NTSB takes over BNSF Texas derailment investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has taken control of the investigation into the June 28, 2016 accident between two BNSF intermodal trains near Panhandle, Tex.
PTC
Head-on crash on BNSF Transcon
Two BNSF intermodal trains collided head-on early Tuesday morning, June 28, 2016, on the railroad’s busy Chicago-Los Angeles Transcon near Panhandle, Tex., about 25 miles northeast of Amarillo. Three crew members were missing and one was injured in the accident, which created a large fire and forced the evacuation of area residents.
Dutch go driverless
Dutch infrastructure manager Prorail confirmed at this week’s TEN-T Days conference in Rotterdam that it is planning to test automated operation of freight trains on the Betuweroute dedicated freight line, which links Rotterdam with the German border near Emmerich.
PTC hosting, Herzog-style
Herzog Technologies, Inc. (HTI) has rolled out Herzog PTC Hosting, described as “providing Positive Train Control messaging capabilities, back office SaaS (software as a service) and a variety of other PTC services to help railroads meet PTC requirements without large up-front capital investments or lengthy setup timelines.”
Rail Insights: AAR on FRA’s two-person cab rule
From Chicago, and Railway Age’s Rail Insights Conference and Expo today, June 7:
Rail Insights: Union Pacific and PTC
From Chicago, and Railway Age’s Rail Insights Conference and Expo today, June 7:
New from Rockwell Collins: Shared-network PTC platform
Rockwell Collins on June 2, 2016 launched ARINC RailwayNet℠, described as “a hosted network and messaging platform for passenger and freight railroads” for Positive Train Control, and “designed to increase safety and reliability in the railroad industry and to help railroads meet the PTC requirements mandated by the Rail Safety Improvement Act (RSIA) of 2008.”
TRRA awards PTC contract to Wabtec
The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis on May 24, 2016 awarded Wabtec Corp. a contract worth about $21 million to design, install, test and commission a Positive Train Control (PTC) system.
CSX names senior operations leaders
CSX on May 23, 2016 announced several changes to key operational positions. All of the changes are effective June 1.
Commentary
The short, the long, the skinny, and the fat
Executive Summary: After one year of investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined that the cause of the fatal derailment of Amtrak train 188 at Frankford Junction is exactly the same as the cause determined within eight hours by everyone who knows anything about railroading.