Federal Railroad Administration News

Report: Operator Error Caused 2015 Wisconsin Train Derailment

Federal investigators said crew fatigue may have contributed to the derailment of a BNSF freight train that spilled more than 20,000 gallons of ethanol last year in western Wisconsin. The engineer and the conductor scored poorly on the Federal Railroad …

After New Jersey Train Crash, Transit Regulators Targeting Sleep Apnea

Federal regulators want railroads across the country to test train operators for a sleep disorder. The safety advisory being issued this week by the Federal Railroad Administration comes after the engineer in September’s deadly New Jersey commuter train crash was …

New Jersey Transit Hiring Consultant to Address Safety Concerns

New Jersey Transit is hiring a former Metro-North president to help it meet federal rail safety requirements. The agency will pay Peter Cannito $350 per hour to review Federal Railroad Administration violations uncovered in an audit and help with a …

New Jersey Train Engineer Says He Can’t Remember Crash

The engineer at the controls of the train that smashed into a commuter rail terminal, killing a woman and injuring more than 100 people, told federal investigators he was going only 10 mph as he approached the station but has …

Many Railroads Slow to Adopt Safety Technology Even After Deadline Extension

Many commuter and freight railroads have made little progress installing safety technology designed to prevent deadly collisions and derailments despite a mandate from Congress, according to a government report released. The technology, called positive train control or PTC, uses digital …

Deadly Oklahoma Rail Crossing Flagged for Improvements in 2011

Records indicate that the railroad crossing where a woman and her three sons died Sunday in eastern Oklahoma had been flagged for safety improvements since at least 2011. Thirty-seven-year-old April Goines and her sons were killed when the car they …

As Texas Train Wreckage Smolders, BNSF Says Technology May Have Prevented Crash

Wreckage from a train collision continued to smolder on June 29 in the Texas Panhandle as workers prepared to remove the charred, twisted box cars from the tracks and renew their search for three missing crew members. Three BNSF Railway …

Investigators Say Amtrak Engineer Was Distracted Before 2015 Philly Crash

The Amtrak engineer at the controls of a speeding train that derailed in Philadelphia last year, killing eight people, was distracted in the moments before the accident, U.S. investigators are preparing to conclude at a meeting Tuesday. The National Transportation …

New York Urges Tighter Rules, More Insurance for Oil Trains

New York state’s comptroller urged federal authorities Tuesday to strengthen safety measures against oil spills and require trains to carry sufficient insurance to cover cleanup costs from major accidents. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is administrator of New York’s $40 million Oil …

U.S. Regulator Treads Lightly on Railroads Over Hazmat Violations: Report

Federal regulators are failing to refer serious safety violations involving freight rail shipments of crude oil and other hazardous cargo for criminal prosecution, and are going lightly on civil fines, according to a report released last week by a government …