UTU News Digest - Thursday, November 19, 1998

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Thursday, November 19, 1998

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NTSB says more oversight needed on bus safety

WASHINGTON -- Responding to recent fatal bus crashes, federal safety investigators said this week that more oversight is needed to ensure the buses millions of Americans ride are safe and properly operated.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited several high-profile accidents, including a runaway New York City bus with a chronically ill driver behind the wheel and a bus that crashed while speeding through Nashville, Tenn., to make up lost time. The NTSB also said accident reporting is so haphazard and inaccurate there's no way to gauge just how safe America's buses are.

"Safety responsibility with a transit bus is just the same as when people get on an airline or any other type of public transportation," said NTSB chairman Jim Hall. "They need to be sure that safety is being put first."

In recommendations to the Transportation Department, the NTSB said a uniform program should be developed to "assess and ensure" the safety of transit bus operations that receive federal money. Although public transportation receives $2.5 billion a year in federal subsidies, Hall said, "a very poor job is being done at the federal level" in putting together data about accidents and safety programs.

The DOT said it would have no comment on Hall's remarks or the NTSB recommendations until officials at the Federal Transit Administration had a chance to fully review them. Hall and NTSB investigators said simple oversight may have prevented some of the tragedies.

Norfolk Southern doubles Atlanta office space

ATLANTA -- Norfolk Southern Corp. will double its office space at the One Georgia Center building in midtown. The rail giant is expanding to accommodate more than 500 employees who will be added because of its recent deal with CSX Corp. to jointly acquire the assets of Conrail Inc.

Norfolk Southern will expand from 32,270 square feet at the building at 600 West Peachtree St. into 68,059 square feet. The company also will gain some extra square footage by building out storage space at its existing general offices at 99 Spring St., where Norfolk Southern houses its Atlanta operations in a complex of three buildings encompassing 411,000 square feet.

Norfolk Southern employs from 2,500 to 2,700 people in Atlanta, including shop and yard workers. An estimated 1,500 office workers are employed at the Spring Street and Georgia Center locations, spokesperson Bob Auman said.

Norfolk Southern officials said the company headquarters will remain in Norfolk, Va., where the company recently acquired a prominent downtown office building and occupies several floors. Norfolk Southern has been leasing space at One Georgia Center since 1993, and its current lease was set to expire next summer.

Public-Private partnership to develop Gulf Coast high-speed rail

NEW ORLEANS -- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater yesterday announced the beginning of a public-private partnership to develop high speed rail by designating a Gulf Coast High Speed Rail Corridor linking New Orleans with Baton Rouge, La.; Houston; Mobile, Ala.; Meridian, Miss.; and Birmingham, Ala.

Designation of the high-speed corridor will make the area eligible to receive federal funds, which will be combined with state and local funds to make grade crossing improvements in the corridor. To eliminate grade crossing hazards, states plan for a mix of grade separations, warning device enhancements and crossing closures. There are approximately 470 grade crossings in the corridor.

"High-speed rail will help ensure flexible choices in shaping our transportation system for the 21st century," FRA Administrator Jolene M. Molitoris said. "High speed rail service will provide some four million residents in the rapidly expanding Gulf Coast area another safe, comfortable and affordable travel option."

This is the first year of a six-year funding program made available under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). A total of $5.25 million has been made available for fiscal year 1999 and the Gulf Coast corridor is expected to receive up to $1 million.

The Gulf Coast states and cities along the route are expected to make a commitment to work with private railroad companies and the federal government to gradually upgrade existing railroad rights-of-way, so that speeds of 90 miles per hour and greater can be achieved. Plans also are underway to link the New Orleans airport and downtown New Orleans to the high-speed system.

According to Molitoris, high-speed trains on the Northeast Corridor have demonstrated that high-speed train travel can be safe, reliable, economical and comfortable. Trains on the Northeast Corridor already travel at speeds of 125 mph, and will ultimately travel at 150 mph on certain segments.

Currently, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington are investing in upgrades to existing rail corridors in order to provide improved passenger rail service.

Since the cost of electrification can be an obstacle to providing high speed rail service, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is actively engaged in several public-private partnerships in order to provide alternatives to electrification for designated high-speed corridors. Under its Next Generation High Speed Rail Program, the FRA is working with the private sector to develop a high-speed non-electric locomotive by the year 2000 as well as new satellite-based train control systems and innovative "smart" grade crossing technologies.

