Transportation News

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Ohio joins in the fight against right-to-work bills

05/02/13 UPDATE: Ohio right-to-work bills were considered “dead-on-arrival” as Senate Republic President Keith Faber rejected the bills last night in an after-hours press conference. “We have an ambitious agenda focused on job creation and economic recovery, and R [...]

BNSF partners with Ill. colleges to offer certificate

Spoon River College (SRC) of Canton, Ill., Carl Sandburg College (CSC) of Galesburg, Ill. and BNSF has partnered together to offer a new Rail Transportation & Power System Technology Certificate. Students enrolled in the program will study circuits, hydraulics, welding, d [...]

Obama nominates Charlotte Mayor Foxx to head DOT

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a confirmation hearing on transportation secretary nominee Anthony Foxx May 22, according to Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.). President Obama announced April 29 Anthony Foxx as his nominee for t [...]

Administration drops redundant driver’s license rule

The federal government is relaxing a rule for drivers of buses and large trucks who are involved in out-of-state traffic violations. ?? The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, an office of the Department of Transportation, is eliminating a requirement that drivers no [...]

Man admits to illegally collecting railroad retirement

BANGOR, Maine – Gerald E. Bailey, 68, of Pittston, Maine pled guilty on Tuesday, April 23 to charges of collecting pension that he was not entitled to. Bailey retired from Springfield Terminal Railway in 2004 and began receiving his pension payments from the Railroad Retireme [...]

Bill to allow Texas bus drivers to discipline students

SAN ANTONIO – A bill giving school bus drivers in Texas the power to discipline students by sending them to the principal’s office has passed in the Texas Senate. Although the bill passed the Senate, it still has to pass in the House before it can become law. The Public [...]

Santa Fe Depot to host Railroad Days festival

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A steam powered excursion train will be operated to San Bernardino Railroad Days this weekend. The train will have six private passenger cars that will be pulled by the 1927 AT&SF Steam Locomotive 3751. A diesel-powered Metrolink Locomotive [...]

Academy adds rail degree program

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The International Air and Hospitality Academy has added a new program called the Northwest Railroad Institute. The new degree program will be the fourth such program offered in the U.S. Students taking the six-month program will be provided with train [...]

TTD Chairman Wytkind testifies before House panel

Edward Wytkind, chairman of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department, testified April 24 before the House of Representative’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Panel on 21st century freight transportation. Read his testimony here.

Rail system exposed to terrorists, experts say

WASHINGTON – An alleged al Qaeda-backed plot to derail a U.S. passenger train in Canada sought to exploit the vulnerabilities of railroads that have not gotten much attention from the American public. While the United States has sharply tightened security around airlines sinc [...]