Transportation News

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

FAA to ease back on electronics use

An FAA advisory committee decided Thursday that passengers should be allowed to use electronic devices during takeoffs and landings on airplanes. WASHINGTON — A Federal Aviation Administration advisory committee recommended Thursday that airline passengers be allowed to use s [...]

Magazine names UP best veteran-friendly company

OMAHA – U.S. Veterans Magazine named Union Pacific Railroad among the nation’s top veteran-friendly companies. The results were announced in the publication’s 2013 “Best of the Best” list, created to encourage diversity-inclusion practices among indust [...]

Lauby named FRA administrator for safety

Robert C. Lauby has been selected as associate administrator for railroad safety/chief safety officer for the Federal Railroad Administration. In that position, he will provide regulatory oversight for rail safety in the United States and oversees the development and enforcem [...]

Anthony nominated as RRB management member

President Barack Obama Sept. 24 nominated Steven Anthony as the management member of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, replacing Jerome F. Kever, whose term is expiring. Anthony’s appointment will require Senate confirmation. Anthony most recently served as senior general c [...]

Regulators look at Northwest oil train safety

SEATTLE – Environmental regulators from the Northwest deliberated Wednesday about the dramatic changes in the way oil and other energy products are carried through the region. At a task force meeting of West Coast states, Linda Pilkey-Jarvis of the Washington Department of Ec [...]

Obama nominates former Kan. DOT secretary for STB

President Barack Obama has nominated former Kansas Secretary of Transportation Deb Miller to the Surface Transportation Board, reportedly replacing George Bush-appointee Francis Mulvey. Miller, a Democrat, was the Kansas secretary of transportation from 2003 to 2012, making h [...]

3 BNSF trains in collision near Amarillo, 4 hurt

Four people were injured in a three-train collision about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912 east of Amarillo, the Potter County Sheriff’s Office said. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway spokesman Joe Faust said a stopp [...]

Derailments prompt N.Y. MTA safety review

NEW YORK – The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has asked six railroad and transportation experts to examine recent safety-related incidents at three of its operating subsidiaries.
 The panel will study the causes of recent derailments at Metro-North, the Long Isla [...]

Metro-North accidents focus of federal hearings

HARTFORD, Conn. – An October hearing will be held to address railroad issues including track inspection and maintenance as well as safety standards for both passengers and workers, federal officials investigating two recent Metro-North Railroad accidents in Connecticut announ [...]

Norfolk Southern Railway sued by EEOC

Company refused to allow employee with disability to return to work after treatment, federal agency charges ATLANTA – A Norfolk, Va.-based railway company unlawfully discriminated against an employee because of his disability, degenerative disc disorder, the U.S. Equal [...]