UTU News Digest - Wednesday, March 17, 1999

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Wednesday, March 17, 1999

ILLINOIS: Tragic train-truck accident investigation continues

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- It is a railroad crossing that is supposed to be as safe as any in the country, one with modern crossing gates and flashing lights and three decades of relative peace.

Authorities insist those gates were down and the signal lights were flashing red when an Amtrak train slammed into a semitrailer loaded with steel Monday night in the nation's deadliest railroad accident since 1993.

At least 13 people were killed and more than 100 injured.

Federal investigators were hoping the engineer and the truck driver will be able to explain why the truck was straddling the tracks.

"There have been reports that possibly this truck went around the gates and we are trying to determine if that's what happened,"' John Goglia of the National Transportation Safety Board said late Tuesday. "We will pursue this with vigor to determine if this is a signal problem or if in fact we have a driver problem.''

There were 217 people on board the City of New Orleans when it crashed Monday night at a rural crossing 50 miles south of Chicago. At least three people were still missing and feared dead in the scorched and twisted wreckage.

Truck driver John Stokes, 58, told investigators that he didn't see the train approach and that the warning lights started flashing after he started across the tracks near a Birmingham Steel Co. mill.

Stokes was driving on a probationary license after receiving three speeding tickets in a year, authorities said.

Amtrak's chairman, Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, said Stokes was trying to dodge the crossing gates, thinking the oncoming train was a slow-moving freight train instead of a faster passenger train.

"The engineer said he saw the lights flashing, he saw the barriers down and then he saw the truck stop and try to get around it,'' Thompson said. "There was no way to avoid it.''

Both Stokes and the engineer were questioned Tuesday, but investigators said the engineer was taking medication as a result of the crash and had trouble answering questions.

The two-locomotive train pulling 14 cars smashed into the truck and then into two rail cars on a siding. The cars jackknifed and piled up behind the locomotives over a quarter-mile, with leaking diesel fuel erupting in flames.

Those killed were in a double-decker sleeping car. Authorities said a locomotive ripped into the car, crushing some passengers and setting the car ablaze.

Goglia, who is in charge of the NTSB investigation, said the black box in the lead locomotive showed the train was moving at 79 mph -- the legal maximum -- just before the crash. He also said the engineer was blowing his whistle and trying to stop the train.

A private study released last month found that more than 80 percent of the nation's railroad crossings -- about 130,000 -- lack gates and light signals to warn pedestrians and motorists of trains.

But near the Bourbonnais crash site, two gates block the narrow two-lane road, which provides access to the nearby mill. The gates and lights at the crossing appear to have been functioning at the time of the crash, said David Farrell, a spokesman for the Illinois Commerce Commission.

Mike Stead, head of rail safety at the ICC, said the gates were intact, and authorities have not been able to verify where the truck was at the time of impact or when the gates were lowered.

Sensors turn on the lights and bells 26 seconds before a train reaches the crossing, and five seconds later the gates come down, Farrell said. Officials said the gates did not malfunction and were last inspected Feb. 24.

There have been three deaths at the crossing in the last 35 years, in 1964, 1968 and 1988. Forty trains and 1,800 vehicles use the crossing daily.

NTSB officials said they would also investigate whether a rail car on a siding north of the crash site may have blocked the truck driver's view. They were examining tire marks in the crossing, which they said could indicate that a vehicle was trying to get through.

Authorities have not released the names of the victims. The Commercial Appeal in Memphis reported today that the victims included a woman and three children from Nesbit, Miss., who were returning from a doll show in Chicago.

June Bonnin, 47; her 12-year-old granddaughter, Jessica Whitaker; Rainy Lipscomb, 10; and Lacey Lipscomb, 8, were killed. Another girl, Bonnin's daughter, was injured.

"It was to be a dream trip for the little girls,'' said Bonnin's husband, Max. "It turned out to be a nightmare.''

ILLINOIS: Amtrak survivors describe crash

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- Sidney Knox was running late, but he persuaded the Amtrak conductor to hold up the City of New Orleans while a relative bought his ticket. Everything was working out.

He settled back in his seat, the windows dark as the train pulled out of Chicago. Like others on the train, Knox was looking forward to going to sleep and seeing his 6-year-old son in Mississippi the next day.

Then came a shuddering jolt. The screech of twisting metal and screams of pain. The darkness now reached inside the train, derailed at a crossing 50 miles south of Chicago after hitting a truck loaded with steel.

"When I finally realized what happened, I was on the floor,'' Knox said.

