Category: News
Metra adopts Confidential Close Call Reporting system
Representatives of Metra management and transportation unions joined officials from the Federal Railroad Administration April 16 to announce the creation of a “Confidential Close Call Reporting System,” which is designed to proactively address safety issues and create a more [...]
Lipinski: Train crashes prompt railroad safety action
As the most senior member from Illinois on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the representative of a district that is home to more miles of train tracks than any other – in addition to the fact that I live less than a mile from a line that carries abou [...]House bill would regulate crude oil by rail
A second group of federal lawmakers has introduced legislation to regulate the transport of crude oil by rail. U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) April 15 introduced the Crude-By-Rail Safety Act (H.R. 1804), which the congressman said would set new safety and security standar [...]
UP retaliates against another injured worker
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has determined that management of the Union Pacific Railroad added insult to injury when it blamed a worker in Roseville who was hurt on-the-job and then retaliated against [...]
FTA lists alcohol, drug-testing rates for 2015
Acting Federal Transit Administrator Therese McMillan has determined that the random drug-testing rate will remain at 25 percent for 2015 and the random alcohol-testing rate for 2015 will remain at 10 percent for transit employees performing safety-sensitive functions, accord [...]Two dead after railcar explodes in Omaha
An explosion in a rail yard killed two men Tuesday afternoon in southeast Omaha. The force of the blast blew one man off of a tanker car and to the ground, while the ladder shot out of the car and left another man trapped.Rules on oil train safety not moving fast enough
A chorus of lawmakers expressed frustration Tuesday with the delays in approving and implementing various regulations related to the movement of hazardous materials by rail and pipeline. The acting chiefs of two U.S. Department of Transportation agencies heard Republicans and [...]NJT fares could be hiked as much as 9 percent
Commuters could be hit with an NJ Transit fare increase that might reach 9 percent in fiscal year 2016, based on budget documents for the coming year. NJ Transit’s budget documents said revenue from fares would increase by 8.8 percent, from the $928.6 million earned in [...]