Category: News
Bipartisan Budget Act provides transport, rail benefits
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 passed early this morning by both houses of Congress and signed by President Donald Trump provides some benefits to transportation workers and the industry. “Discretionary spending for domestic infrastructure will see a $20 billion incr [...]
Funeral services announced for Michael Cella
Services have been announced for Brother Michael Cella, the SMART Transportation Division conductor, who was killed in the Amtrak Train 91 collision Feb. 4 in Cayce, S.C. A gathering of Cella’s friends and family will be 10 a.m. to noon immediately followed by a celebra [...]
Member needs our help with son’s medical bills
SMART Transportation Division Local 278 member Kyle Jones and his wife Samantha received devastating news Jan. 14, when their seven-year-old son Ayden was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APML). This is an extremely rare cancer for someone as young as Ayden [...]
NTSB finds nearly identical cause of two commuter rail accidents
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that two commuter railroad terminal accidents in the New York area were caused by engineer fatigue resulting from undiagnosed severe obstructive sleep apnea. The Sept. 29, 2016, accident on the New Jersey Transit rail [...]Fundraiser set up for men killed in Amtrak 91 collision
A memorial fund for Amtrak conductor Mike Cella, a current SMART Transportation Division member out of Local 30 in Florida, and engineer Mike Kempf, a former SMART TD member, who were tragically killed in the line of duty on Sunday, Feb. 4, has been established. Proceeds from [...]
NTSB issues update on Amtrak Train 91 collision
Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), reported some preliminary findings Monday afternoon of his agency’s investigation into the Amtrak-CSX train collision that occurred Feb. 4 near Cayce, S.C. The train had 139 passengers and eigh [...]
SMART TD member killed in Amtrak crash
A current SMART Transportation Division conductor and a former member were killed when Amtrak Train 91 traveling from New York to Miami collided early Feb. 4 with a stationary CSX freight train east of Columbia, S.C. Brother Michael Cella, 36, of Orange Park, Fla., was a cond [...]
Right to Work for Less stopped in Colorado
SMART Transportation Division Colorado State Legislative Director Carl Smith reports that efforts by some state legislators to advance a Right to Work For Less bill were stopped in committee. By a 6-3 vote, members of the state House’s Colorado House State, Veterans & Mil [...]