Positive train control has absolutely no effect whatsoever on the vast majority of track-caused derailments or equipment-caused derailments, which represent between 50 and 60 percent of all derailments.
|
|
Comparatively, the percentage who die from derailments is relatively small.
|
|
It owns Penn Station and took responsibility for the derailments.
|
|
His life, meanwhile, increasingly felt like a series of derailments.
|
|
But those who haven't arrived yet are enduring some unexpected derailments.
|
|
The technology, called positive train control, can prevent collisions and derailments.
|
|
The system is designed to prevent derailments caused by excessive speed.
|
|
Trains carrying dangerous goods also ran at slower speeds following derailments.
|
|
Railroad experts said minor derailments were often caused by track flaws.
|
|
The rule was put in place after a string of fiery derailments.
|
|
There were near constant meltdowns and several train derailments raised safety concerns.
|
|
PTC is designed to prevent derailments and crashes caused by excessive speed.
|
|
"The rate of freight train derailments in Australia in recent years has remained steady at between 0.4 and 0.5 derailments per million freight train kilometres," the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator told Reuters in an email.
|
|
Positive train control (PTC) is designed to prevent derailments caused by excessive speed.
|
|
On the mainline rail network, derailments are down 2202 percent compared to 2628.
|
|
The system constantly makes headlines for derailments, fires, long delays, and emergency closures.
|
|
Aging tracks at Penn Station are being rebuilt after a series of derailments.
|
|
Writers are powering their way through illnesses and losses and other unexpected derailments.
|
|
But derailments, red signal violations and falsified inspection reports have continued on his watch.
|
|
Transportation of oil by rail has increased dramatically, as have derailments and other disasters.
|
|
Amtrak determined that the tracks needed extensive repairs after two derailments at the station.
|
|
And in summer of 2017, the waiting and crowding and derailments reached a breaking point.
|
|
Federal officials have expressed concern over the derailments and are continuing to investigate the causes.
|
|
The incident is the latest in a string of high-profile oil train derailments and fires.
|
|
Still, derailments are rare these days, and the injuries in Tuesday's accident were not life-threatening.
|
|
The derailments spurred Amtrak, which owns and operates the station, to change its approach to maintenance.
|
|
The technology, which will eventually be mandatory for railroads, can prevent derailments, collisions and improper track switching.
|
|
Frozen coal piles and train derailments have kept coal plants elsewhere from operating during cold winter weather.
|
|
Recent emergencies – from train derailments to hurricanes – demonstrated the value of healthcare facilities collaborating before disaster strikes.
|
|
Amtrak officials have said that the recent derailments spurred them to accelerate the schedule of track repairs.
|
|
These preventable accidents were the latest in an unsettling trend of crashes and derailments of passenger trains.
|
|
Two derailments at New York's Penn Station have just provided a vivid reminder of America's broken infrastructure.
|
|
Though the nation's freight carriers are coming off their safest year to-date, with derailments and track-caused accidents declining year-on-year by 10 percent, the fact remains that a handful of high-profile train derailments leave the public with a skewed view of freight rail's safety.
|
|
Recent months have seen the nation's largest subway system plagued by derailments, power outages, overcrowding, and widespread delays.
|
|
Train derailments are not uncommon on the island, which has rough, mountainous terrain, but deadly accidents are rare.
|
|
Inspectors monitored CN's track repairs and the railway's work to determine causes in the months after the derailments.
|
|
Train accidents are somewhat common in Bangladesh, where track conditions are poor and there have been many derailments.
|
|
It does prevent certain types of derailments, overspeed accidents as well as incursions into work zones, for example.
|
|
Two derailments last year led Amtrak to close off some tracks and rebuild them, causing disruptions that Gov.
|
|
There have already been four derailments of trains in Vietnam this year, the transport ministry said on Thursday.
|
|
Two recent train derailments at Pennsylvania Station in New York were caused by track defects, Amtrak officials said.
|
|
The derailments "highlight the vulnerability and the fragility of Penn Station," Moorman said, apologizing again for delays and disruptions.
|
|
We cannot keep pushing off repairs until emergencies hit, whether water main breaks or bridge collapses or train derailments.
|
|
Now that we know what happened, we must commit to doing better in preventing devastating derailments like this one.
|
|
New York City's subway system is a disaster at the moment — plagued by delays, breakdowns and even derailments. Gov.
