51 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 4/4:
 

Were rules violated in Amtrak wreck that killed two workers on the tracks?

 

Basic rules of railroading and federal regulations should have prevented the Amtrak derailment near Philadelphia on Sunday that killed two maintenance workers and injured 31 people aboard the train, those guidelines indicate.

 

Just what went wrong that caused a southbound Amtrak train to collide with a backhoe doing work on the track is the province of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration.

 

But in the 212 years since the steam locomotive was invented, railroads have established rules to keep trains from running down their own maintenance workers. Those rules have been cemented with federal regulation and law.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The New York Times, 4/4:
 

Amtrak Trying to Determine if Workers Were Authorized to Be on Tracks

 

The Amtrak train that slammed into a backhoe on Sunday morning in Chester, Pa., leaving two workers dead on the tracks, was barreling along at 106 miles an hour seconds before the crash, federal investigators said on Monday.

 

But the investigators said they did not know whether the work crew was authorized to be on the track at the time. Determining who was at fault in the deadly accident will require further study of Amtrak’s records, said Ryan Frigo, the lead investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, at a news conference Monday evening in Philadelphia.

 

“We’re still gathering information as to who had the authority to be on that track,” Mr. Frigo said.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Gothamist, 4/5:
 

Communication Breakdown During Shift Change May Have Caused Deadly Amtrak Derailment

 

A communication breakdown during a shift change may have kept an Amtrak engineer in the dark about workers on the tracks in Pennsylvania on Sunday morning, according to sources familiar with an investigation into a passenger train derailment that killed two workers and injured 37 passengers. Amtrak train 89 was traveling 106 mph in a 110 mph zone, en route from Savannah, Georgia, to NYC with 341 passengers on board when it crashed into a backhoe on the tracks in Chester, about 15 miles outside Philadelphia.

 

SNIP

 

Investigators are trying to determine why the backhoe was on the tracks being used by train 89. According to a preliminary investigation, the engineer hit the emergency brakes five seconds before plowing into the backhoe, and the eight-car train traveled another mile before finally stopping.

 

"I believe without question it's a communication problem," says U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, who toured the crash scene Sunday. The backhoe was on one of four tracks when it was hit by train 89, and unnamed sources familiar with the investigation tell Philly.com that "problems with Amtrak's dispatch could have been a key factor in the crash. Information about the work crew's presence on the rails may not have been shared during a shift change."

 

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[KevinKorell]

CBS Philly, 4/5/16:

 

Neighbor Recalls Seeing Worker Killed In Amtrak Crash Just One Day Before Ordeal

 

New details are coming to light about the two Amtrak workers killed when a train crashed into construction equipment in Chester this past Sunday.

 

Sabrina McNeil is sure she last saw her neighbor, Joseph Carter Jr., one day before he died. “Saturday, he was walking the dog,” McNeil recalled.

Article

[CNJRoss]

The Guardian, New York, NY 4/6:

Amtrak crash: state-of-the art safety gear was operational at time of fatal collision

 

Positive train control system was ‘functioning’ at site of Sunday crash that killed two workers, but did not slow locomotive or alert engineer of maintenance ahead

 

 

A newly upgraded safety system and regulations governing track maintenance should have been enough to prevent a fatal collision between an Amtrak passenger train and a construction vehicle on Sunday.

 

SNIP

 

PTC “was installed and functioning on the track and the locomotive” involved in the Sunday crash, Craig Shultz, an Amtrak senior communications officer, told the Guardian.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Reuters, 4/5:
 

Amtrak crash shows U.S. anti rail-collision system may have gaps

 

Sunday's fatal Pennsylvania Amtrak accident may have exposed possible blind spots in a nationwide collision prevention system that is meant to stop crashes on U.S. railroads.

 

Amtrak last year became the first U.S. railroad to fully install "positive train control" (PTC) systems on its routes, a congressionally mandated technology that uses antennae on locomotives and sensors on tracks to monitor trains' precise location and prevent collisions.

 

A dilemma facing railroads is whether to spend funds expanding PTC systems to service vehicles like the backhoe involved in Sunday's crash, or put money into upgrades of aging rail infrastructure.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Wall Street Journal, 4/7:
 

Federal Railroad Administration Calls for Immediate Amtrak Safety Reviews

Regulator cites violations that came to light after Sunday’s fatal crash in Pennsylvania

 

The Federal Railroad Administration directed Amtrak on Wednesday to conduct immediate safety reviews, citing violations that came to light after Sunday’s fatal crash in Pennsylvania.

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s FRA said it told the national passenger railroad on Wednesday to perform a “safety stand-down”—a review of basic work-safety protocols—with its track workers and train dispatchers, even as two federal investigations into Sunday’s collision continue.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA 4/7:
 

Feds: Amtrak failed to follow safety rules in fatal train crash

 

A federal directive issued to Amtrak Wednesday night confirms the rail agency's workers weren't following basic safety rules when a weekend train crash killed two people in Chester.

 

The directive of action from the Federal Railroad Administration is the first official confirmation that safety rules weren't followed in the Sunday crash.  Specifically, it highlighted concerns about the way personnel working on tracks follow safety standards. It stated both federal regulations and Amtrak's internal rules were not being followed at the time of the crash, according to information provided by a senior FRA official. 

 

In a statement issued Thursday, Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman did not dispute the FRA directive and said the company would design a new "internal compliance program" to push for more consistency in protection for rail workers.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA 4/7:
 

Feds had advised Amtrak to install safety backup systems

 

Federal agencies have repeatedly advised railroads to use backup safety precautions for workers on the rails after accidents hauntingly similar to Sunday's fatal Amtrak crash in Chester.

 

Sources with knowledge of the crash that killed two have said a communications lapse during a shift change contributed to workers' staying on the rails while safety precautions designed to route trains away from them were canceled.

 

This exact scenario, according to a 2014 Federal Railroad Administration safety advisory, has been an ongoing problem in railroad work.

 

"FRA is concerned about the infrequent, but repetitive incidents involving roadway workers being struck or nearly struck by trains that appear to be due to miscommunication," the advisory stated.

 

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FRA Issues Industry-Wide Safety Advisory on Roadway Worker Authority Limits

News Release

Federal Register Publication - 11/25/14
 

[Sloan]

 

 

Amtrak Safety Lapses Cited

 

The April 3 Amtrak crash that left two track workers dead and 30 passengers injured—the system’s fourth incident involving an employee fatality in three years—is raising new questions about labor relations and safety practices at the passenger railroad.

http://www.wsj.com/a...ited-1460335522