The goal of the FRA's Next Generation program is to provide viable opportunities for all parts of the U.S. where there is sufficient demand for high-speed rail service.

St. Louis Zoo railroad reopens

ST. LOUIS -- The familiar sights and sounds of the zoo line railroad at the Saint Louis Zoo are once again filling the Forest Park area.

The railroad reopened for business earlier this week. It had been closed since October 16th, when an out of control engine on the train caused it to crash killing the engineer.

Zoo officials say a series of tests by outside experts could not pinpoint the reason why the miniature steam engine went out of control and tumbled off the tracks. Until the end of the year, two engineers will be in the cab of the engine as a safety precaution.

Truck takes off after train collision

BUFFALO -- Two men are lucky to be alive after a spectacular train-vehicle collision at a railroad crossing in Buffalo.

Cass County sheriff's department officials say the men apparently got their pickup stuck at the crossing early yesterday. They attempted to free it by using a fuel truck stolen from a nearby business. However, that vehicle got stuck as well.

The men's luck ran out when a Burlington-Northern-Santa-Fe freight train crashed into the pickup, which became unstuck, and was thrown into the fuel truck. Although the fuel truck was then flung in the direction of the fleeing men, it missed them both and did NOT burst into flames when it landed. The engineer of the train also escaped without injury.

Dispute over train speed could delay service

PORTLAND, Maine - A dispute over the speed at which passenger trains can operate between Boston and Portland has threatened to further delay the service, which has already been held up five years. State transportation officials want the trains to go 79 mph so they will attract enough customers to make the service worthwhile.

Guilford Transportation Industries, which owns much of the rail, wants the trains to go slower because it says tracks the state wants installed along the route can't handle high-speed trains. The matter is going to a federal arbitrator by year's end. A ruling against the state could limit the trains to 59 mph.

Trainriders Northeast, a rail advocacy group, has said trains must travel at speeds approaching 80 mph to compete with cars and buses. Otherwise, the service is doomed to failure, the group contends. The state says 115-pound-per-yard rail would be sufficient for the route, but Guilford wants to use 132-pound rail, which would add about $7 million to the $50 million to $60 million project.

Amtrak, which is contracted to operate the rail service between Portland and Boston, operates trains at 79 mph on other lines around the country using 115-pound rail. Guilford Executive Vice President David Fink said safety standards now require the heavier rails. One of the lines using 115-pound rails runs between Springfield, Mass., and New Haven, Conn.

Jonathan Carter, chairman of the board of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, said that if the trains are limited to 59 mph, the state could reduce travel time by running express trains and skipping some of the half dozen stations along the route.

New Jersey man killed by jumping in front of train

LINCOLN PARK, NJ -- A 51-year-old borough man deliberately jumped in front of a Hoboken-bound NJ Transit train Tuesday morning, witnesses told investigators.

Wlodzimie A. Wielgolewski was killed around 7 a.m. shortly after the train passed the Lincoln Park station, officials said. His family could not be reached for comment.

"The engineer and the conductor both saw the man standing adjacent to the tracks," said Ken Miller, a spokesman for NJ Transit. "They sounded the whistle as a warning, but . . . he jumped out in front of it," said Miller, who added that the incident is "currently being classified a suicide."

Train No. 1000, operating on the Boonton Line, originated at the Lake Hopatcong station near the border with Sussex County and was heading east when the accident occurred, Miller said. The train was an express and was not scheduled to stop at the Lincoln Park station.

Train service was delayed during the morning rush hour, with NJ Transit using shuttle buses to transport passengers around the accident scene. Some trains were sent from Hoboken to pick up people east of Lincoln Park, and passengers were transferred to another train.

The fatality was the 22nd this year involving a pedestrian and a NJ Transit train, Miller said.

STB to issue decision on DM&E on Dec. 10

WASHINGTON -- The Surface Transportation Board (STB) will issue a decision Dec. 10 on the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad's application to build a new rail route into Wyoming's Powder River Basin coal fields.

The company filed for permission to build the $1.4 billion project including a 260-mile construction project and an upgrade of more than 600 miles of existing track in South Dakota and Minnesota. The extension was granted to give the agency more time to study additional filings by a group called the Mid-States Coalition for Progress that opposes the sale.