|
|
Federal regulators are proposing new rules aimed at mitigating the effects of derailments, spills and explosions of oil trains.
|
|
Still, despite recent high-profile accidents, the number of derailments at Amtrak has remained relatively flat in recent years.
|
|
The U.S. Department of Transportation toughened standards for crude rail-cars in 2015 following a series of fiery derailments.
|
|
With all of its delays, derailments, and shutdowns, it's hard to imagine the New York City subway getting any worse.
|
|
Both derailments occurred during rush hour, disrupting the morning commute for a busy route between New York and New Jersey.
|
|
Serbia's railways are in a poor state due to decades-long neglect and lack of investment, and derailments are frequent.
|
|
Most derailments happen at low speeds on yard and station tracks, though, and they rarely cause more than minor injuries.
|
|
With that kind of public accountability, along with more aggressive management and more money, the number of derailments soon dropped.
|
|
After two derailments, Amtrak is considering closing tracks at the station in Manhattan for an extended period to make repairs.
|
|
But it has a poor safety record, with thousands of people dying every year in derailments, collisions and other accidents.
|
|
Amtrak owns the station's tracks and was responsible for two recent derailments that prompted it to speed up long-planned repairs.
|
|
In the spring of 2017, a series of derailments made it clear the Amtrak-owned and operated station needed emergency repairs.
|
|
But the agency has had a string of mishaps in recent months, including derailments and instances of trains running red lights.
|
|
Department of Transportation rules imposed last year require companies to use stronger tank cars that are better able to withstand derailments.
|
|
"Having two crew members on board won't necessarily prevent derailments, but it will help mitigate accidents when they occur," she said.
|
|
The derailments have set off alarms over Amtrak's management of the station, its safety record and the railroad's perennial funding problems.
|
|
But the biggest pending railroad safety issue is a government mandate to install a technology called positive train control to prevent derailments.
|
|
CN declined to comment on how the cause of the derailments might affect its liability, or whether any damages could be material.
|
|
The need for the repairs at Penn Station, the busiest train hub in the country, became apparent after two recent derailments there.
|
|
After a series of train derailments in the past few months, they all knew a devilish disruption could occur at any moment.
|
|
Amtrak has come under fire in recent weeks after a pair of derailments that disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of commuters.
|
|
PTC is an automated braking technology that matches train speeds with track conditions and can prevent many head-on collisions and derailments.
|
|
If you thought the New York subway system's derailments, delays, and dead corpses made it a complete and utter hellscape before, think again.
|
|
Many of these past derailments have resulted in the release of hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil and have prompted local evacuations.
|
|
The new rules take affect in August and come after regulators reviewed more than a dozen oil car derailments from 2013 through 2016.
|
|
In both derailments, the safety board cited the absence of the technology to stop or slow a train as contributing to the crashes.
|
|
Mr. Moorman said no final decision had been made about delaying the track work for Moynihan before the derailments started on March 24.
|
|
Derailments rarely cause more than minor injuries, but the aftermath was tragically different on Sunday not far from Columbia, the state capital. Gov.
|
|
In addition to the derailments, trains have been stuck in tunnels, and last week a broken pipe rained wastewater onto the station's concourse.
|
|
The derailments have focused scrutiny on Penn Station's aging infrastructure, which is particularly vulnerable to disruptions and provides little flexibility when problems arise.
|
|
Deteriorating rail infrastructure in the Northeast has been highlighted recently by emergency repairs at New York's Pennsylvania Station after a series of derailments.
|
|
CSX's service was also hit by derailments and by flooding, power outages and debris from Hurricane Irma, which slammed the U.S. Southeast last month.
|
|
But the biggest pending railroad safety issue is a government mandate to install a technology called positive train control, or PTC, to prevent derailments.
|
|
There have been no major derailments like last summer, when an A train crashed in Harlem in June, injuring more than two dozen people.
|
|
According to the Economic Times of India, derailments accounted for more than half of the nearly 600 railway accidents in the past five years.
|
|
But they have not vanished: In January, there were two derailments a day apart on the No. 7 line near Citi Field in Queens.
|
|
Chris Christie of New Jersey, who had already threatened to halt his state's payments to the railroad as a result of the earlier derailments.
|
|
It's taken two-and-a-half years to start upgrading the procedures around emergency response to train derailments involving crude, and they're not done yet.
|
|
It can't prevent all accidents, or certain equipment malfunctions, but it is a safeguard against derailments due to speeding or collisions caused by human error.
