News - Page 397 of 656

Former MTA chief expected to head Metrolink

March 13, 2015 The Metrolink commuter rail system’s board of directors on Friday is expected to hire Art Leahy, the former head of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as the railroad’s chief executive officer. Leahy, 66, is a veteran transit official wh [...]

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Washington House passes railroad crew van bill

March 12, 2015 OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington House of Representatives voted 84-14 March 10 to pass Rep. Derek Stanford’s (D – Bothell) bill to strengthen safety regulations for the transportation of railroad workers to and from work. Prior to 1977, railroad companies operated van services [...]

Tags crew vans, Washington

Dangerous trains, aging rails

March 12, 2015 A CSX freight train ran off the rails last month in rural Mount Carbon, W.Va. One after another, exploding rail cars sent hellish fireballs hundreds of feet into the clear winter sky. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency, and the fires burned for several days. [...]

Tags crude oil, Federal Railroad Administration, FRA, National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, railroad track maintenance, railroad vridges, tank cars

Great Lakes Airlines ending service to Sheridan, Wyo.

March 11, 2015 SHERIDAN, Wyo. – Great Lakes Airlines cited “reasons beyond our control” in a letter announcing it would terminate air service at Sheridan County Airport on March 31. Airport Manager John Stopka received the notice of termination on Monday. Stopka said the termination of air [...]

Tags Great Lakes Airlines, Sheridan, Wyo.

Renzenberger Drivers Vote Unanimously for SMART Representation

March 11, 2015 On March 6th, Sheet Metal Local 71 in Buffalo won a representation election at Renzenberger, Inc. This came by way of a unanimous vote by the company’s drivers for SMART representation. The election was a three way race between SMART, an independent union called the National [...]

Amtrak renames Chicago operations center for Szabo

March 11, 2015 Amtrak on Tuesday renamed its operations center in Chicago to honor Joseph Szabo, a fifth-generation railroader who headed the Federal Railroad Administration for 51/2 years of the Obama administration. Szabo, 56, left the administration in December to return to Chicago, wher [...]

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Train-crew bill progressing in Washington state

March 11, 2015 OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington’s Republican-controlled Senate could set a national precedent with a bill passed Monday night (March 9) that would require up to two railroad workers in the rear of trains carrying crude oil and other hazardous cargo. Currently, BNSF Railway, the l [...]

Tags Herb Krohn, two-person crews, Washington

Two-person rail crew bills introduced in Minnesota

March 10, 2015 Two Minnesota lawmakers have introduced legislation in the state’s legislature that would require two persons on all Class I and II carrier freight trains operating in the state. State Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Dist. 61A) and State Sen. Ann H. Rest (DFL-Dist. 45) introduced H [...]

Tags H.F. 1166, Minnesota, Phil Qualy, S.F. 918, two-person crews

Expert: Driver, trooper could have avoided train crash

March 10, 2015 RALEIGH, N.C. – A truck with an oversized load and a state trooper escort was stuck in a railroad crossing with time enough to alert approaching trains, but there’s no indication Amtrak was warned before a crash that injured 55 people, officials said. An eyewitness told [...]

Amtrak has authority to set on-time performance

March 10, 2015 The following release was issued by the Environmental Law & Policy Center: WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court’s March 9 decision affirming Amtrak’s power to create on-time performance standards could get slumping Midwest arrival times back on track. “This is a good Supre [...]

Tags Amtrak, on-time performance, SCOTUS, Supreme Court