Fifteen passengers were Mississippi teens returning from a 10-day Canadian ski trip with three chaperones.

"You could hear screaming,'' said 17-year-old Anna Fulson. "You could feel the car derailing .... It was like in slow motion. Everything was turning over. Luggage was falling. And you were being slammed against the ceiling and walls.''

Many in the ski group were riding in a double-decker car next to the sleeper car where the dead were found. A locomotive smashed into that car and it was set ablaze.

"People were laying on the ground,'' said Melissa Watson, 14, who was playing cards in the club car when the train derailed. "You could hear children scream, 'Where is my mom?' You could hear parents scream, 'Where are my children?'''

The crash happened shortly after 9:30 p.m. as many of the passengers on the train to New Orleans were preparing for bed. Some were listening to music, others were gossiping.

Then it happened.

A twisting motion. A hurling crash that toppled some of the passenger cars on their sides. Then total darkness.

Someone lit a cigarette lighter every few seconds in the teens' car, which had turned on its side. Some of the boys in the group forced open an escape window. They began pulling out the girls, who used the train seats as makeshift ladders.

"It was like your worst nightmare of what could happen on a train,'' said Christina Bomgaars, 15, who recounted the night as she sat in a hotel lounge. "You can't imagine the terror of not knowing if you're above water, if you're on a cliff, or if you're going to roll over.''

The boys told them not to panic, but to move fast. And they did.

Clinton Barnette, 70, of Portland, Ore., said he helped pull fellow passengers from the wreckage "until I couldn't breathe.''

"There was junk everywhere. You kept falling over things,'' he said. "I was shivering and shaking trying to help people. My teeth were chattering.''

Daniella Bauman, a 28-year-old graphics designer from Melbourne, Australia, was riding Amtrak on a months-long trip across the United States.

She was traveling with two friends, but could not find one after the crash. She feared the woman had been killed, but found her at a hospital.

"It was better than winning the lottery,'' Miss Bauman said. "We just grabbed each other and hugged. It was such a beautiful moment. After seeing that horrible sight, I was just thinking, 'How could anyone survive?'''

As for Knox, he intended to head back to Chicago today.

"I just thank my lucky stars that I'm alive. I'll go down there to see him next week,'' Knox said of his son. "I don't know if I'll take the train, though.''

ILLINOIS: Site of crash well-known to investigators

WASHINGTON -- Crash investigators know well the Illinois railroad crossing where an Amtrak train collided Monday with a truck hauling steel, igniting a deadly fireball.

Since 1964, three people have been killed and four injured in seven accidents at the McKnight Road crossing in Bourbonnais, Ill., according to state and federal records. In each case, a train struck an automobile or a truck as it crossed the tracks, despite the crossing gates and warning lights that the site has gained over time.

Whether it's impatience or inattention, Americans in general are not good about stopping, looking and listening at railroad crossings. Texas had the deadliest record of any state between 1991 and 1998, with 380 deaths at railroad grade crossings, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. Illinois was second, with 288 deaths.

Last year, 514 other people were killed nationally as they walked along railbeds or otherwise trespassed on railroad lines.

"People don't think this stuff happens anymore, but unfortunately it does," said Marmie Edwards, spokeswoman for Operation Lifesaver, a government-sponsored group that works to end rail deaths.

Critics say that the fines for running a train signal are still low in much of the country. They range from $10 to $100 in Oklahoma to up to $500 in Illinois. Some states have no fine at all for trespassing on train tracks.

In 1997, 245 Amtrak trains were involved in accidents reportable to the Federal Railroad Administration, according to Amtrak. They caused 1,020 crew injuries and 266 passenger injuries, most of which were minor.

Of all the reportable accidents, 183, or 74 percent, were attributable to motor vehicle operator inattention or impatience. Of those accidents, 114 occurred at crossings with active warning devices, such as gates, flashing lights and bells.

That same year, 50 people died in collisions with Amtrak trains at highway-rail intersections. Amtrak trains struck and killed 69 other people who were deemed to be trespassing on Amtrak rail line.

Before Monday's fatal crash, 88 passengers had died in Amtrak's 27-year history. Because of its heft, an eight-car passenger train traveling at 79 mph -- a standard Amtrak speed -- takes over 6,000 feet to stop. The train involved in Monday night's collision was 16 cars in length, or twice as big, and was authorized to travel at 79 mph in Bourbonnais, according to Amtrak officials.

A 150-car freight train traveling at a routine 50 mph needs 8,000 feet to stop, or about 1.5 miles.