|
|
But the program was sped up after recent derailments, resulting in long delays to cross the Hudson River and backing up traffic across the region.
|
|
Most of Wiedefeld's fist year on the job has been consumed with addressing persistent safety issues including derailments, tunnel fires and trains running red lights.
|
|
At the end of June, Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a "state of emergency" for America's busiest transit network, with derailments and debilitating delays happening daily.
|
|
North Dakota has seen its share of derailments as well, including one in 2013 that spilled 400,000 gallons of oil near a city outside Fargo.
|
|
Before Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, decided to take drastic action at the rail hub, derailments and other transit disruptions had begun to seem routine.
|
|
But a series of derailments and other problems at and around the station in the past several weeks prompted Amtrak officials to alter their strategy.
|
|
Safety advocates have criticized how slow railroads have been in implementing the potentially life-saving technology, which can prevent derailments, collisions and improper track switching.
|
|
"You really didn't check anything else when you were down there?" asked Kyle Holthus, rhetorically addressing the Amtrak workers who dealt with the previous derailments.
|
|
In the first quarter of this year, six times a day on average, robbers blocked tracks or loosened rails to stop trains, leading to dangerous derailments.
|
|
The last two months have seen two derailments at Penn Station and a train carrying 1,200 passengers stranded for three hours in a Hudson River Tunnel.
|
|
Train derailments are unfortunately common, and in this case, could lead to exposure for the workers and residents of any number of communities along the way.
|
|
Congress originally gave commuter and freight railroads until the end of 2628 to install the technology, which can prevent derailments, collisions, crashes and improper track switching.
|
|
Since 85033 there have been at least 27 accidents involving trains carrying crude that have resulted a number of accidents including derailments and loss of life.
|
|
Oil by rail safety has been a major issue for lawmakers and regulators given the rash of derailments around the country over the last few years.
|
|
Monthly subway delays increased from about 28,000 in 2012 to more than 70,000 last year, and, after a series of track fires and train derailments, Gov.
|
|
The chairman, Joseph J. Lhota, had returned to the agency just last year to help improve the subway amid rising delays and a series of derailments.
|
|
"The most vexing thing here, that really is just troubling, is this could have been prevented," Mr. Schumer said in an interview, referring to the derailments.
|
|
Though minor, the derailments disrupted regional and long-distance trains for several days and delayed hundreds of thousands of commuters in the country's largest metropolitan region.
|
|
Ew. Last week, back-to-back train derailments at New York's Penn Station, the busiest transit hub in the US, caused cascading delays for millions of commuters.
|
|
Earlier this month, the department reversed a decision requiring crude oil rail tank cars to be fitted with an advanced braking system designed to prevent fiery derailments.
|
|
The national passenger rail company has been under scrutiny after two recent derailments, for which it was at fault, disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of commuters.
|
|
The threat of train derailments, delays, or stumbling upon a gruesome wildlife scene can become even more unbearable when you're also lugging around 35 pounds of luggage.
|
|
Its customers - and even more commuters from suburbs in New Jersey and Long Island - have repeatedly been caught in hours-long delays after derailments and other incidents.
|
|
Officials in Canada and the United States have rushed to improve oil train safety after that disaster and a series of other derailments and explosions since then.
|
|
At the time, the industry even tracked what were called standing derailments, where the roadbed beneath the tracks crumbled away and caused stationary railcars to tip over.
|
|
In New York City, mass transit has become a daily nightmare for millions of commuters, riddled with delays, cancellations and derailments during what even New York Gov.
|
|
Train collisions and derailments are not uncommon in South Africa, often caused by the theft of power cables, which are made out of highly sought-after copper.
|
|
The two derailments during the spring raised safety concerns about the station's aging infrastructure and prompted Amtrak to decide to close several tracks to make major repairs.
|
|
Last month, junior railways minister Rajen Gohain told parliament that 1,011 people had died in 586 rail accidents in last five years, nearly 53 percent due to derailments.
|
|
Earlier this month, the Transportation Department reversed a decision requiring crude oil rail tank cars to be fitted with an advanced braking system designed to prevent fiery derailments.
|
|
Late last month, a group called Common Sense NYS, of which Mr. Wilson is a part, unveiled a slick video that highlighted several recent subway problems, including derailments.
|
|
Systematic deficiencies, which have led to train derailments and other safety issues, persist in Washington Metrorail's track inspection program, according to a scathing new report from federal investigators.
