that provided signal protection for the track segment occupied by the maintenance-of-way work crew, and the failure […]

WASHINGTON — National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said the occasion of National Sleep Awareness Week (March 3-9) should remind operators of vehicles in all modes of transportation about the inherent dangers of fatigue.
“The Safety Board is very concerned about reducing accidents and incidents caused by human fatigue,” Rosenker said. “We have seen […]