Commuter Rail
Safety
FRA
Federal Railroad Administration Awards $1 Million Rail Safety Grant to Operation Lifesaver
WASHINGTON — Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo announced a $1,015,000 grant for Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), providing the Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit organization support to continue its wide-ranging public education outreach efforts to raise awareness about the potential hazards at grade crossings and the dangers of illegal trespassing on railroad property.In 2008, there were 2,395 grade crossing incidents resulting in 287 deaths, as well as 453 deaths due to rail trespassing, slightly fewer than similar incidents in 2007. “Despite decreases in the number of train-vehicle collisions, promoting railroad safety is as important as ever,” Administrator Szabo said. “Through this sustained public-private
Norfolk Southern
Norfolk Southern’s ‘Train Your Brain’ Public Safety Campaign Fills Summer Calendar in Indiana
NORFOLK, Va. — A giant pink eyes-wide-open walking brain has been spotted among summer crowds in Indiana, drawing attention to Norfolk Southern’s “Train Your Brain” safety campaign. Without saying a word, Brainy wows audiences with a hapless, almost human nature that reminds people to be safe around highway-rail grade crossings and to avoid trespassing on railroad property. In the third year of Norfolk Southern’s unconventional safety campaign, Brainy seems to have reached new heights of popularity in northern Indiana. Brainy has appeared at the Potato Creek Festival in North Liberty, the St. Joseph County 4-H Fair in South Bend, the
Miscellaneous
Three WDW Cast Members on Leave Following Deadly Monorail Crash
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Three Walt Disney World resort employees are on leave following a monorail crash between two trains that left one of the drivers dead, CNN reported. The network’s Web site quoted a Disney spokesman as saying the action is “part of an investigative process, not a disciplinary action.” The three employees include a manager, the pilot of the second monorail train and a maintenance shop cast member. The manager was at an off-site restaurant at the time of the crash, WESH-TV reported. On July 5, Monorail Pink backed into another train, Monorail Purple, near the Ticket
Amtrak
Five Killed at Mich. Grade Crossing
CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Five people were killed today when they drove around the gates of a grade crossing and their car was struck by an approaching Amtrak train, police said. “It looks like they probably did go around the arm,” The Associated Press quoted Sgt. Mark Gajeski as saying. “They went around the gate.” All five victims are believed to be teenagers. According to published reports, the crossing’s gate and flashing lights appeared to be working at the time of the wreck. “There is every indication the train crew was doing exactly what it should have been doing and
Commuter Rail
Washington Metro: No Texting for Operators
WASHINGTON — Following a string of embarrassments, including a YouTube video that showed a subway operator texting, Washington Metro has adopted a zero tolerance policy on operator use of cell phones, texting devices. Metrobus and Metrorail operators caught using a cell phone, texting or using a PDA while operating a vehicle will be fired under the new policy announced by Metro General Manager John Catoe. The new policy will take effect on Monday, July 13. “There is no excuse for anyone who is operating a Metrobus or Metrorail train to be using a cell phone or texting other than for
CSX
CSX: ATVs on South Carolina Train Tracks Cost Money and Lives
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With the summer fast approaching, CSX Transportation (CSXT) asks you to stay safe and keep ATVs (all terrain vehicles) off railroad tracks. That means ride your ATV somewhere other than railroad tracks and rights-of-way (approximately, 50 feet in each direction from the center of the tracks.) Help prevent needless accidents on railroad property, where hundreds of people are killed or injured nationwide each year. “Train tracks and railroad rights-of-way are not safe places to ride ATVs for recreation or to get to favorite fishing and hunting spots,” said Nelson High, CSXT community affairs and safety officer. “It’s
FRA
UP: Special Train Focuses on Rail Safety Enforcement
PHOENIX — There is no such thing as luck when it comes to trying to beat a train. Federal Railroad Administration statistics attribute 2,373 crashes every year to driver behavior, which often involves trying to beat a train. That is why Union Pacific is partnering with Arizona Operation Lifesaver to host an “Officer on the Train” event May 22.A special passenger train will allow community leaders, law enforcement officers and education officials to learn about highway-railroad grade crossing safety and the consequences of trespassing on railroad property. “We want to offer community leaders the opportunity to see first-hand the risks
Safety
Willamette & Pacific Wins Harriman Gold, ASLRRA President’s Awards
GREENWICH, Conn. — Genesee & Wyoming Inc.’s Willamette & Pacific Railroad won the railroad industry’s top awards for 2008 safety performance. Today it was announced that the W&P, a short line freight railroad based in Salem, Ore., won the E.H. Harriman Gold Award for the best employee safety record among railroads working less than four million employee-hours in 2008. Harriman Award winners are selected by a committee of representatives from the transportation field and granted on the basis of the lowest casualty rates per 200,000 employee-hours worked, with a formula that accounts for volume of work performed as well as
Norfolk Southern
NTSB Member Testifies About Hazardous Materials Transportation
National Transportation Safety Board Member Deborah A.P. Hersman testified before Congress about the safety of hazardous materials transportation. She focused her testimony on the transportation of lithium batteries, the use of wet lines on tanker trucks, and the loading and unloading of hazardous materials from tank trucks and railroad tank cars.