|
|
It was Mr. Moorman who decided after two derailments of trains at Penn Station this spring that some major track repairs should not be put off any longer.
|
|
Years of putting off repairs at the station contributed to two derailments in 2017, forcing Amtrak to undertake an emergency repair program and cut back service for months.
|
|
There were 227 derailments on Amtrak from 272 to 22016, and 73 of the accidents, or 41 percent, were a result of track problems, according to federal statistics.
|
|
It is also considered more dangerous than pipelines because of derailments like the 214 Lac-Megantic, Quebec, disaster, in which 27 people died in a fiery oil train crash.
|
|
The technology, which will eventually be required by law, automatically slows a train that is going over the speed limit and can prevent derailments, collisions and improper track switching.
|
|
After two derailments, Amtrak said it would close some of the station's 21 tracks for two extended periods this summer, from July 7 to July 25 and from Aug.
|
|
Mr. Moorman said he had walked through the area at Penn Station where the derailments happened and had determined that Amtrak had to make more long-term repairs soon.
|
|
The recent derailments closed several tracks, leading to cancellations and delays across the three railroads that share the station: Amtrak, New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road.
|
|
After several derailments, emergency repairs are set to begin this morning at Pennsylvania Station in New York City, affecting trains from New Jersey and Long Island for eight weeks.
|
|
Federal Railroad Administration statistics show that in recent years, Amtrak has had an average of about two derailments a month, accounting for about one-quarter of the accidents it reports.
|
|
Ms. Snyder pointed out that even more of New Jersey Transit's Midtown Direct trains were diverted to Hoboken for several days after one of the recent derailments at Penn Station.
|
|
After two train derailments, the agency expects to be charged nearly $1 million for commuters who used their tickets on other transit providers, a practice known as cross-honoring. Gov.
|
|
PTC prevents crashes and derailments by warning engineers and automatically applying the brakes to slow or stop trains that are too close to other trains or are traveling too fast.
|
|
"Based on our recent investigations, we can confirm that problems with our tracks in Penn Station were a cause of both recent derailments," said Charles W. Moorman, Amtrak's chief executive.
|
|
" Investigations into last year's cluster of derailments are still ongoing, but CN said it believed they were "likely caused by a combination of track conditions, inadequate process controls and human factors.
|
|
The work was originally scheduled to take years but was expedited after recent derailments and other problems that left hundreds of thousands of commuters delayed for hours because of decaying infrastructure.
|
|
Last year, as the subways were plagued by delays and derailments, the Assembly held just one oversight hearing, about the impact of the track work Amtrak was doing at Penn Station.
|
|
Jim Johnson, a Democratic candidate, was the first to unveil a transit and infrastructure plan in late April, after spending days experiencing with fellow travelers the disruptions triggered by the derailments.
|
|
Since then, FRA officials have held meetings with at least 29 transit agencies and railroads to discuss the status of the technology designed to prevent derailments or crashes caused by excessive speed.
|
|
Since 2008, there have been at least 10 major oil train derailments across the United States and Canada, including a disaster that killed 47 people in a Quebec town in July 2013.
|
|
Train track safety inspections were another focus of the Obama administration, which said it planned to propose new rules to address "dangerous track conditions and defects" in order to prevent train derailments.
|
|
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been pushing plans to modernize Penn Station, an outdated labyrinthine hub in the heart of New York City, has not publicly commented about the derailments.
|
|
The derailment was the latest in a series of derailments at Penn Station, where extensive track repairs intended to prevent such problems are scheduled to begin Monday and run through Sept. 1.
|
|
Since 2008, there have been at least 10 major oil-train derailments across the United States and Canada, including a disaster that killed 47 people in a Quebec town in July 2013.
|
|
Federal Railroad Administration statistics have shown that in recent years the agency has had an average of about two derailments a month, accounting for about one-quarter of the accidents it reports.
|
|
Overcrowding on the subway, derailments on commuter railroads, not to mention urgent repairs at Pennsylvania Station, are all contributing to an unpleasant summer for many travelers in and around New York City.
|
|
Minor train derailments are not uncommon, but this one occurred at one of the worst possible spots: a switch point where multiple tracks connect and space for workers making repairs is tight.
|
|
Two recent train derailments led to extraordinary delays across the region and shined a harsh spotlight on the station's deteriorating infrastructure after years of neglect as Amtrak has grappled with financial problems.
