HrSR coming to Illinois
Amtrak should begin higher-speed rail (HrSR) service between Chicago and St. Louis this summer, the result of a $2 billion project that is in the final phase of construction.
PTC
Schumer a thorn in Thune’s side—again
On. Dec. 21, U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.Dak.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, took to the Senate floor to voice his support and call on his colleagues for unanimous consent to confirm the nomination of Ronald Batory as Federal Railroad Administrator. Once again, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) played the spoiler.
Commentary
Remember that?
Anybody else here old enough to remember all the way back to June 2, 2015?
TTC Line 1 extension opens
On Dec. 15, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Toronto Mayor John Tory, Ontario Minister of Transportation, Steven Del Duca, Toronto Transit Commission CEO Andy Byford and other officials to open the TTC’s 8.6 km (5.3-mile) Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) of the Line 1 Yonge-University subway to the new Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. The extension opened to the public on Dec. 17.
Keolis, MBTA driving toward drones
Drones (formally called UAS, for “Unmanned Aerial System”) are becoming an important tool in railroad engineering and maintenance. Keolis Commuter Services, which operates regional/commuter rail for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, is among the latest to adopt the technology.
UPDATED DEC. 20: Overspeed cause of Amtrak Cascades fatal derailment
Three people were killed and more than 70 were injured as an Amtrak Cascades train derailed early Dec. 18 while traversing a curve leading into an overpass at Interstate 5 southwest of Tacoma, Wash., sending a locomotive and passenger cars crashing onto the highway below.
Commentary
Culture wars, Part 3
The National Transportation Safety Board, in its investgation into the April 3, 2016 fatal train accident involving Amtrak train 89 and maintenance-of-way equipment at Chester, Pa., made some damning determinations. I do mean damning, as in “leave your pass with the secretary, clean out your desk, and get off the property” damning.
Commentary
NTSB missed the mark
The NTSB analysis of the 2016 Amtrak backhoe accident on the Northeast Corridor at Chester, Pa., that killed two m/w workers and injured 39 has missed the mark. This incident is by no means the first of its kind.
Women in Rail 2017 – LaToya Carter, Norfolk Southern
At Norfolk Southern, Carter had to overcome the challenge of working in an industry that has been dominated for years by men.
BRS, ATDA ratify national agreement
The memberships of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) and the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), which collectively represent nearly 11,000 railroad workers, have ratified a new national agreement.