Transportation News

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Voice your opposition to right to work bills in Mo.

Right to work legislation will be taken up Wednesday, Feb. 11, in the Missouri House of Representatives, Transportation Division State Legislative Director Ken Menges reports. Menges is asking SMART members in the state to contact their state representatives and ask them to v [...]

The other train accident victims: Rail workers

In December 2013, after a Metro-North train jumped the rails in the Bronx, killing four and injuring 75, a union leader described the train engineer as “totally traumatized.” The New York accident made national headlines, but other than the union quote, little attention was g [...]

Response to SEPTA’s service hours waiver request

The Federal Railroad Administration Feb. 10 will hold a public hearing before ruling on a waiver request by Southeastern Pennsylvania Metropolitan Transportation Authority (SEPTA)?to extend its current waiver of hours of service provisions for on duty points. SEPTA has asked [...]

Obama to declare Pullman town national monument

President Barack Obama will visit Chicago next week to designate the historic Pullman neighborhood – one of the first “company towns” in the U.S. – as a national monument. Pullman was home to railroad baron George Pullman’s factory town in the 1880s, homes, shopping areas, ch [...]

Foxx unveils Obama’s infrastructure investment plan

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx Feb. 2 announced President Obama’s $94.7 billion Fiscal Year 2016 Budget for the U.S. Department of Transportation. The proposal makes critical investments in infrastructure needed to promote long-term economic growth, enhance safety [...]

T&I Committee unveils passenger-rail reform bill

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and other committee leaders yesterday introduced the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015 (PRRIA), which would address infrastructure needs, transparency and other issues for Amtrak. & [...]

Driver panic, confusion common in path of trains

Your car is trapped between the crossing gates, and a train is speeding down the tracks, its horn blaring, its lights blazing in your direction. What do you do? Hit the gas pedal and crash through the gate, or ditch your car and start running, experts say. And don’t was [...]

Anthem says cyberattack stole data of millions

Anthem, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, said Feb. 4 that the personal information of tens of millions of its customers and employees, including its chief executive, was the subject of a “very sophisticated external cyberattack.” The company, which is continuing i [...]

Metro North train smashes into SUV, killing six

As the investigation into the deadliest accident in the history of the Metro-North Railroad got underway on Wednesday, officials said they still could not explain how or why a sport-utility vehicle became stranded on the train tracks. A crowded commuter train traveling north [...]

Safety mandate raises passenger rail concerns in Mo.

ST. LOUIS – The expense of installing mandated train collision avoidance technology is putting passenger service in Missouri at risk, according to the state Department of Transportation. The equipment, which is designed to override human error, is supposed to be in place by D [...]