Year: 2008

NEWARK, N.J. — Trains along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor came to a standstill because of electrical problems, authorities said. “It was done as a precautionary measure. None of the trains lost power,” The Associated Press quoted Amtrak Spokesman Cliff Cole as saying. The voltage in the overhead wires dropped from 12,000 volts to 9,000 volts, though an exact cause was not immediately known. Trains that were in tunnels moved to nearby stations, according to published reports. In addition to Amtrak, N.J. Transit trains were also impacted by the problem. — Railfanning.org News Wire

CANTON, Mass. — About 150 people were injured when a lumber car crashed into a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter train Tuesday afternoon, March 25, authorities said. “All the lights went out and people were flying down the aisles and people were on the floor of the car,” one passenger told The Boston Herald newspaper. “The car began filling up with dust and the scary part was part of the woods was burning up outside the doors.” The train was en route from Boston’s South Station to Stoughton at the time of the crash. An estimated 300 people were on

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 of the work crew to apply a shunting device that would have provided redundant signal protection for their track segment. “This tragic accident occurred because several employees of the railroad failed to do a very important part of their job,” NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker