Each year, thousands of transportation workers are hurt or killed on the job. These women and men devote their lives to keeping our transportation system – the backbone of the U.S. economy – running, and they deserve far better.
This Tuesday, April 28, is Workers’ Memorial Day: a time to remember those workers who have died on the job. But it is also a crucial time for us to recommit ourselves to creating and implementing strong protections to ensure workers return home safely.
Read the complete statement by Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, at The Huffington Post.
Federal investigators have released hundreds of pages of records that offer new insight into the moments just before and after a 2013 oil train derailment near Casselton, North Dakota, that created a massive fire and forced 1,400 people to evacuate for several days.
Interviews with the BNSF Railway workers operating the two trains in the derailment are included in documents the National Transportation Safety Board posted online Monday. Federal investigators also said in the documents that a broken train axle found after the derailment might have been prevented if BNSF railroad had inspected it more carefully and found a pre-existing flaw.
BISMARCK, N.D. – North Dakota lawmakers agreed Monday to spend more than $500,000 on a rail safety pilot program proposed in the wake of a fiery oil train derailment near Casselton in 2013, with some saying it doesn’t go far enough.
Lawmakers adopted a scaled-down version of a program proposed by the Public Service Commission and Gov. Jack Dalrymple in the Public Service Commission budget, Senate Bill 2008.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced April 24 that the Federal Railroad Administration has approved a loan of $967.1 million to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the improvement of the safety of the signal systems used by the MTA’s two commuter railroads, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. The loan, which is the largest and lowest-cost financing for the MTA, will finance the installment of positive train control, a technology designed to remove the potential for human error that can lead to train-involved accidents.
“This loan is a dramatic investment in the MTA – one that will make trains safer for all riders on Metro-North and the LIRR,” Gov. Cuomo said. “With this infusion of funding, crews will be getting to work on individual cars and along hundreds of miles of track to install state of the art technology that can save lives. This loan could not have been possible without the hard work and support of U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Acting FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg, and I thank them on behalf of all MTA commuter rail customers for helping us make this important advancement possible.”
MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast said, “We are delighted to have been able to work with the Federal Railroad Administration to make this historic, and extremely important award possible. The most important thing we do each day is strive to ensure the safety of our passengers, our employees, and the public at large. This award will help us enhance that effort in a very significant way.”
Positive train control is a technology that allows computerized systems to automatically control certain aspects of train movement. It is intended to prevent train-to-train collisions, trains accidentally traveling into areas where track workers are working, or derailments caused by excessive train speed or the movement of a train through an improperly aligned switch. The technology can address situations like the Spuyten Duyvil derailment in the Bronx, where a train was going faster than its maximum allowable speed. Congress mandated the installation of positive train control in 2008 for all commuter railroads in the U.S.
Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road are in the process of implementing the technology, which includes the installation of on-board components for 1,455 rail cars and transponders alongside 588 route miles of track. In November 2013, the MTA awarded a contract to a joint venture of Bombardier Transportation and Siemens Rail Automation to act as a systems integrator that will provide the design, furnish equipment and ensure that the system functions as intended. LIRR and Metro-North forces and some third party contracts will support installations of wayside, office, communications and on-board equipment. Installation of positive train control on Metro-North territory in the State of Connecticut will be funded by the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
The loan is the largest to have been made through the FRA’s Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program and remains subject to MTA Board Approval on April 29 and final closing in May. The MTA will issue its Transportation Revenue Bond directly to the Federal Railroad Administration and will repay the obligation over 22½ years at a fixed interest rate of 2.38 percent. MTA’s Transportation Revenue Bonds are rated “AA-” from Standard & Poor’s, “A2” from Moody’s, and “A” from Fitch.
U.S. Rep. Charlie B. Rangel said, “Nothing is more important than ensuring the wellbeing of New Yorkers. I applaud Governor Cuomo’s commitment to improving safety measures on Metro-North and LIRR, so that all commuters in our great State can ride knowing they are in secure hands.”
U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel said, “MTA services are an indispensable part of my constituents’ everyday lives. Thousands of commuters rely on the MTA daily to travel to work, home or school. They expect – and should receive – a safe train ride. Implementing positive train control is a critical step making this expectation a reality. The tragedies that occurred at Spuyten Duyvil in 2013 and in Westchester earlier this year may have been avoided if this life-saving technology had been in place. While we cannot assuage the pain and grief that these accidents have caused, we can make every effort to create a better railroad moving forward. I applaud the DOT and the Federal Railroad Administration for recognizing the need for this technology in the MTA system, and am very pleased that all rail travelers can experience a safer ride.”
U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey said, “I’m pleased that MTA’s application to install positive train control technology has been approved by the Federal Railroad Administration. Securing this funding would help ensure that disastrous events like the December 2013 Metro North accident never happen again. Over the last year, I have worked tirelessly to highlight the need for additional resources to help commuter railroads install PTC, and I will continue to work with federal and state officials to ensure that MTA gets the resources it needs to keep its riders safe.”
U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks said, I’d like to thank Governor Cuomo for prioritizing the modernization and improvement of the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad’s 1500 railcars and hundreds of miles of track along our country’s busiest commuter rail system. This unprecedented investment of nearly $1 billion in the LIRR and Metro will improve safety for riders public, transit workers for decades to come.”
U.S. Rep. Steve Israel said, “This federal loan is a vital step to improving railway safety. I applaud the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Department of Transportation on their hard work to secure this loan, and I will continue to fight for federal resources for critical New York infrastructure.”
OLYMPIA, Wash. – State lawmakers gave final approval April 24 to a bill meant to increase oil train safety.
The bill was taken up in response to the uptick in oil train traffic in the region. It directs oil taxes to help pay for oil-train spill response. It also imposes public disclosure requirements for railroad companies operating in Washington.
Union officials say tougher inspection and maintenance standards for railroad tracks could help prevent dangerous derailments of trains carrying crude oil.
While lawmakers and regulators focus on the strength of oil tank carsand volatility of crude oil, officials of the rail inspectors’ union say track flaws and train speed can be significant factors in accidents.
The MTA is close to securing final federal approval of a nearly $1 billion loan to install technology on its commuter trains that could have prevented the 2013 Metro-North derailment in the Bronx in which four people died.
Positive train control technology provides a new layer of protection in case of human error, since it can automatically slow or stop a train.
The campus shuttle operators for the University of Tennessee’s transportation service unanimously ratified their first agreement with their employer after choosing SMART representation last year, Alternate Vice President – Bus Alvy Hughes reports.
The members of newly formed Local 1703 at Knoxville, Tenn., are employed by First Transit, Inc., based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The three-year agreement is retroactive to June 1, 2014. It consists of improved work rules, a 401k retirement savings plan, additional vacation allowances based on seniority, increase company contributions to the employees’ comprehensive group health insurance coverage, a personal day, sick time off, and an increasing scale of wages through the term of agreement, Hughes said. It also establishes a labor-management committee providing a forum for discussion on work-related issues that may arise.
“I thank General Chairperson Heath Harper and Vice General Chairperson Dallas Jones for their hard work, leadership and their commitment to the bargaining process to get this agreement accomplished,” Hughes said.
The operators transport students, faculty and staff throughout the 550-acre campus located in Knoxville, Tenn., and will provide rides to more than 814,000 passengers per year.
BNSF Railway Co. won back market share for grain and agriculture commodities that it lost to Union Pacific Corp. in 2014 when the railroad owned by Warren Buffett struggled to keep up with customer demand.
In last year’s first quarter, BNSF lost about 4 percentage points of market share for carrying grain, fertilizer and other farm-related goods to its main competitors, said John Miller, vice president for agriculture products at BNSF.
Metra’s board on Wednesday approved two large contracts, including one for $80 million to help implement a high-tech safety system that federal officials said would have prevented two Chicago derailments that killed two people and injured scores of passengers.
The other contract, for $707,000, was awarded to a consulting firm that will advise Metra on strategic planning, including evaluating possible new service and stations.
Federal investigators have released hundreds of pages of records that offer new insight into the moments just before and after a 2013 oil train derailment near Casselton, North Dakota, that created a massive fire and forced 1,400 people to evacuate for several days.
BISMARCK, N.D. – North Dakota lawmakers agreed Monday to spend more than $500,000 on a rail safety pilot program proposed in the wake of a fiery oil train derailment near Casselton in 2013, with some saying it doesn’t go far enough.![mta_long-island-railroad-logo[1]](https://www.smart-union.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/mta_long-island-railroad-logo1.jpg){kind=logo}
The campus shuttle operators for the University of Tennessee’s transportation service unanimously ratified their first agreement with their employer after choosing SMART representation last year, Alternate Vice President – Bus Alvy Hughes reports.
BNSF Railway Co. won back market share for grain and agriculture commodities that it lost to Union Pacific Corp. in 2014 when the railroad owned by Warren Buffett struggled to keep up with customer demand.
Metra’s board on Wednesday approved two large contracts, including one for $80 million to help implement a high-tech safety system that federal officials said would have prevented two Chicago derailments that killed two people and injured scores of passengers.