The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced Aug. 24 that it has awarded $203,698,298 in grant funding for the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) for 28 projects in 15 states. FRA also released a status update of PTC for the second quarter. The funds are pa [...]
SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich and leaders from four other unions — the ATDA, BLET, BRS and TCU — submitted a 26-page document May 7 in response to the Federal Railroad Administration’s request for comment on autonomous trains. In it, [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (Dec. 19) — SMART Transportation Division is assisting as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conducts its investigation and offers its sincere condolences to the victims and families of those affected by the Dec. 18 Amtrak Cascades derai [...]
The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) announced Oct. 12 that it ruled that a collision between a pair of Union Pacific trains in Texarkana, Texas, in September 2015 was probably caused by crewmembers who did not respond to wayside signal indicators because they [...]
Ohio’s State Legislative Director Stuart Gardner went on The Union Edge: Labor’s Talk Radio to discuss with Host Charles Showalter why two-person crews are necessary for the safety of all. https://static.smart-union.org/worksite/Video/Aug_8_Stuart_Gardner.m [...]
NPR.org recently reported that Brandon Bostian is facing eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of causing or risking a catastrophe and several counts of reckless endangerment – for the 2015 Amtrak crash near Philadelphia. Bostian, an experienced train engi [...]