Editor’s Note: Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner, who in his roughly half-century in the railway industry worked for the New York Central, Association of American Railroads, Surface Transportation Board and
Frank Wilner’s article “Biden Promise Fueled FRA NPRM” provides a great summary of FRA’s recent politicization of rail safety. His article brought to mind an incident that occurred in my home town
It is said of nudists that “most shouldn’t”—a conspicuous example being the naked politics of the Biden Administration in advancing a mandate—based on a political promise rather than credible safety data and understanding of how technology affects the nature of work—that train crews consist of one conductor and one engineer positioned in the locomotive cab.
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association is disappointed with the Federal Railroad Administration’s Train Crew Size Safety Requirements Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. With no safety data to support its proposal, the
The Federal Railroad Administration on July 27 issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on train crew size that basically mandates a minimum of two people in the locomotive cab, with limited exceptions. The Association of American Railroads, echoing many industry observers, is calling the potential rule a politically motivated move with “a complete absence of safety justification.” The NPRM (downloadable below) also applies to most passenger trains that come under FRA jurisdiction.
The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) has approved a $490,626 grant for a project in Spencer that will improve public safety and rail traffic fluidity by reconfiguring connecting tracks between four Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (W&LE) lines.
Four Illinois Democratic members of Congress—Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, and Reps. Marie Newman and Mike Quigley—collectively tagged as “DDNQ,” are lobbying Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose to locate the planned University Rail Research and Development Center of Excellence (URR&DCE) in their state.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on July 21 released a preliminary report for its ongoing investigation of the June 27 grade crossing collision and derailment between Amtrak’s Southwest Chief train 4 and a dump truck near Mendon, Mo.
A plan for new passenger rail service that would span approximately 144 miles, linking the City of Coachella with Los Angeles Union Station (LAUS), has taken another step forward following a public
Despite tremendous progress in railroad safety over the past 40 years, some statistical measures of safety performance indicate that we have reached a plateau. For example, fatalities have plateaued since 2011 and in some cases increased.