Category: Amtrak/Commuter News
White Pass & Yukon Railroad sold
In a joint venture, Alaska’s White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad (WP&Y) is being sold to Survey Point Holdings (majority owners) and Carnival/Holland America (minority owners). The deal is set to be final Aug. 1. “Both companies have experience operating in Southeast Alas [...]
RRB issues Statements of Service
Each year, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) prepares a “Certificate of Service Months and Compensation” (Form BA-6) for every railroad employee with creditable railroad compensation in the previous calendar year. The RRB will mail the forms to employees during the fir [...]
Senators introduce bill making it a federal crime to assault passenger rail personnel
On the one-year anniversary of the shooting of Amtrak conductor Michael Case in Naperville, Ill., U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D – Ill.) introduced S. 2861 — The Passenger Rail Crew Protection Parity Act — a bill that would make it a felony to assault or intimidate [...]
FRA takes proactive approach to help railroads meet Congressional PTC requirement
Railroads’ progress on Positive Train Control remains uneven WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (US DOT’s) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today released a status update on its efforts to assist railroads in implementing positive train control syst [...]
NTSB releases report on Amtrak/CSX collision
On February 4, 2018, southbound Amtrak train 91, operating on a track warrant, diverted from the main track through a hand-thrown switch into a siding and collided head-on with stationary CSX Transportation local freight train F777 03 on the CSX Columbia Subdivision in Cayce, [...]
NTSB issues urgent safety recommendations
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued three urgent safety recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), acting upon the agency’s findings in two ongoing railroad accident investigations. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) received one u [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]