|
|
In theory, operator errors that lead to train collisions, derailments due to unsafe speeds or railway worker injuries would be a thing of the past, thanks to the automation of safety rule enforcement.
|
|
The weather-related disruption was especially aggravating for commuters from New Jersey and Long Island suburbs who have endured hours-long delays in recent weeks after derailments and other incidents at Penn Station.
|
|
By putting off repairs that it mistakenly believed were not critical, Amtrak set the stage for two of the derailments, which were caused by broken tracks on the west side of the station.
|
|
The influx would strain New York's delay-plagued system, which reached a crisis point last year with constant disruptions, a series of derailments and on-time performance that still hovers around 68 percent.
|
|
While the company buys some American-made rail, the longer Japanese rail is safer because it requires less welding and reduces the potential for derailments on its highly trafficked routes, the company says.
|
|
When Amtrak's new chief executive took responsibility for two recent train derailments at Pennsylvania Station in New York, it was a low point for a railroad already confronting a series of urgent challenges.
|
|
One possibility officials are looking into is whether the engineer might have been distracted — a human error that might have been stopped by positive train control technology, which can prevent derailments due to speed.
|
|
The work was originally scheduled to take years but was expedited after recent derailments and other problems left hundreds of thousands of commuters delayed throughout the greater New York area because of decaying infrastructure.
|
|
Commuters waylaid by a series of recent derailments got yet another taste of travel disruptions to come on Thursday night, when a NJ Transit train carrying 180 customers and crew derailed near Penn Station.
|
|
"It's time to make up for decades of underinvestment that today is evident in everything from bone-rattling potholes and endless traffic gridlock, to deadly train derailments and destructive water main breaks," he said.
|
|
D.), would create a committee within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designed to research new training methods and expand resources for emergency officials who respond to "railroad hazmat incidents," including oil car derailments.
|
|
The company recently announced plans to take three aging New York tracks out of service for July and August to repair them after a series of infrastructure-related service disruptions and two train derailments.
|
|
After Joseph H. Boardman took over as Amtrak president in 2008, three derailments in Interlocking A and delays caused by other infrastructure failures led him to institute a program aimed at preventing future accidents.
|
|
At least this grid doesn't subject us to giant rats, derailments, filthy deluges of water or evacuations, so statistically this solve is a fairly uneventful ride in the mean subterranean streets of the city.
|
|
"Its time to make up for decades of underinvestment that today is evident in everything from bone-rattling potholes and endless traffic gridlock, to deadly train derailments and destructive water main breaks," he said.
|
|
Squeezed for capacity, the oil industry has increasingly turned to trains to ship its products from the oil sands, a method that is both costly and potentially dangerous because of the risk of derailments.
|
|
Last week, miner and infrastructure firm Grupo Mexico said seven freight train derailments between the port of Veracruz and central Mexico were due to "sabotage" and would cost the company 312 million pesos ($16 million).
|
|
The requirement to install electronically controlled pneumatic brakes had been included in a package of safety reforms the Obama administration unveiled in 2015 following a series of deadly derailments stemming from the U.S. shale boom.
|
|
Ian Naish, a former director of rail and pipeline investigations at the Transportation Safety Board, reviewed the inspection reports, and said they showed CN did not meet minimum track safety standards designed to prevent derailments.
|
|
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican miner and infrastructure firm Grupo Mexico on Friday said in a statement that seven freight train derailments were due to "sabotage" and would cost the company 312 million pesos ($16 million).
|
|
Standing derailments are a thing of the past, the ICC has since been eliminated—replaced by the more benign Surface Transportation Board (STB)—and Conrail was privatized and later purchased by Norfolk Southern and CSX.
|
|
The delays underscored the challenges confronting the century-old system even as emergency measures have been taken to improve the subway, which has been plagued by surging delays, after a summer of meltdowns and derailments.
|
|
"Without a doubt, many of the problems riders are now suffering through, including derailments and delays, are because the M.T.A. cut back on equipment inspections and maintenance years ago," Mr. Samuelsen said in a statement.
|
|
In New York, for instance, occasional subway derailments can lead to distant friends and relatives requesting to know if you're safe — when the reality is, you probably just got annoyed and walked to the next station.
|
|
This summer, Amtrak plans to replace tracks and switches in its existing century-old tunnel into New York's Pennsylvania Station, the site of recent derailments and the source of misery for tens of thousands of commuters.
