SMART Union
Amtrak says a worker has died after an accident at a maintenance facility in Beech Grove, Indiana Saturday morning, August 22.
The Beech Grove Fire Department responded to a call of a burned person at the facility in the 200 block of Garstang Street just after 11:30 a.m.
Firefighters arrived and found a man suffering from burns. The victim was transported to Richard M. Fairbanks Burn Center at Ezkenazi Health, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Read more from WTHR.com.
The feds have agreed to let Amtrak police communicate with cops and firefighters with access to emergency responder radio networks, Sen. Chuck Schumer said.
Schumer had denounced what he called a dangerous inability for Amtrak police, like the ones who patrol Penn Station, to communicate during an emergency on the same radio frequency as other first responders like the NYPD.
Now, the Federal Communications Commission is issuing draft rules that would give the Amtrak Police Department access to the frequency.
Read more from The New York Daily News.
PHILADELPHIA — Of the 41 railroads required to meet a federal mandate for implementing Positive Train Control (PTC), SEPTA and Amtrak are among the 11 expected to complete the project by the end of this year.
According to a report from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) required by Congress, safety advocates started calling for the nation-wide implementation seven years ago.
“Positive Train Control is the most significant advancement in rail safety technology in more than a century,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in the report. “Simply put: it prevents accidents and saves lives, which is exactly what we seek to do at The Department of Transportation every single day. We will continue to do everything in our power to help railroads install this technology.”
Read more from NJ.com.
People who want to preserve state subsidies for Amtrak want Gov. Bruce Rauner (R – Ill.) to know they have not gone away.
A news conference featuring state lawmakers from college towns along the rails praised Rauner for wanting to tackle the budget deficit but pointed out the Amtrak subsidy, which Rauner wants to cut by 40 percent, comes from a fuel tax and not from the general revenue fund. Besides, they say, the trains are an economic engine.
Read more from RiverBender.com.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, in the light of problems affecting tens of thousands of NJTransit and Amtrak riders between New Jersey and New York Penn Station of the last eight days, has called respective Govs. Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo to meet with him sometime before Aug. 10.
Christie (R) while campaigning for the Republican Presidential nomination in New Hampshire July 28, said that his staff is working with Foxx’s counterparts for a meeting date. Cuomo (D) the same day said that he too will join Christie and Foxx, added that the federal government must chip in more than the $3 billion Uncle Sam has first offered to fund Gateway’s estimated $12 billion cost.
“If the federal government can make a significant contribution,” said Cuomo in a Tuesday interview, “then let’s go. I mean we have shovels – we need it.”
Read more from Local Talk News.
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and local communities this weekend reached long-term agreements with Amtrak and Iowa Pacific Holdings to continue Hoosier State passenger-rail service between Indianapolis and Chicago.
Service under the new agreements began yesterday. As the route’s operator, Amtrak will work with host railroads, provide train and engine crews and manage ticket reservations. INDOT will pay Amtrak for its expenses not covered by ticket revenue, and Amtrak will provide the state with any excess revenue.
Read more from Progressive Railroading.
Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to delay a year-end deadline for railroads to install automatic speed control equipment that would have averted a fatal Amtrak crash several months ago.
The Senate passed $350 billion legislation to renew federal highway and rail programs for six years, 65-34, but the measure gives railroads another three years to install positive train control. The absence of such equipment along the Northeast Corridor was blamed for the May 13 fatal derailment of a speeding Amtrak train in Philadelphia.
Read more from NJ.com.
In Maryland, a century-old rail tunnel needed emergency repairs this winter because of soil erosion from leaks, causing widespread train delays.
In Connecticut, an aging swing bridge failed to close twice last summer, stopping train service and stranding passengers.
And last week, New Jersey Transit riders had a truly torturous experience. There were major delays on four days because of problems with overhead electrical wires and a power substation, leaving thousands of commuters stalled for hours. One frustrated rider, responding to yet another New Jersey Transit Twitter post announcing a problem, replied: “Just easier to alert us when there aren’t delays.”
Read more from The New York Times.
President Barack Obama yesterday announced his intent to nominate Derek Kan and Anthony Coscia to serve on Amtrak‘s board.
Kan is director of strategy at Genapsys. Previously, he served as a management consultant at Bain & Co. and as an adviser at Elliott Management.
Kan also has served as a policy adviser to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, the chief economist for the Senate Republican Policy Committee and presidential management fellow at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Read more from Progressive Railroading.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation June 25, on a voice vote, approved the bipartisan “Railroad Reform, Enhancement, and Efficiency Act,” sponsored by Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), with seven amendments. The measure improves rail safety, reauthorizes Amtrak services and improves existing passenger rail infrastructure. It also leverages private sector investment, empowers states and cuts red tape to make critical infrastructure dollars go further.
“Senator Wicker and Sen. Booker worked hard to build a bipartisan consensus on the way forward for safer and more reliable passenger rail service following the tragic derailment of Amtrak 188,” said Commerce Committee chairman Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). “First and foremost, this legislation enhances safe travel by helping implement Positive Train Control technology, grade crossing improvements, requiring inward facing cameras to monitor crews on passenger trains and other safety measures. The committee’s vote puts passenger rail service on a more sustainable course by focusing resources on the most critical infrastructure improvements, streamlining burdensome processes to accelerate project delivery and demanding more accountability in Amtrak’s accounting structure and investment decisions.”
The legislation authorizes Amtrak for the next four years at an average $1.65 billion a year. Additionally, $570 million in grant funding is authorized every year, highlighted by a grant program that consolidates previous separate, siloed authorizations into a streamlined, competitive program. These competitive grants would go toward programs related to capital improvements, alleviating rail congestion, improving grade crossings, implementing Positive Train Control and other safety and infrastructure projects.
Highlights of S. 1626, as amended and approved by the committee:
Enhancing Safety
A Sustainable Course for Passenger Rail
Improving the Northeast Corridor
Sharing the rails with freight
Click here for text of the bill as introduced by Sens. Booker and Wicker.
Click below for amendments adopted by the committee:
Thune amendment 1 with Blumenthal second-degree amendment 1, and Manchin second-degree amendment 2.