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Importance of a current connection for RRB benefits

Under the Railroad Retirement Act, a “current connection” with the railroad industry is one of the eligibility requirements for occupational disability annuities and supplemental annuities, and is one of the factors that determine whether the Railroad Retirement Board or the [...]
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Amtrak funds at risk in extended shutdown

Amtrak, the U.S. intercity passenger railroad, may have trouble staying on track, literally, if a U.S. government shutdown is prolonged for a month or more. The Washington-based railroad, which has never made money, gets 12 percent of its operating budget and most capital and [...]
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Amtrak commits to end food, beverage losses

WASHINGTON – Amtrak is moving forward with a plan to eliminate its food and beverage losses over five years. It builds on successful initiatives implemented since fiscal year 2006 that have increased the cost recovery rate from 49 percent to 65 percent. “We have made steady a [...]

Suicides by rail leave more than just one victim

Sharon Spitler had every intention of taking her life when she left her motel room in the early morning of Sept. 25. At 6:40 a.m., the 56-year-old Westland, Mich., woman walked to the nearby South Shore railroad tracks and stood between the long twin rails that disappear in b [...]

Natural gas locomotives to be common by 2016

In 2011, U.S. railroad companies consumed a little over 3 billion gallons of diesel, nearly 5.5 percent of the total consumption for the entire country. Oil is currently much more expensive than natural gas, which thanks to the shale boom, is at record low prices in the U.S. [...]

Amtrak in New York state to stay open

ALBANY, N.Y. — Amtrak and the state Department of Transportation have reached an agreement on a method for sharing costs on most trains in the Empire State, avoiding a shutdown of service that could have taken place as early as Oct. 17. The agreement, required by the fe [...]

TSA employees working without pay

ATLANTA – While 800,000 federal employees are not reporting to work during the government shutdown, thousands of TSA employees are expected to come to work without pay.  They’re the first line of defense on the ground and in the air at our nation’s airports, but T [...]

GO 851 Assistant Chairperson Davis resigns

General Committee of Adjustment GO 851 General Chairperson John D. Whitaker III reports that Assistant General Chairperson Ben Davis has resigned his position. While he remains an active CSXT employee, Davis will continue to serve the SMART Transportation Division general com [...]

RRB offices remain open, conferences canceled

The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has announced that during the lapse in federal funding for certain government operations which began Oct. 1, ongoing benefit payments will continue and all RRB offices are expected to remain open. RRB field offices, operating with redu [...]

Conductor honored for saving man on tracks

OLYMPIA, Wash. – It’s every train conductor’s worst nightmare. On a sunny morning in July last year, a Tacoma Rail train hauling 10 rail cars filled with cargo bound for the Mottman Industrial Park approached the tunnel in downtown Olympia at Cherry Street and Sev [...]