Railroad News

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday determined the May 2015 Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia was caused by the train engineer's loss of "situational awareness" after his attention was distracted by radio communications of an emergency involving another train.

The board determined that the Amtrak engineer was not impaired by any substance and was not using his cell phone. Investigators found no evidence that the engineer was fatigued or suffering from a pre-existing medical condition while operating the train. The board described the engineer as "very cooperative" when he was interviewed by NTSB investigators.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) last week awarded a contract to Garco Construction Inc. to build a new Amtrak station in Tacoma, Wash.

Construction is slated to begin June 6 and to be completed in fall 2017, WSDOT officials said in a press release.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is meeting this morning to report on its findings and the probable cause of the May 2015 fatal Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia.

On May 12, 2015, northbound Amtrak train No. 188 derailed on the Northeast Corridor route after entering a curve at 106 mph where the speed limit is 50 mph. The locomotive and all seven passenger cars derailed. Eight passengers were killed and more than 200 others were injured.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) late last week announced a $10 million federal grant to extend Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express service to Burlington, Vt.

The award, provided through the USDOT's Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) VII program, will fund about 11 miles of new track along the state-owned line and three passenger platforms in Middlebury, Vergennes and Burlington, USDOT officials said in a press release.

Amtrak earlier this week marked its 45th anniversary and was recognized for being a "top employer" by two separate magazines.

Amtrak began operations over a national network serving 43 states and the District of Columbia on May 1, 1971. Congress created the intercity passenger railroad, formally known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp., the year before.

Next month, Amtrak will retire its fleet of 54 AEM-7 electric locomotives that run along the Northeast Corridor.

The units have been in operation for 37 years and have traveled more than 220 million miles, Amtrak official said in a press release. The locomotives will be replaced by the next generation ACS-64 locomotives.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday once again ruled that the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) of 2008 grants Amtrak unconstitutional regulatory authority because it requires the passenger railroad to develop performance metrics for its freight counterparts.

Under the law, Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration are required to craft performance metrics and standards as a way of enforcing Amtrak's statutory priority over other trains. However, since Congress designated Amtrak as a private corporation, the development of these standards represents an "unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to a private entity," Judge Janice Brown wrote in the court's opinion.

Amtrak has launched a service on the Vermonter route to allow passengers to bring their bicycles on board.

Effective yesterday, the service was developed with the cooperation of the Vermont Agency of Transportation, Vermont Department of Tourism, Adventure Cycling Association, and other bicycle and passenger rail groups that joined to form an advisory bicycle task force to oversee the project, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

Amtrak has expanded its pets-on-board program to state-sponsored routes in Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin, the national passenger railroad announced yesterday.

Under the program, riders may bring small dogs and cats in carriers on Blue Water, Wolverine, Pere Marquette, Missouri River Runner and Hiawatha trains.

Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) yesterday announced a modified schedule for the Wolverine schedule through Sept. 23 as state-owned railroad infrastructure improvements are made as part of Michigan's Accelerated Rail program.

The temporary changes went into effect yesterday so that crews can perform track and signal work along the route, Amtrak and MDOT officials said in a joint press release.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday released a preliminary report on the April 3 Amtrak train accident in Chester, Pa., that killed two Amtrak maintenance-of-way workers.

The preliminary report indicated that at the time of the accident, the two workers were performing maintenance on main track 2 at the accident site over a planned 55-hour period from April 1 at 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on April 4. The work included ballast cleaning and remediating fouled ballast on main track 2, according to the report.

Amtrak has filed a lawsuit alleging that Cimarron Crossing Feeders engaged in "gross negligence" in relation to a train derailment in Kansas last month.

Filed late last week, the lawsuit — which lists Amtrak and BNSF Railway Co. as plaintiffs — alleges Cimarron Crossing Feeders employees left a truck "unattended, out of gear and without any brakes applied" when it was loading grain March 13 into March 14, according to The Hutchinson News.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has directed Amtrak to conduct an immediate safety review with key workers, including track workers and train dispatchers, as the regulator continues its investigation into this week's fatal train accident in Chester, Pa.

The FRA also directed Amtrak to improve communication among work crews, supervisors and rail dispatchers. 

[Editor's note: This story was updated at 11:50 a.m. CDT.]

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) earlier this week issued its preliminary report on the Amtrak derailment that occurred March 14 near Cimarron, Kan.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will examine multiple factors that may have played a role in yesterday's Amtrak train derailment near Chester, Pa., that killed two people.

The accident occurred when the train hit a backhoe on the track. Two maintenance workers who were on the track or the backhoe — both Amtrak employees — were killed. About 35 people were injured, according to news media reports.

Amtrak has unveiled a $50 million plan to renovate and expand the intercity and commuter-rail concourse at Union Station in Washington, D.C.

The project would add approximately 20,000 square feet of passenger space, nearly doubling the concourse's current capacity, Amtrak officials announced Tuesday in a press release.

Construction will kick off in June on a new Amtrak station in Tacoma, Wash., the Washington State Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) Rail Division announced late last week.

The station will be built in Tacoma's Freighthouse Square and located along the Amtrak Cascades route.

Amtrak's Gateway program, which includes rebuilding the Hudson River rail tunnel system, received commitments last week for the funding of preliminary engineering work and the creation of an executive oversight committee.

The project to build a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River will receive $70 million in funding for critical preliminary engineering work, with $35 million in federal funding coming from Amtrak and $35 million from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), according to a PANYNJ press release.

An agricultural truck hit rail track and shifted it 12 to 14 inches a day before an Amtrak train derailed Monday at the location in southeast Kansas, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a media briefing on the incident yesterday.

The Chicago-bound Amtrak Southwest Chief Train 4 derailed about 125 miles west of Wichita shortly after midnight on Monday, Amtrak officials said. There were 131 passengers and 14 crew members on board. The incident sent 32 people to the hospital.

An Amtrak Southwest Chief train derailed early this morning about 20 miles west of Dodge City, Kan., on track owned and maintained by BNSF Railway Co.

The train, which was carrying 128 passengers and 14 crew members, was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago, Amtrak officials said in a press release.