U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced the “Railroad Reform, Enhancement, and Efficiency Act” on June 19, 2015. The senators say the bill is written to “improve passenger rail safety, reauthorize Amtrak services and improve existing rail infrastructure.”
The newest addition to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania’s extensive collection of historic U.S. locomotives and railcars is recently retired Amtrak AEM7 electric locomotive No. 915, which logged nearly 35 years of service on the Northeast Corridor.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators examining Amtrak’s May 12, 2015 derailment on the Northeast Corridor have ruled out distraction caused by cell phone use on the part of engineer Brandon Bostian as a contributing factor, deepening the mystery of what caused the accident.
Following the June 2, 2015 oversight hearing of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on Amtrak’s May 12 fatal derailment of Northeast Regional Train 188 (which according to many observers had very little to do with discussing the accident itself and its possible cause—see David Schanoes’ blog), Association of American Railroads President and CEO Ed Hamberger commended Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman “for reinforcing his passenger railroad’s firm commitment to safety.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 30, 2015 celebrated the completion of extensive restoration work on the historic brick depot in Sandpoint, Idaho, which serves as Amtrak’s only scheduled stop in the Gem State. In attendance were Idaho Senator Shawn Keough, a spokesperson for U.S. Representative Raul Labrador and Amtrak Director of Government Affairs-West Robert Eaton.
I watched the webcast of the June 2, 2015 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure oversight hearing of the Amtrak accident in Philadelphia.
In the wake of the May 12, 2015 derailment in North Philadelphia of Amtrak Northeast Regional train 188, which claimed eight lives and caused more than 200 injuries, Amtrak will install inward-facing video cameras in its fleet of new Siemens ACS-64 locomotives in service on the Northeast Corridor by the end of 2015. All locomotives yet to be delivered under the 70-unit order will have the equipment installed before they go into service.
Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services (IIS) has awarded a contract to Duos Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Information Systems Associates Inc. (ISA), to provide a railcar undercarriage screening system in accordance with a Task Order established by the Transportation Security Administration for conducting a series of pilot programs to improve intermodal security at a variety of transportation focal points within the United States and its territories.
Following the derailment of Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 on May 12, 2015, which killed eight and injured more than 200 others, the Federal Railroad Administration has instructed Amtrak to immediately take several actions, which are expected to be formalized via an Emergency Order, to improve safety along its Northeast Corridor (NEC).
I’ve been in France. I love being in France, a country that in the past 20 years has spent twice on its railways what it has spent on its roads. What am I missing? Another fatal overspeed derailment? At Frankford Junction?