Amtrak
Commuter Rail
Commuter Rail
Could Fatal Metrolink Crash Have Been Avoided?
Commuter Rail
Rosenker: Take Advantage of New Safety Technologies
WASHINGTON — National Transportation Safety Board Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker has told the rail transportation industry to take advantage of newly emerging technologies that can provide the biggest safety improvements in coming years. Speaking to the International Railroad Safety Conference in Denver, Colo., Rosenker acknowledged the improving safety trends in the railroad industry over recent decades; since 1980, employee fatalities are down 82 percent and grade crossing fatalities down 59 percent. But accidents continue to occur, and the nation is still shocked by the collision in Chatsworth, Calif., last month that killed 25 and injured more than 100. Although
Commuter Rail
Metro-North and NYSDOT Extend Ferries for Two Years
NEW YORK — MTA Metro-North Railroad and the New York State Department of Transportation have developed a funding plan to continue the operations of the Haverstraw-Ossining and Newburgh-Beacon Ferry Services for the next two years. As part of this funding plan, State Sens. Thomas P. Morahan and William J. Larkin Jr. have secured $658,000 and $600,000 respectively to ensure the continuation of two ferry runs that provide Rockland and Orange county residents with access to Metro-North’s Hudson Line train service. Additional state and federal funds also have been secured, that along with an estimated $300,000 in farebox revenues, will cover
Commuter Rail
Oink, Oink: Calif. ‘Bullet Train to Bankruptcy’
WASHINGTON — Citizens Against Government Waste and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation have listed a proposed high-speed rail line in California in their sixth annual California Piglet Book. The book is touted as “the definitive guide for reducing waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the state government.” California voters in November will have the chance to vote on Proposition 1A, a “bullet train to bankruptcy,” CAGW said. If voters approve the project’s initial $9.95 billion down payment, promoters will likely need to come back to taxpayers for another $70 billion to complete the project, CAGW said. — Railfanning.org News Wire
Commuter Rail
Senate Approves Rail Safety Bill; Billions go to Passenger Rail
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate has approved the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008. The legislation will increase funding for Amtrak over the next five years, require new safety controls on trains that help reduce crashes, allow states to regulate solid waste processing facilities along rail lines and allocate funding for improvements to Washington, D.C.’s Metro transit system. “This is a real step forward for anyone who’s tired of sitting in traffic, paying high prices at the pump and waiting in long lines at airports,” Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., chairman
Commuter Rail
More Money For Minnesota High-Speed Passenger Rail Line
WASHINGTON — More of taxpayers’ dollars will move the Duluth to Minneapolis high-speed passenger rail line closer to completion, officials said. U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., said the project has been awarded $1.1 million from the Federal Railroad Administration. The funding will be used to complete an environmental impact statement for the project. “Work on the Northern Lights Express is moving along at full throttle,” Oberstar said. “This is the kind of project that will save energy and alleviate congestion on our highways. With high fuel prices, we need to do all we can to give consumers alternatives to driving.”
Commuter Rail
DOT: New Funding to Improve Intercity Passenger Rail
RICHMOND, Va. – The Department of Transportation is taking a new approach to funding intercity passenger rail projects that will lead to improved service and better on-time performance across the country, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said. Peters released new data today indicating that Americans drove 3.6 percent less, or 9.6 billion miles fewer, in July 2008 than July 2007. Since last November, Americans have driven 62.6 billion miles less than they did over the same nine-month period last year. Meanwhile transit ridership is up 11 percent, and in July, Amtrak carried more passengers than in any single month
Commuter Rail
SEPTA to Display Mock-Up of New Silverliner V
PHILADELPHIA — The public to get a glimpse of SEPTA’s future regional rail cars with a display of a mock-up version of the new Silverliner V car at Suburban Station on Oct. 2 during a special ceremony beginning at noon. The mock-up of the Silverliner V car will remain on display at Suburban Station from from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 2 through Oct. 16 (weekdays only) to provide an extended opportunity for everyone to “steel” a peek into the future of SEPTA. The mock-up was built to help engineers in the design and manufacturing process for the fleet
Commuter Rail
NTSB: Metrolink Engineer Sent Text Message 22 Seconds Before Fatal Crash
LOS ANGELES – The engineer of a Metrolink commuter train that crashed head-on with a Union Pacific freight train sent a text message 22 seconds before the wreck, the National Transportation Safety Board said. On Sept. 12, the day of the crash that killed 25 people and injured 130 more, the Metrolink engineer was on duty twice during the day. First, he was responsible for the operation of a train from 6:44 am until 8:53 a.m., and during that time, the engineer’s cell phone received 21 text messages and sent 24 text messages. The engineer was off duty until 2