Category: Positive Train Control

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NJT crash: focus now on cause and rail safety issues, again

September 30, 2016 Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began the task of gathering evidence to determine the cause of yesterday morning’s deadly New Jersey Transit crash that injured 114 and killed a woman who was standing on the platform at the busy hub in [...]

Tags commuter rail, NJT, positive train control, PTC, rail safety, train safety, two-person crews legislation

NJT train crashes into Hoboken hub, one death reported

September 29, 2016 The New York Times reported that a New Jersey Transit train has crashed into a major Hoboken, NJ transit hub during rush hour. A transportation official confirmed that one person has died and many others have been injured. Urban Search and Rescue squads are at the site. No [...]

Tags commuter rail, NJT, NJT crash, rail safety, train accident, transit safety

We’d better care about Clinton v. Trump on transportation

September 26, 2016 The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, highlights the stark difference in how Clinton and Trump stand on transportation issues, underscoring how the outcome of this election may profoundly impact the health and future of transportation unions and all working fam [...]

Tags AFL-CIO, Amtrak, aviation, bus, Clinton, commuter rail, Freight rail, Rail Safety Task Force, safety, Transportation unions, Trump, TTD, two-person crews, vote

SMART TD member David Pryor featured in “The Atlantic”

September 14, 2016 David Pryor, Amtrak conductor and member of SMART TD Local 168, loves his job on the commuter rail and shared his sentiments and experiences in a recent interview with The Atlantic. Not only does the job provide him with the opportunity to travel, he also noted that being o [...]

Tags Amtrak, Amtrak conductor, commuter rail, commuter safety

NTSB releases probable cause of Amtrak 188 crash

May 18, 2016 The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a board meeting (webcasted live) yesterday, detailing the probable cause of the May 2015 Amtrak train 188 derailment outside of Philadelphia. The derailment caused eight people to lose their lives and over 200 injuries. The [...]

Tags Amtrak, Amtrak 188 crash, derailment, FRA, NTSB, positive train control

Amtrak activates PTC, SEPTA not far behind

December 22, 2015 The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Amtrak activated its Positive Train Control system (PTC) this past weekend from Philadelphia to Washington. SEPTA has reported they are not far behind and will have PTC online sometime in the new year. Since the Federal Railroad Administ [...]

Tags Amtrak, positive train control, PTC, SEPTA

SMART TD praises passage of FAST Act

December 4, 2015 On December 3, 2015, Congress passed H.R. 22, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST ACT) by overwhelming bipartisan votes of 83 to 16 and 359 to 65 in the Senate and House respectively. The legislation is the first long-term surface transportation reauthorizat [...]

Tags alerters, Amtrak funding, ECP brakes, FAST Act, Hair Testing, infrastructure, John Previsich, John Risch, PTC, signal protection, tank car safety

Feinberg tells railroads: 'No more breaks on PTC'

November 23, 2015 The nation’s rail safety chief told a group of railroad officials she expects them to complete a long-delayed collision-avoidance system by the end of 2018 and to not count on Congress to give them an additional reprieve. Recent legislation approved by Congress and signed by [...]

Tags positive train control, PTC, Sarah Feinberg

Get PTC done ASAP, FRA's Feinberg advises

November 10, 2015 The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will soon unveil its expectations for railroads to meet the newly extended Dec. 31, 2018, deadline for positive train control (PTC) implementation, FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg told members of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committe [...]

Tags FRA, PTC, Railroad Safety Advisory Committee, RSAC, Sarah Feinberg

Rail industry had safety technology decades ago

November 5, 2015 WASHINGTON — In 1981, while traveling on a corporate jet, Richard M. Bressler, the chairman of the Burlington Northern Railroad, hit on an idea: What if the technology used by airlines to track the location of planes and help prevent accidents was applied to the rail industry [...]

Tags Advanced Railroad Electronics System, ARES, positive train control, PTC