Last week, Amtrak unveiled its new high-speed service that will start serving the Northeast Corridor by November or December. Equipped with technology that allows them to tilt through turns, the new Acela trains will operate between Washington, New York and Boston at top speeds of 150 mph, trimming travel times to 2 1/2 to three hours per leg.

The route that will be used has no grade crossings south of New Haven, Conn., according to Amtrak spokesman Rick Remington. There will be one crossing in Massachusetts, one in Rhode Island that will be used only by emergency vehicles and 11 in eastern Connecticut that Amtrak is working to make safe for high-speed trains, Remington said.

At the gala unveiling, Amtrak officials stressed the safety of the trains, saying they exceeded the standards of high-speed trains in use in Europe. Regular Amtrak riders agree.

"If I had to be in an accident, I'd probably rather be in a train rather than any other vehicle. If you hit a car or a truck, the train usually comes out OK," said Steve Grande of Fullerton, Calif., a train reviewer who has ridden more than 126,000 miles with Amtrak. "I was once in a train that hit a car, and I didn't even know we had hit anything until after we stopped."

LIST: Some deadly U.S. railroad accidents this century

Here is a list of deadly train accidents:

Feb., 16, 1996, Amtrak's Capitol Limited, and an MARC Maryland commuter train collided in Silver Spring, Md., killing all three crew members and eight passengers on the commuter train.

Sept. 22, 1993: Amtrak's Sunset Limited, en route to Miami, jumped the rails on a weakened bridge that had been rammed by a barge minutes earlier and plunged into a bayou near Mobile, Ala., killing 47 people. It was the worst accident in Amtrak history.

Jan. 4, 1987: An engineer drove three linked Conrail engines through a closed track switch and into the path of an Amtrak train near Chase, Md., killing 16 people and injuring 175.

Oct. 30, 1972: Two Illinois Central commuter trains collided during morning rush hour in Chicago, killing 45 people and injuring more than 200.

June 10, 1971: The year Amtrak began operations, train derailed near Salem, Ill., killing 10 people and injuring 94.

Feb. 6, 1951: A Pennsylvania Railroad commuter train plunged through a temporary overpass in Woodbridge, N.J., killing 85 people.

Nov. 22, 1950: A Long Island Rail Road commuter train crashed into the rear of another in New York's borough of Queens, killing 79 people.

Dec. 16, 1943: Two Atlantic Coast Line trains derailed near Rennert, N.C., killing 72 people.

Nov. 1, 1918: A New York subway train derails in a tunnel in Brooklyn, killing 92 people.

July 9, 1918: A two-train collision near Nashville, Tenn., kills 101 people.

March 1, 1910: Two trains were swept into a canyon in Wellington, Wash., by an avalanche, killing 96 people.

Aug. 7, 1904: A train derailed on a bridge in Eden, Colo., during a flash flood, killing 96 people.

VIRGINIA: Operation Lifesaver provides 'Dos' and 'Don'ts' for rail crossings

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- In light of the deadly highway-rail crossing crash in Bourbonnais, IL, Operation Lifesaver (OL) reminds Americans to learn and use the following precautions when it comes to railroad safety:

-- Cross railroad tracks at designated pedestrian or roadway crossings. Be sure to observe all warning signs and signals.

-- Always stop your vehicle at lowered crossing gates; going around these safety devices is illegal and deadly.

-- Only proceed through a railroad crossing if you can safely cross all tracks -- there may be several sets.

-- If your vehicle stalls on the tracks, get out and away from the tracks immediately and call your local law enforcement agency for assistance.

-- Much like an airplane, a train's size and mass make it extremely difficult to judge its travel speed and distance, therefore never try to outrun a train.

-- Do not walk, run, cycle, ski, hunt, fish or operate recreational vehicles on railroad property, including tracks, trestles, yards and tunnels. This is considered trespassing, which is both dangerous and illegal.

-- Expect a train at any time. Trains do not follow set schedules.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, in 1997 there were 3,865 highway-rail collisions, 461 fatalities and 1,540 injuries; and since 1990, more than 3,672 people have been killed as a result of trespassing on railroad property.

For more information about highway-rail safety or for the name of your OL State Coordinator, call 1-800-537-6224, or visit www.oli.org. Operation Lifesaver is a nationwide, non-profit public information program dedicated to eliminating collisions, injuries and fatalities at highway-rail grade crossings and along railroad rights-of-way.

