Category: Amtrak/Commuter
Funeral services announced for Michael Cella
Services have been announced for Brother Michael Cella, the SMART Transportation Division conductor, who was killed in the Amtrak Train 91 collision Feb. 4 in Cayce, S.C. A gathering of Cella’s friends and family will be 10 a.m. to noon immediately followed by a celebra [...]
NTSB finds nearly identical cause of two commuter rail accidents
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that two commuter railroad terminal accidents in the New York area were caused by engineer fatigue resulting from undiagnosed severe obstructive sleep apnea. The Sept. 29, 2016, accident on the New Jersey Transit rail [...]Fundraiser set up for men killed in Amtrak 91 collision
A memorial fund for Amtrak conductor Mike Cella, a current SMART Transportation Division member out of Local 30 in Florida, and engineer Mike Kempf, a former SMART TD member, who were tragically killed in the line of duty on Sunday, Feb. 4, has been established. Proceeds from [...]
NTSB issues update on Amtrak Train 91 collision
Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), reported some preliminary findings Monday afternoon of his agency’s investigation into the Amtrak-CSX train collision that occurred Feb. 4 near Cayce, S.C. The train had 139 passengers and eigh [...]
SMART TD member killed in Amtrak crash
A current SMART Transportation Division conductor and a former member were killed when Amtrak Train 91 traveling from New York to Miami collided early Feb. 4 with a stationary CSX freight train east of Columbia, S.C. Brother Michael Cella, 36, of Orange Park, Fla., was a cond [...]Amtrak train carrying GOP lawmakers hits garbage truck
A privately chartered Amtrak train carrying dozens of Republican members of the House and Senate crashed into a garbage truck just south of Charlottsville, Va. So far, only minor injuries have been reported amongst the train passengers. One out of the three passengers on the [...]
Secretary Chao pushes for autonomous buses, trains
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said at CES, an annual technology show in Las Vegas, that she plans to take steps toward creating policy guiding the development of self-driving transportation for trucks, buses, transit systems and trains. One of the steps that Ch [...]
Tentative agreement reached by SMART TD with Amtrak
SMART Transportation Division General Chairpersons Dirk Sampson (GO 769), Robert Keeley (GO 342) and Fran Ariola (GO 663) announced today that they have reached a tentative agreement with Amtrak on behalf of their members employed by the passenger railroad. The chairpersons c [...]