Month: June 2006

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FRA

FRA: First-Ever Freight Locomotive Crashworthiness Standards to Improve Protection for Train Crews

June 29, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – Train crews involved in a locomotive collision will have a better chance of survival with reduced injuries as a result of the first-ever federal freight locomotive crashworthiness standards, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman said. The regulation published June 28 is intended to prevent the locomotive cab from being crushed during a head-on collision with another locomotive, or when it strikes the rear of another train, a shifted load on a train on an adjacent track, or a vehicle at a highway-rail grade crossing, Boardman said. “This regulation will give engineers and conductors a better chance to walk

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FRA

New FRA Study Re-Affirms Safety of Push-Pull Passenger Rail Operations

June 27, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – A comprehensive federal study of accident data found that push-pull passenger rail service has an excellent safety record and that a train being pushed has virtually no greater likelihood of derailing after a highway-rail grade crossing collision than one with a locomotive in the lead, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman announced. “Preventing accidents and protecting passengers have much more to do with improving safety than whether the locomotive is in the front or rear of a train,” Boardman said of the report’s findings. The study re-affirms the conclusions of a previous report issued in July 2005 by

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Amtrak

Amtrak: Service to Return to Normal

June 26, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – Amtrak train service in the east is scheduled to return to normal operation on June 27, after heavy rains caused delays and cancellations in the Washington area. Service to and from points north of Washington resumed at 6:30 a.m. June 26 after high water caused some train cancellations, the railroad said. Most service south of Washington was canceled June 26, but is slated to resume normal operation on June 27, barring further weather-related problems. Meanwhile, Virginia Railway Express cancelled service on both lines June 26 due to flooded conditions, washouts and trees down. Service for June 27 was

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Commuter Rail

CTA’s Pink Line Service Begins

June 25, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

CHICAGO – The Chicago Transit Authority’s new Pink Line rail service begins June 25 at 4 a.m., providing more frequent service between Cicero’s 54th/Cermak station and the Chicago Loop. More frequent service on the Forest Park branch of the Blue Line also will begin on Sunday. CTA created the rail enhancements as part of a package of service improvements focused on the West Side and near west suburbs. The Pink Line will operate seven days a week from the 54th/Cermak station in Cicero to the Loop. Pink Line hours of operation are from 4 a.m. to 1 a.m. from 54th/Cermak

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Railfanning Review

Railfanning Review for June 24, 2006

June 24, 2006 Railfanning.org

In this edition: Preventing and reducing collisions, fatalities and injuries arising from highway-rail grade crossing and railroad trespass incidents, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta tendered his resignation and Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific are reporting record coal shipments.

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Miscellaneous

BLET: Delegates Warned of Radioactive Rail Shipments

June 23, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

LAS VEGAS – Delegates attending the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen’s (BLET) First Quadrennial Convention were warned of the dangers of transporting spent nuclear waste and discussed ways of ensuring their safety as well as the safety of the general public. Scott Palmer, the BLET’s Oregon State Legislative Board Chairman, told delegates that rail workers do not receive proper training to handle spent nuclear fuel and do not receive the same protections that are afforded other nuclear industry workers. In addition, there are no plans to record, monitor or track rail worker exposure levels, he said. "It’s our goal

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Short Line/Regional

Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad Resumes Service After Bridge Fire

June 23, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

ROCHESTER, N.Y. –  The Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad (B&P) on June 22 announced that its freight rail service has resumed to three companies in Butler County, Pa., following a fire last month that destroyed a wooden railroad bridge on that line. With the cooperation of local, state and federal officials and regulatory agencies to expedite the permitting process, the B&P was able to replace the damaged bridge with new track on culverts and earthen fill in about six weeks. The branch line runs from East Butler to Bruin and was out of service since the fire on May 10, 2006.