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Daily Headlines
BNSF drops plan to buy tank cars on customer concerns
(Source: Reuters, May 15, 2015) NEW YORK — BNSF Railway Co this week told customers it had dropped a plan announced last year to buy 5,000 stronger crude oil tank cars after customers were concerned about the company moving into railcar ownership. Full story:...
STB approves purchase of D&H line by Norfolk Southern
(Source: Albany Times Union, May 15, 2015) ALBANY, N.Y. — The U.S. Surface Transportation Board this afternoon approved the $217 million purchase of 282 miles of track owned by Canadian Pacific Railway’s Delaware & Hudson unit by Norfolk Southern Railway. Norfolk...
Amtrak faces maximum $200 million payout to crash victims
(Source: Associated Press, May 17, 2015) PHILADELPHIA — For the first time, Amtrak could face a $200 million payout to train crash victims — the limit set by Congress. But that may be too low to cover the costs of the eight lives lost and more than 200 people injured...
Opinion: The plot against passenger trains
(Source: Opinion column by Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker, May 15, 2015) NEW YORK — As I wrote a few years ago, in a piece on the literature of American declinism, “The reason we don’t have beautiful new airports and efficient bullet trains is not that we have...
Pennsylvania Senator says Amtrak needs more funding
(Source: The Hill, May 17, 2015) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.) called on his fellow lawmakers on Sunday to increase the tax dollars available to Amtrak following a fatal crash in Philadelphia. Full story: The Hill
New Jersey Senators lobby for more safety funds for Amtrak in wake of fatal crash
(Source: www.nj.com, May 15, 2015) NEWARK, N.J. — Saying a proposed bill to increase safety funding to Amtrak and other railroads wasn't a reaction to Tuesday's fatal derailment, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez had harsh words for House Republicans who...
Amtrak’s new rail safety system hampered by costs, politics
(Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, May 17, 2015) WASHINGTON, D.C. — A safety system that could have prevented the Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia is supposed to be in service across the country by the end of this year. But amid politics, budget wars, and technical...
House panel to hold Amtrak hearing on Amtrak crash
(Source: Associated Press, May 15, 2015) NEW YORK — A U.S. House committee announced Friday it would hold a hearing on the deadly Amtrak crash. U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, P-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said in a statement that...
Amtrak CEO on Philadelphia: ‘Ever grateful’ to city, first responders
(Source: www.nj.com, May 16, 2015) NEWARK — Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman, who spoke at a press conference in Philadelphia following Tuesday's fatal trail derailment, thanked the city, its people and first responders in a statement released late Friday. Full story:...
NTSB: ‘Nothing at all’ heard from engineer to suggest Amtrak train was hit by projectile
(Source: ABC News, May 17, 2015) NEW YORK — There was no communication between the derailed Amtrak train engineer to the dispatch center to suggest that a projectile had hit the ill-fated train, National Transportation Safety Board lead investigator Robert Sumwalt...
