SLD Bates accepts spot on FRA panel

District of Columbia State Legislative Director and SMART Transportation Safety Team member Willie Bates has been invited by Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo to serve on the Stakeholder Review Panel for the agency’s new Clear Signal for Action safety program. The C [...]

Labor rules to boost employment for vets, disabled

WASHINGTON – Veterans and disabled workers who often struggle to find work could have an easier time landing a job under new federal regulations. The rules, announced Aug. 27 by the Labor Department, will require most government contractors to set a goal of having disabled wo [...]

RRB issues financial report

The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is required by law to submit annual financial reports to Congress on the financial condition of the railroad retirement system and the railroad unemployment insurance system. These reports must also include recommendations for any financing [...]

Top 10 busiest Amtrak routes

Rail use in America continues to climb ever higher. In July, Amtrak posted its busiest ridership month ever. But what are the busiest individual routes? Let’s take a look. Here are the 10 highest ridership Amtrak routes, as of July, 2013. Read the complete story at grea [...]

Man arrested 29 times for nabbing trains, buses

NEW YORK – Darius McCollum can explain the complicated workings of the New York City transit system with the precision of a veteran conductor. He knows every subway stop, every line, every train. It’s an obsession that has dominated his life. But instead of becoming a t [...]

PTC extension introduced by committee

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation introduced a positive train control (PTC) extension bill. The bill seeks to extend the statutory deadline for PTC implementation by five years to Dec. 31, 2020, as well as provide another optional two-year e [...]

Emergency RSAC meeting announced

The Federal Railroad Administration announced Aug. 8 that it would hold an emergency meeting of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) Aug. 29. The meeting will focus on the July 6 train derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. Preliminary findings from the derailment and s [...]

Va. agrees to pay more for Amtrak’s rail service

Responding to a federal mandate and acting on transportation legislation passed this year by the General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Tuesday that Virginia will assume more financial responsibility for Amtrak regional service in the state. The agreement had to be in [...]