Transportation News

Visit the digital archive of the SMART-TD News (PDFs)

Calif. leaders set for high-speed rail groundbreaking

California on Tuesday will break ground in Fresno on its ambitious but controversial high-speed rail project, marking another milestone for Governor Jerry Brown and for foreign manufacturers waiting to bid on lucrative train contracts. The United States lags behind Europe and [...]

NTSB safety alert highlights improving visibility

WASHINGTON– The National Transportation Safety Board issued a Safety Alert that focuses on the visibility of railroad signals. On railroads, light-emitting diode (LED) railroad signals may mask nearby incandescent signals, preventing incandescent signals from being visible to [...]

Our life at work: Jerry Anderton

Thirty years with men operating trains and yard engines. For the past 30 years I have been closely involved with men who operate trains and yard engines in Tennessee and neighboring states. The main portion of my service to the Norfolk-Southern was in Debutts Yard in Chattano [...]

FMCSA to maintain random drug testing rates in 2015

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reported that the annual minimum random controlled substances testing rates for employees in safety sensitive positions, including tractor-trailer and bus drivers, will remain at 50 percent through 2015.  The agency’s de [...]

LIRR leads Metro-North as nation's busiest

The Long Island Rail Road is on pace to close out the year, once again, as the busiest commuter rail system in the United States — this time by a much wider margin over Metro-North than last year. Transportation experts attributed the LIRR’s widening lead over its [...]

Palmetto GBA conducting Railroad Medicare survey

Palmetto GBA is conducting a Railroad Medicare Beneficiary Satisfaction Survey. The survey is designed to collect data on beneficiary satisfaction regarding its performance as Railroad Medicare’s contractor. The survey will be sent to a random sample of approximately 8, [...]

Metro-North to screen engineers for sleep apnea

MTA Metro-North Railroad has selected a health care firm that specializes in sleep disorders to screen all locomotive engineers for sleep apnea, railroad officials announced Dec. 15. Under a seven-month pilot project, all 410 Metro-North engineers and about 20 engineers in tr [...]

Transit ridership up 1.8 percent in third quarter

More than 2.7 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation in the third quarter of 2014, according to a report released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). This is a 1.8 percent increase over the same quarter last year, representing an in [...]

Metro-North violates rights of Connecticut worker

HARTFORD, Conn. – Metro-North’s actions against an injured worker have resulted in the largest punitive damages ever in a retaliation case under the Federal Railroad Safety Act. A recent investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health A [...]

Mental health care and Railroad Medicare coverage

Mental health conditions, such as depression or anxiety, can come at any age and can happen to anyone. They are nothing to be ashamed of. While they can occur at any time, stressful holidays and the let-down after the holidays often make these conditions worse. With that in m [...]