Transportation News

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Amtrak's 'Trails and Rails' adding NYC to D.C. route

Railway Age reported that The National Park Service, in partnership with Amtrak, added to its Saturday morning Trails and Rails program a New York to Washington, D.C. route. Read the entire story here.

TSA announces service for Salina, Kan.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that it will reinstate security service for the Salina, Kan. airport. Great Lakes Airlines was set to begin servicing the Salina Airport April 1, but could not due to lack of TSA service. With the restoration of TSA s [...]

THUD allocates $56.5 billion to fund transportation

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) passed $56.5 billion legislation to fund its programs for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. The bill includes several positive allocations for rail: $1.7 billion for the Federal Railroad Admin [...]

We need your comments on 2-person crews -Deadline extended to June 15

On March 15th, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a long overdue proposed regulation requiring that most trains in America have a minimum of two crewmembers. While SMART TD supports the core requirements of the rule, we believe that it can be strengthened and im [...]

TSA Fairness Act passes House, Great Lakes closer to service

The TSA Fairness Act (H.R. 4549) passed in the House of Representatives April 13. The bill requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to provide security services at smaller airports that are serviced commercially. This Act is significant because the TSA curren [...]

RRB announces change in service hours for field offices

Effective at noon on June 1, 2016, U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) field offices around the country will be closed to the public on Wednesday afternoons. Field office representatives will not be available to assist walk-in customers or to answer the phones during Wednesd [...]

CP withdraws NS merger bid

SMART TD President Previsich came out against the merger in a letter addressed to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in January of this year. “We strongly opposed the merger when it became clear that CP’s takeover of NS would cost U.S. jobs as well as have a negative impa [...]

Amtrak, BNSF sue feed company after derailment

On Friday, April 8, Amtrak filed a lawsuit against Cimarron Crossing Feeders, LLC, claiming “gross negligence” as the alleged cause of a derailment last month that left 32 passengers injured. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found in their investiga [...]

TTD endorses better oversight of curbside bus operators

In a letter to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), endorsed better oversight of curbside bus operators. In there letter, the TTD says “the passenger bus sector must be held to one standard of safe [...]

TTD: increase oversight for “curbside bus drivers”

In a written response to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Request for Comments entitled  “Motor Carriers of Passengers That Serve Primarily Urban Areas With High Passenger Loads,” dated April 11, 2016, the Transportation Trades Divis [...]