Transportation News

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Obama announces second PEB in LIRR dispute

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, March 20, signed an executive order creating a second Presidential Emergency Board to help resolve an ongoing dispute between the Long Island Rail Road and some of its unionized employees. The appointment of a second PEB means that a strik [...]

'Miracle' no deaths in Chicago airport train crash

CHICAGO – A Chicago train driven by an apparently sleepy operator, which jumped its tracks and screeched up an escalator at one of the world’s busiest airports, could have caused untold death and destruction had the crash occurred during the day when the station is usua [...]

North Dakota locals holding meetings in April

North Dakota locals will hold their annual Spring Swing meetings April 23-25, State Legislative Director James M. Chase reports. These meetings provide an excellent opportunity to learn about your benefits as a member and to visit with SMART Transportation Division officers, [...]

Oakland Old Rails Club planning April 27 dinner

The Oakland Old Rails Club is planning its annual Old Rails Dinner and Get Together Sunday, April 27, at Dino’s Restaurant in Castro Valley, Calif. There will be a “no host” happy hour at noon, with dinner to follow at 1 p.m., Oakland Old Rails News Editor Richard Scholl repo [...]

Rail workers hope to save lives at Ill. crossings

SAUGET, Ill. – Train conductor Barry Norman, a fifth-generation railway worker, climbed aboard the cab of a yellow and black locomotive with Union Pacific in bold red lettering. He along with Engineer Steve Burrow and Alton & Southern Railway Co. Police Chief Lindell Bart [...]

Commuter train derails at Chicago airport

CHICAGO – An eight-car Chicago commuter train plowed across a platform and scaled an escalator at an underground station at one of the nation’s busiest airports early Monday, injuring 32 people on board, officials said. No one suffered life-threatening injuries in the B [...]

Measure to save Southwest Chief passes Colo. House

PUEBLO, Colo. – A bill to save Amtrak’s Southwest Chief rail line through Southeastern Colorado passed the state House March 19, Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace said. HB14-1161, sponsored by Rep. Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, passed on a 44-20 vote. Read the complete story at T [...]

Join Amtrak in Celebration of ‘Why Trains Matter’

WASHINGTON – Amtrak invites America to celebrate the many benefits trains bring to the nation at the seventh annual National Train Day on May 10, 2014. Trains are an integral part of daily American life and connect communities, provide jobs and economic development, support l [...]

Schumer wants feds to review LIRR safety practices

The federal government needs to do a top-to-bottom review of the Long Island Rail Road to see if it is “rotten” and rife with safety problems like its sister agency, the Metro-North Railroad, Sen. Charles Schumer said Tuesday, March 18. The Federal Railroad Administration las [...]

Amtrak seeks new funding policy in budget request

WASHINGTON – In its Fiscal Year 2015 budget request to Congress, Amtrak is seeking a change in federal passenger rail investment and warns that continuation of current funding levels leave Northeast Corridor infrastructure vulnerable to a bigger, costlier and far more damagin [...]