|
|
Derailments and other transit problems at Penn Station have prompted renewed criticism by some of Christie over his decision in 2010 to withdraw $2.7 billion in state funding for a new train tunnel under the Hudson.
|
|
The continuing issues underscored the challenges confronting the century-old system even as emergency measures have been taken to improve the subway, which has been plagued by surging delays after a summer of meltdowns and derailments.
|
|
On Thursday, Mr. Christie told reporters that he had been right to threaten to withhold payments to Amtrak for maintaining the station because Amtrak had accepted responsibility for the derailments and had decided to accelerate repairs.
|
|
After a series of problems at Penn Station, including two derailments, Amtrak announced a few weeks ago that it had decided to accelerate repairs that would take tracks out of use for long stretches of time.
|
|
Amtrak expedited the repair work, which could cost the national passenger rail company $30 million to $40 million, after recent derailments and other problems delayed commuters throughout the greater New York City area because of decaying infrastructure.
|
|
Including Friday's incident, at least 26 oil trains have been involved in major fires or derailments during the past decade in the U.S. and Canada, according to Associated Press analysis of accident records from the two countries.
|
|
Some riders from New Jersey complained about lengthened commutes, while noting they were already used to delays after a string of derailments and stalled trains at the station this year that the repairs are intended to remedy.
|
|
Two recent train derailments at Pennsylvania Station in New York that created major travel disruptions were caused by track defects, Amtrak officials said on Thursday, increasing concerns about the aging infrastructure at North America's busiest train station.
|
|
The repairs, estimated to cost $20073 million to $40 million over several years, was expedited after recent derailments and other problems from decaying infrastructure left hundreds of thousands of commuters delayed throughout the greater New York City area.
|
|
Meanwhile, the rail industry was able to recently extend the deadline on its legal requirement to install positive train control, an automated braking technology that experts believe provides a needed check on human error and prevents deadly derailments.
|
|
The requirement to install electronically controlled pneumatic brakes had been included in a package of safety reforms unveiled by the Obama administration in 3003 in response to a series of deadly derailments stemming from the U.S. shale boom.
|
|
However, with the way the subways have been running lately—stalling straphangers underground in sweaty cars for 45 minutes and suffering multiple derailments—it's not clear if companies would even want to attach their names to individual stations.
|
|
Likewise, in the wake of two recent derailments that caused major disruptions, Pennsylvania Station this month closed aging tracks for repairs and reduced the number of trains serving the station — another example of the costs of neglecting maintenance.
|
|
In 2015, there were seven oil train derailments, including one particularly severe incident in West Virginia where an explosion destroyed a home, forced the evacuation of 1,000 people, and prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency.
|
|
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Canada's biggest railway struggled to keep some heavily used track in adequate repair even after a string of derailments last year showed the danger of moving oil on poorly maintained track, documents obtained by Reuters show.
|
|
Our broken down infrastructure is costing us money, and even worse, lives, as evidenced by the recent spate of fatal train derailments, bridge collapses and the calamitous Flint, Michigan, water crisis, which is probably indicative of similar problems elsewhere.
|
|
There was also the near-midnight call I received from his office last spring, after a spate of rail delays and derailments had renewed a common perception of Mr. Christie as the central villain in the state's transit problems.
|
|
The New York subway system may seem like a nightmarish hellscape for straphangers forced to deal with derailments, delays, and plagues of dead crabs during their daily commutes, but apparently things are even worse for the subway employees behind the scenes.
|
|
Shares in the No. 3 U.S. railroad were up more than 3 percent in a sign investors had braced for worse news following painful disruptions like rail cars sitting idle or being re-routed circuitously, late shipments, and train derailments.
|
|
The incident comes eight months after lawmakers extended a deadline until the end of 2018 for rail operators to implement advanced safety technology, known as positive train control, or PTC, which safety experts say can avoid derailments and other major accidents.
|
|
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amtrak is planning to close some tracks for weeks and months at a time as it undertakes repairs at New York's congested Pennsylvania Station, the site of recent derailments that disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of commuters.
|
|
Op-Ed Contributors In the past few weeks, commuters in New York and New Jersey have been dealing with the chaos caused by the derailments of an Amtrak train and a New Jersey Transit train in New York's Penn Station.
|
|
Related: Watch Our HBO Report on the Lasting Effects of the BP Oil Spill Friday's incident was the first crash of a so-called "bomb train" so far this year, but oil train derailments have been on the rise recently.