Pro-Shipper Rail Competition Bill Introduced In Senate

WASHINGTON --Rail customers Tuesday welcomed legislation to promote competition among railroads and to provide shippers with rate relief, introduced in the U.S. Senate late Monday.

S. 621, the "Railroad Competition and Service Improvement Act," targets a lack of competitive rail options in the wake of significant consolidation in the industry since Congress passed the 1980 Staggers Rail Act to deregulate the railroads.

"We have a railroad industry that seems continually to assert undue and anti-competitive power over its customers in increasing local monopoly situations," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. who sponsored the bill along with senators Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Conrad Burns, R-Mont., Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D.

In 1976, there were 63 class I railroads in the U.S., the bill's sponsors noted.

"By 1997, through mergers and other factors, the number of class I railroads shrunk to nine. These nine carriers accounted for more than 90% of the industry's freight revenue and 71% of the industry's mileage operated in 1997," Dorgan said.

"The recent consolidation in the rail industry has left little competition, so railroads can charge high prices, provide poor service and leave rail customers with no realistic transportation options," said Terry Whiteside, chairman of the Alliance for Rail Competition.

The group is a coalition of rail-dependent industries, such as utilities, chemical manufacturers and agricultural concerns, lobbying Congress for rail competition legislation like the bill introduced Monday.

The measure is intended to make it easier for shippers to obtain rate relief from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board and to provide a process by which shippers can avoid so-called "bottleneck" monopoly rates in the first place.

It requires railroads to quote a rate for service along any given rail segment and reduce monopoly routing by promoting terminal access, Rockefeller said.

By simplifying the market-dominance test the rail regulatory board uses in rate proceedings, the measure is expected to streamline the STB rate-relief process. Further, it "will restore the integrity" of the STB by eliminating the agency's revenue adequacy test used in rate proceedings, Rockefeller said.

Finally, it will require the industry to file monthly service performance reports with the Department of Transportation, such as those required of the airline industry, the senator said.

The bill is opposed by the rail industry, which complains the measure would "re-regulate" the industry and threaten the railroads' ability to make needed investment to maintain rail lines.

WISCONSIN: Fond du Lac rail service discussed

MILWAUKEE -- Trains could carry passengers and express freight from Milwaukee and Chicago to Fond du Lac under a concept quietly being discussed by Amtrak and Wisconsin's biggest freight railroad, state and railroad officials have confirmed.

If the deal comes together, it could be the first step toward restoring passenger rail service between Milwaukee and Green Bay, a long-held goal of railroad backers, officials say.

But talks are still in preliminary stages, and nothing is firm yet, stressed J. Reilly McCarren, executive vice president of Wisconsin Central Ltd., based in Rosemont, Ill.

More analysis must be done on ridership projections and finances if the plan is to advance, he said.

No one from Wisconsin Central or Amtrak has approached state officials to seek financial aid for the line, and no estimates are available on how much money might be needed to upgrade tracks or run the service, said Terry Mulcahy, deputy secretary of transportation.

The discussions come as state officials show a growing interest in passenger rail. Major studies of extending Chicago's Metra commuter trains from Kenosha to Racine and Milwaukee and of creating a Madison-area commuter rail system are set to receive at least $1.5 million in state and federal money, Mulcahy said.

At the same time, Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, chairman of the Amtrak board, has thrown his support behind plans for a nine-state Midwestern passenger train network, including high-speed service from Milwaukee to Madison and regular-speed service from Milwaukee to Green Bay.

And Thompson is poised to appoint a task force to discuss how intercity and commuter train lines should be planned, run and financed in Wisconsin.

For the Chicago-to-Fond du Lac line, the easiest route would use the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks from Chicago to Milwaukee and from Milwaukee to Duplainville, in the Town of Pewaukee, then turn north on Wisconsin Central's tracks through Slinger and Lomira to Fond du Lac, McCarren said. Amtrak already uses the Canadian Pacific tracks.

However, a final route decision would depend on the state's long-term interests, McCarren said. And those interests could consider the desires of West Bend officials who would like to see Milwaukee-to-Green Bay trains stop in their city.

Wisconsin Central could use a variety of tracks on Milwaukee's north and northwest sides to reach its own tracks through Germantown, Jackson and West Bend to Fond du Lac. But that would require the railroad to keep a section of track that it has said it wants to abandon. And the economics of the deal also could argue against using the track through West Bend.

As with a proposal from Milwaukee's Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. to run passenger trains from Madison to Chicago, state officials say, Wisconsin Central's interest in the Milwaukee-to-Fond du Lac line stems from a Surface Transportation Board ruling last year that allows Amtrak to carry express freight along with passengers.

