Category: Washington
Safety over profit: Act now! Urge Ohio Transportation Committee to support 2-person crew bill!
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The first step in the process to mandate a minimum of two-person freight train crews in Ohio (H.B. 107) occurred Wednesday, March 29, when the Ohio Transportation & Safety Committee held its first hearing on the bill. To make H.B. 107 a law in Ohio, [...]Editorial: ‘Fast trains will not just show up at the station’ by Edward Wytkind, Pres., TTD, AFL-CIO
Click here to read an editorial by Edward Wytkind, President, Transportation Trades Department (TTD), AFL-CIO, on the significance of federal support and investment in high-speed commuter rail. The editorial was posted March 30, 2017, by Medium.com.Trump’s budget would end Amtrak’s long-distance service
President Trump’s 2018 proposed budget seeks to cut federal funding for Amtrak’s long-distance train services, which would end coast-to-coast commuter rail services and would kill regional and long-distance services, including the following popular commuter rail r [...]
2-person crews mandated for Boston duck boats – trains next?
BOSTON – 7 News Boston reported that the Massachusetts state legislature recently mandated that all duck boats must be operated by two-person crews. The measure came in response to a growing number of duck boat-related injuries and fatalities. Read the complete story he [...]Trump’s coal promises prove empty as two Ohio coal plants plan to shut down
Dayton Power & Light announced Monday, March 20, that it will shut down two coal-fired power plants in southern Ohio next year. An estimated 490 people will lose their jobs once the plants close, not to mention the jobs that will be lost in other coal-related industries a [...]
Rail coalition rallies; FRA denies CSX bid to remove track signals
A collective of rail unions and Michigan citizens lobbied the FRA to deny a CSX request that would discontinue use of vital safety signals along a busy freight rail line in Michigan – and won. SMART Transportation Division, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, B [...]
Maryland House passes two-person crew bill
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – On March 17, the Maryland House of Representatives voted in favor of HB 381, a measure that would require at least two crew members on all freight trains operating in the state of Maryland. The bi-partisan bill has moved to the Senate finance committee. [...]
Tell your Representatives: Oppose President Trump’s budget cuts to Amtrak!
This week, President Donald Trump released his 2018 budget proposal, which includes severe funding cuts to Amtrak along with the elimination of federal support for Amtrak’s long distance train services. Despite criticisms by some in Congress, Amtrak served approximately 31.3 [...]