Commuter Rail

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Commuter Rail

$3B for Historic Mass Transit Tunnel

August 29, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEWARK, N.J. — Gov. Jon S. Corzine welcomed U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s $650 million “down payment” toward a federal funding commitment of $3 billion for the historic Mass Transit Tunnel. LaHood and Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff have notified Congress of the agency’s approval of a $1.35 billion Early Systems Work Agreement for the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) Mass Transit Tunnel, money that will support the transit tunnel’s initial phases of construction. Some $650 million of the $1.35 billion in the agreement is from federal sources, including $130 million in stimulus funds under the American Reinvestment and

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Commuter Rail

Rail Service to Meadowlands Starts

August 29, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEWARK, N.J. — N.J. Transit rail service to major events at Giants Stadium launched July 26 for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final championship soccer match. “The startup of rail service to the Meadowlands Sports Complex is great news for New Jersey residents because it will be easier than ever to avoid roadway congestion and take our convenient public transportation system to world-class sporting and entertainment events,” said Gov. Jon S. Corzine. Trains to the Meadowlands Sports Complex will operate for select stadium events of 50,000 fans or more, including all Giants and Jets pre-season and regular season home games,

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Commuter Rail

WMATA: Metro Implements Stricter Hiring Standards

August 19, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Metro has implemented stricter hiring standards, including applicants for frontline and safety sensitive positions. The new standards went into effect earlier this month. “Our frontline employees are the face of Metro,” said Metro General Manager John Catoe. “We want the strongest applicants for every open position. These new hiring standards are meant to help us find only the best and brightest employees to help move more than one million customers each day.” Under the new hiring standards, job applicants for “frontline positions” will be disqualified from the applicant pool for any number of reasons, including one or more

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Commuter Rail

WMATA Train Kills Man on Tracks

August 12, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

ARLINGTON, Va. — A 45-year-old Arlington man was killed after being an Orange Line Metro train at the West Falls Church-VT/UVA Metrorail station. At 11:18 a.m. Aug. 12, the six-car train headed in the direction of New Carrollton struck the resident, who “was on the tracks intentionally” as the train pulled into the station., Metro said.

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Commuter Rail

NTSB Releases Wreck Site Back to WMATA

July 31, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board released the site of the Ft. Totten accident back to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The site, located on the Red Line between Ft. Totten and Takoma stations in Washington, D.C., was the scene of the fatal collision of two WMATA trains on June 22, 2009. The NTSB’s Signal and Train Control Group has completed its examination and testing of train control equipment at the scene of the accident.  Therefore, the accident site, including the track, has been released back to WMATA. As part of the ongoing investigation, the NTSB is

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Commuter Rail

Washington Metro Conducting Comprehensive Review of Employee Disciplinary Actions

July 29, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Washington Metro is conducting a comprehensive review of its disciplinary procedures for employees and plans to stiffen penalties in the coming weeks to ensure that employees follow Metro rules and standard operating procedures. “Metro has more than 10,000 employees, and the vast majority of them do their job well,” said Metro General Manager John Catoe. “Bad behavior on the part of just a few individuals reflects on the entire Metro workforce. Our new approach to procedures and penalties will deter bad behavior and reduce the damage a few people can cause to our relationship with riders.” On Monday,

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Commuter Rail

NTSB Updates WMATA Investigation

July 29, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire

The National Transportation Safety Board continues to make progress in its investigation of the June 22, 2009, collision of two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) trains on the Red Line in Washington, D.C. The Board has developed the following factual information: — To date, significant work has been done to determine why the presence of train 214 was not identified on the train control circuit that allowed train 112 to crash into it. The NTSB’s accident investigation is continuing, and more work is needed to fully understand why the train control system did not perform as designed. — Most