Transportation News

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Get PTC done ASAP, FRA's Feinberg advises

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 [...]

OSHA issues final rule on retaliation, whistleblowing

WASHINGTON – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today issued a final rule establishing procedures and time frames for handling employee retaliation complaints under the National Transit Systems Security Act (NTSSA) and the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRS [...]

FMCSA issues regulatory guidance

FMCSA has issued regulatory guidance concerning the editing of records created by automatic on-board recording devices (AOBRD) to make clear that drivers may review or edit their AOBRD records, annotate and correct incorrect records, and certify the accuracy of the informatio [...]

Rail industry had safety technology decades ago

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 [...]

Railroad Retirement Board releases actuarial report

Chicago – The railroad retirement system will experience no cash-flow problems during the next 32 years; barring a sudden, unanticipated, large drop in railroad employment or substantial investment losses, according to the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) in its report to [...]

Operation RedBlock Director Bobby Bonds dies

Robert “Bobby” Bonds, 61, long-time Amtrak Operation RedBlock director and a 39-year Amtrak employee, died Oct. 29, 2015. Bonds had committed his life to Operation RedBlock, a labor-developed, management-adopted drug-and alcohol-prevention/intervention program begun more than [...]

AAR safety alert: blade found in chock

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reports that a homemade knife was found in a chock in the storage bin (pictured below), with the blade facing in toward the railcar at a Subaru facility in Vancouver, Wash. The knife was found when a rail loader went to remove a cho [...]

Previsich, Wytkind: 'We want trains to be safer'

[As published By John Previsich And Edward Wytkind in The Modesto Bee] California has more museums dedicated to railroads than any other state in our country – and it’s easy to see why. From the transcontinental railroad to the developing high-speed rail system, rail transpor [...]

Senate passes PTC extension, confirms Feinberg as FRA administrator

The U.S. Senate yesterday passed a short-term surface transportation funding extension that includes a long-term extension of the positive train control (PTC) implementation deadline. The Senate’s action followed the House’s approval of the bill on Tuesday, and Pr [...]

FRA's Feinberg clears Senate committee

President Obama’s choice to lead the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has been approved by the Senate committee that handles transportation issues.  Obama’s nomination of Sarah Feinberg, who has been leading the FRA since January, for a full-time term atop th [...]