|
|
Robert Sumwalt, the chairman of the NTSB, told reporters Monday at a press briefing that track signals were inoperative because they were being upgraded for positive train control or PTC, a system designed to prevent derailments or crashes caused by excessive speed.
|
|
But railroads have also resisted rules that might have mitigated the Mosier accident and other derailments around the country, said Sarah E. Feinberg, the administrator at the Federal Railroad Administration, specifically outfitting trains with modern braking systems, called electronically controlled pneumatic braking.
|
|
On Monday, a U.S. congressman from Washington state called attention to the slow rollout of Positive Train Control, a system designed to automatically stop a train to prevent derailments caused by excessive speed, collisions with another train or passage through misaligned tracks.
|
|
Amtrak officials say the time has come to deviate from that upset-the-fewest-customers policy and accept more cancellations and rescheduling in the short term to prevent further derailments, which could result in injuries or worse to passengers and rail workers.
|
|
It is an effort to spare some 600,000 daily commuters from what New York Governor Andrew Cuomo predicted could be a "summer of agony," based on recent delays and cancellations triggered by a pair of derailments at the station infamous for its deteriorating tracks.
|
|
But his frequent use of the social media tool repeatedly pulled the company, or himself, back into an abyss of petty fights, distractions and, at its worst, potential derailments to a company in which he has invested so much of his time, money and emotion.
|
|
An Amtrak train en route to Miami from New York collided with a freight train early Sunday morning in South Carolina, killing two individuals and adding another tragic entry to the list of recent Amtrak derailments and crashes, per the AP. The list, per the AP: Jan.
|
|
Municipal leaders in cities from Spokane to Seattle said trains carrying coal from mines in Montana and Wyoming, or oil from North Dakota, posed risks: air pollution caused by dust, traffic congestion caused by mile-long trains and the potential catastrophe of derailments in urban areas.
|
|
"There will be events such as power outages and derailments that cause more severe systemwide delays, as well as days on which the system runs very smoothly and the total time lost to delays is less than the average we have estimated," the agency's report noted.
|
|
On Monday, New York City entered what has been christened "the summer of hell," when, after derailments and delays, Amtrak began work on a months-long overhaul of tracks in Penn Station, causing widespread changes and less trains on the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit systems.
|
|
"While safety is our No. 1 priority, we also want to prevent service disruptions similar to those that recently occurred at the station due to train derailments, which impact commuters along the busiest passenger rail corridors in the nation," said Marc Willis, a spokesman for the railroad administration.
|
|
The report also noted that all passenger railroads that operate terminals with terminating tracks, including New Jersey Transit and Long Island Rail Road, have asked to be excluded from installing positive train control, a system designed to prevent derailments or crashes caused by excessive speed, in those locations.
|
|
After two derailments at Pennsylvania Station in New York, Amtrak officials are considering closing tracks at the station for an extended period to make long-term repairs — a drastic move that would cause huge disruptions for tens of thousands of commuters, according to officials who were briefed on the plans.
|
|
The speedup was prompted by two derailments in the station during the spring that wreaked havoc on rail service between Boston and Washington, D.C. More than a half million people pass through Penn Station daily on New York City subways and trains run by Amtrak, NJ Transit and the LIRR.
|
|
Citing the derailments caused by broken tracks, Augustine F. Ubaldi, a railroad engineering expert who began his career inspecting Penn Station for the Penn Central railroad in the 1970s, said it was clear that Amtrak did not spend enough time working in Interlocking A. "There's no way to deny that," he said.
|
|
The series of high-profile derailments and accidents along the line in recent years further underscores the urgent need to upgrade the rail line; in fact, more than $50 billion is needed over the next 20 years to bring the system into a state of good repair and accommodate future demands on the network.
|
|
Subway delays and disruptions have become expected and planned for in one's schedule, while the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit, two of the nation's busiest commuter lines, have been dogged by derailments and have warned riders to be prepared for a "summer of hell" as Amtrak repairs deteriorating infrastructure at Pennsylvania Station.
|
|
Her work has taken her to a cavern 12 stories below Grand Central, where a new Long Island Rail Road station is being built ("There was stuff dripping from the ceiling onto me"); to rodent-infested tracks at 34th Street ("I was definitely prepared to kick a rat"); and to the scenes of train derailments ("incredibly sad, difficult stories to report").
|
|