Amtrak

Amtrak Fills More Senior Operations Positions

WASHINGTON – Amtrak announces it has named Magdy El-Sibaie as the new chief safety officer and Robin McDonough as chief, business operations. Both will report directly to DJ Stadtler, vice president of operations. As chief safety officer, Dr. El-Sibaie will be responsible for planning, directing and overseeing the safety activities and standards of Amtrak departments to achieve continuous improvement in employee and passenger safety, including the railroad’s Safe-2-Safer behavior- based cultural safety program. In addition, he will provide oversight of Amtrak’s compliance with safety regulations and participation in current and emerging industry safety programs. He has over 20 years of
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Amtrak

Amtrak Planning to Acquire New Next-Generation High-Speed Train Sets

WASHINGTON – Amtrak is advancing plans to acquire new next-generation high-speed train sets and ending its plans to purchase 40 additional high-speed passenger cars to add to the existing Acela Express fleet. In early 2013, Amtrak will issue a Request for Information (RFI) to formally start the process that will replace the existing 20 Acela Express train sets and add additional train sets to expand seating capacity and provide for more frequent high-speed service on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), the railroad said. “Moving directly to new high-speed train sets is the best option to create more seating capacity, permit higher
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Amtrak

Mica: Focus High Speed Rail Construction on NEC

If the country is going to build high-speed rail, its focus should be squarely on the densely populated Northeast Corridor (NEC), especially considering the highway and air congestion in the region, and the existing connections to other transportation modes, U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., contends. The NEC is the only segment of rail primarily owned by Amtrak rather than the freight railroads. He stated that while the Administration has invested some in the NEC, it’s been in a piecemeal, half-baked fashion. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Members, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Department of Transportation Inspector General highlighted