The Amtrak train was traveling from Chicago to Emeryville, Calif., when it was stuck by a truck at about 11:25 a.m. PT today. Numerous fatalities and multiple injuries have been reported.

Robert Accetta will serve as Investigator-in-Charge for the team.

The announcement of the new list came at a press conference in Washington, D.C. in which each of the five members of the Board spoke briefly about the issues on the list.

“The NTSB’s ability to influence transportation safety depends on our ability to communicate and advocate for changes,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “The Most Wanted List is the most powerful tool we have to highlight our priorities.”

NTSB began issuing an annual Most Wanted List in 1990. The list released today is the first one produced under a revised format developed by the agency over the past several months in an effort to modernize and streamline the list.

This year’s list features 10 broad issue areas that the NTSB will highlight in its advocacy efforts during the next year.

The new Most Wanted List can be found on the NTSB’s remodeled website. The effort to update the website began at the end of last year and was a revealed today. “Our new website, with a landing page dedicated to the Most Wanted List issues, provides pertinent, easy-to-find information along with videos and NTSB recommendations that support all of the issues on the list,” Hersman said.

The issue areas on the new Most Wanted List are:

• Promote pilot and air traffic controller professionalism
• Address human fatigue
• Promote teen driving safety
• Improve general aviation safety
• Improve motorcycle safety
• Require safety management systems
• Improve runway safety
• Address alcohol-impaired driving
• Improve bus occupant safety
• Require image and onboard data recorders

More information about the Most Wanted List issue areas can be found at www.ntsb.gov/mostwanted.

On Sunday April 17 at approximately 6:55 a.m. (CDT), an eastbound BNSF coal train collided with the rear end of a standing BNSF maintenance of way equipment train near Red Oak, Iowa. The accident, which resulted in the death of two railway workers, occurred at milepost 448.3 on the number two track on the Creston subdivision of the BNSF Nebraska Division.

The coal train, designated as C-BTMCNM0-26A, BNSF 9159 East, consisted of 130 loaded coal cars. It weighed 18,529 tons and was 7,122 feet long with two locomotives on the head end and one locomotive on the rear end.

The maintenance of way equipment train, designated as U-BRGCRI5-15G, BNSF 9470 East, consisted of 21 loaded cars and 13 empty cars. It weighed 2,635 tons and was 3,170 feet long with one locomotive on the head end.

As a result of the collision, the two lead locomotives of the coal train along with the first two coal cars derailed.

Seven additional coal cars were damaged in the accident and following the collision, the cab of the lead locomotive caught fire. Both the engineer and conductor in the lead locomotive of the coal train were killed.

With regard to the standing maintenance of way equipment train, nine cars were derailed due to the collision. The two crew members on the locomotive of the maintenance of way equipment train were not injured.

The event recorder and forward facing video camera on the leading locomotive of the coal train were damaged in the collision and subsequent fire. Both recorders were retrieved and are being analyzed at the NTSB’s lab in Washington.

The video camera was too badly damaged to retrieve data.

A preliminary review of the locomotive event recorder data indicates that just before the collision, train speed increased and the throttle was decreased as the train reached the top of a hill west of the accident site. The data also indicates that the speed at impact was 23 mph and that the emergency brakes were not applied before impact.

During the on-scene investigation, NTSB investigators tested the signal system and the undamaged coal cars. The equipment satisfactorily met test criteria. Trains in this area operate on wayside signal indications visible to the crew.

Signal system data indicate that the last signal encountered by the coal train was set at “restricting.” This indication required that the train be prepared to stop short of another train.

The crew of the struck train reported that visibility at the time of the collision was good. Investigators conducted sight distance observations under similar daylight and weather conditions. The observers were able to identify the standing train about 1,376 feet from the point of collision.

As the investigation continues, investigators will review personnel, maintenance and various other records. In addition, crew cell phone records have been subpoenaed and will be reviewed by investigators.

Finally, the NTSB has formed a work group which will examine the crash performance of the leading locomotive where crew members were fatally injured.

Parties to this investigation are the Federal Railroad Administration, the BNSF railroad, Electro Motive Diesel (the manufacturer of the lead locomotive), the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the United Transportation Union.

– Collision of Two Municipal Railway Transit System (MUNI) Trains, San Francisco, Calif.

On July 18, 2009, about 2:50 p.m., a MUNI train struck another standing MUNI train at West Portal Station. The operators of both trains and 46 passengers were taken to hospitals. The operator of the striking train and 27 of the passengers had serious injuries.

– Collision of Metrolink Passenger Train and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Freight Train, Rialto, Calif.

On November 20, 2008, about 11:25 a.m., an eastbound Metrolink passenger train failed to stop at a red signal and collided with the last eight cars and two rear locomotives of a westbound BNSF freight train. There were 15 passengers and 3 crew members on the Metrolink train. Four passengers received minor injuries. The two crew members of the BNSF freight train were unhurt.

– Collision of Two Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Light Rail Passenger Trains, Boston.

On Friday, May 8, 2009, about 7:14 p.m., a westbound MBTA Green Line train struck the rear of another westbound MBTA train. The accident occurred near Government Center Station in the underground tunnel segment on the MBTA subway system.

Sixty-eight injured passengers and crewmembers were transported to local hospitals.

The accidents include:

– A collision that occurred on Nov. 29, 2009, at the WMATA West Falls Church station where a six-car train struck the rear of a stopped six-car train. Three employees sustained minor injuries.

– An accident that occurred on Jan. 26, 2010, approximately 0.9 miles north of the Rockville station when two WMATA Metrorail automatic train control maintenance technicians were struck and fatally injured by a hi-rail vehicle.

– A derailment that occurred on Feb. 12, 2010, when WMATA Metrorail train 156 derailed the front set of wheels on the first car near the Farragut North station. No injuries were reported.

The information being released is factual in nature and does not provide any analysis. The dockets include investigative group factual reports, exhibits, interview transcripts, photographs, and other documents from the investigations.

Additional material will be added to the dockets as it becomes available. Analysis of the accidents, along with conclusions and a determination of probable cause for each accident, will be released at a later date when the final report on each investigation is completed.

The order is an internal document that provides policy guidance and establishes procedures for the identification, development, selection and implementation of safety recommendations on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List.

“With this week’s vote, the NTSB will begin a significant transformation of one of our flagship programs, the Most Wanted List,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “For the past 20 years, the Most Wanted List has spotlighted certain critical transportation safety issues and the NTSB’s safety recommendations that would address them. It has been one of the NTSB’s most effective tools, but after 20 years, it is in need of a face lift and procedural streamlining. The Board has now paved the way for those important updates to take place.”

Currently, the list contains 56 individual recommendations, many of which have been on the list for years. The new order stipulates that future lists would be limited to a maximum of 10 issue areas, each supported by recommendations, and that the formerly separate state and federal Most Wanted Lists be combined into a single, comprehensive list. Board Members each year will select the issues for the Most Wanted List by a written voting process, and the updated Most Wanted List will be unveiled in an annual press conference.

“The beauty of this new process is the fact that the Most Wanted List can be changed completely each and every year, if the Board so chooses,” Hersman said. “This will go a long way to keeping the Moat Wanted List fresh, dynamic and current for the next 20 years of its life.”

In a speech to the audience at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) conference, Hersman discussed four investigations across all modes of transportation. She highlighted several accidents that claimed the lives of dozens and encouraged attendees to embrace lessons learned to prevent future accidents.

“If you’re going to build a transportation project that’s going to stand for decades, the foundation of future operating decisions may well be based on the original documentation. Make sure your records stand the test of time,” Hersman said.

Hersman also emphasized the need for establishing a positive safety culture across all modes of transportation. She noted that 4 years before the fatal transit train collision on Washington’s Metro system, a precursor incident led to the development of a test to detect the component failure involved in the 2009 tragedy. However, Metro failed to ensure that the new procedures were adopted and understood by their maintenance crews.

“What Metro needed in 2005 was a safety culture that ensured that the lessons learned were communicated to all parts of the organization,” she said.

During her speech, Hersman recognized the demands presented by aging infrastructure. “We believe — and Americans have the right to assume — that our infrastructure is built to last. And indeed it does last. We definitely got the extended warranty on some of those landmark projects. Unfortunately at the rate we’re going we really needed the lifetime guarantee.”

These cars were cited by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as a contributing factor to the severity of passenger injuries and the number of fatalities in the June 2009 Red Line crash near Fort Totten Station. Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia will also provide $150 million in matching local funds to help pay for the improvements.

“This money will let WMATA make important safety improvements to Washington’s Metrorail system,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. “But to establish a standard level of safety across all transit systems, we urge Congress to pass the rail transit safety legislation proposed by the Obama Administration last year.”

In addition to $79.3 million to purchase as many as 300 new 7000-Series rail cars and $44.4 million for track rehabilitation, the remainder of the $300 million will be used to address other much-needed infrastructure projects within the system, such as Metrorail station improvements, the rehabilitation of track maintenance equipment, the replacement of track switching equipment, and elevator and escalator repairs. The grant also allocates $10.3 million for the transit agency to address safety recommendations made by the NTSB.

“Safety is our number one priority at FTA and this investment in WMATA is an investment in the welfare of the people who live and work around the nation’s capital,” FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff said. “Whether they’re going to work, to school, to the doctor, or to a ballgame, DC-area residents deserve a transit system that is efficient, reliable, and most importantly, safe.”

The funding was authorized by Title VI of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, which specifically authorizes the Department to make $150 million available annually to WMATA for capital and preventive maintenance for a ten-year period. The grant will also allow the transit agency to make improvements to its bus and train repair shops and equipment.

The accident dockets opened today are:

July 5, 2009, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. A train operator was killed when two monorail passenger trains collided at Walt Disney World Theme Park.

July 18, 2009, San Francisco, Calif. A collision occurred between two MUNI light rail vehicles at the West Portal Station, injuring 48 people.

On May 8, 2009, a westbound Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) light rail passenger train struck the rear of a stopped MBTA train on the Green Line in Boston. Approximately 46 passengers sustained minor injuries.

The information being released is factual in nature and does not provide any analysis. It will include investigative group factual reports and other documents from the investigation.