Category: Amtrak/Commuter News
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 [...]
Calif. leads nation in fatal train crossing crashes
Linda Kruger-Small was driving home on a rainy night, just a few days before Christmas 2008. She was on an unfamiliar street and followed a right turn arrow that put her on railroad tracks at Orangethorpe Avenue in Anaheim. It turned out to be a fatal move. Her car became stu [...]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 [...]
Szabo: ‘Rail is the transportation mode of opportunity’
On July 30, Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo addressed attendees of the SMART Transportation Division’s regional meeting in Anaheim, Calif., speaking about future endeavors the FRA has for the rail industry and about safety enhancements moving forward. “Ra [...]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 [...]TSA expands to railroad stations
WASHINGTON – As hundreds of commuters emerged from Amtrak and commuter trains at Union Station on a recent morning, an armed squad of men and women dressed in bulletproof vests made their way through the crowds. The squad was not with the D.C. Police Department or Amtrak’s po [...]Transportation bill’s demise points to 2014 stalemate
The collapse of U.S. transportation funding bills in both houses of Congress points to a broader stalemate over fiscal 2014 spending and threatens to extend across-the-board budget cuts into next year. Senate Republicans yesterday blocked a $54 billion measure funding highway [...]