Specifically, Wisconsin Central wants to provide express freight service from the Quad/Graphics Inc. printing plant in Lomira to Quad customers in Chicago and Milwaukee, state officials say.

But McCarren would say only that he would expect sufficient express freight business along the route. Quad/Graphics spokeswoman Claire Ho said Friday that she was not able to confirm her company's role.

All this remains unclear, however, because unlike Wisconsin & Southern, Wisconsin Central is keeping quiet until prospects become more certain.

Wisconsin & Southern President William Gardner announced his Madison-to-Chicago plan in July, only to see it stall over his request for $75 million in tax money to upgrade his tracks and buy more trains.

In this case, neither Wisconsin Central nor Amtrak announced the Milwaukee-to-Fond du Lac discussions. But Thompson mentioned the talks briefly in a recent interview with

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editors and writers, and the state Department of Transportation and McCarren confirmed them.

TEXAS: Greyhound stockholders approve merger with Laidlaw Inc.

DALLAS -- At a special meeting of the stockholders of Greyhound Lines, Inc., Greyhound's merger with Laidlaw Inc. was approved. The transaction is now in effect today and as a result, Greyhound has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Laidlaw Inc.

Commenting on the merger, Laidlaw Inc.'s president and CEO, James R. Bullock, said,

"With Greyhound Lines, Inc. now part of Laidlaw, the company will be able to offer a truly North American bus service from Mexico to Alaska under one of the most recognizable brand names in the world. We look forward to the contribution which Greyhound's management team will make to Laidlaw's continued growth in its passenger transportation and package delivery businesses.''

Holders of Greyhound common stock are entitled to receive $6.50 cash per share. Greyhound preferred stock remains outstanding.

The paying agent, Chase Mellon Shareholder Services, is mailing letters of transmittal to all holders of Greyhound common stock. Payment will be made as soon as possible upon Chase's receipt of these letters and stock certificates. A toll-free information line is available at 1-888-823-4482.

Greyhound is the only nationwide provider of intercity bus transportation, serving more than 2,600 destinations with 18,000 daily departures. The company also provides package express service, charter service and food service at some terminals.

Laidlaw Inc. is now North America's largest provider of school and intercity bus, municipal transit, patient transportation and emergency department management services.

WASHINGTON: America West, Attendants Head To Talks

WASHINGTON -- Representatives of America West Airlines and its flight attendants will meet with federal mediators in Washington Wednesday in a bid to avert a strike at the nation's ninth largest airline.

The union representing the 2,400 flight attendants at the Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier said Tuesday it would like an agreement but is prepared to take strike action later this week unless it receives a fundamentally better offer.

"We're more than prepared to strike,'' Association of Flight Attendants Council 66 president Bill McGlashen said in an interview.

"We're focused on getting an agreement, sitting down around the clock if we have to, but it's going to have to be with some fundamental improvements over the company's last offer,'' he said.

A 30-day cooling off period set by the National Mediation Board expires just after midnight EST Friday leaving the union free to strike or the airline to lock the attendants out.

America West spokesman Steve Johnson said there was optimism a settlement could be reached although he conceded the strike threat had affected bookings.

"You can't help but notice a little bit of drop off but bookings are holding up pretty well and a lot of people are confident we are going to get a deal,'' Johnson said.

The last-ditch talks due to start at 1.00 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) will be overseen by National Mediation Board member Ernest DuBester and senior mediator Jack Bavis.

America West will be represented by its vice president for industrial relations Greg Garger and consulting labor lawyer Jerry Glass.

McGlashen will take part on behalf of the flight attendants along with union vice president Scott Ramsey and other officials.

The union said it was no longer seeking parity with the average pay of the top 10 U.S. airlines.

"We have in good faith negotiated down from that,'' McGlashen said. The attendants were just wanting America West to improve its last offer.

America West has proposed increasing starting pay to $16.13 an hour from $14.28 over a five-year period. The highest pay would rise to $34.59 per hour from $24.41.

But McGlashen said the attendants still insisted on a $5.4 million signing bonus rather than the $1.1 million offered.

The two sides entered into mediated negotiations in July 1997 and reached a tentative pact three months later. That contract, however, was overwhelmingly rejected by flight attendants.

Talks resumed last March but there have been no negotiations since late January.

President Clinton could appoint an emergency board to avert a strike as he did when American Airlines pilots walked off the job in 1997 but he declined to intervene in a pilots strike against Northwest Airlines last year.

MARYLAND: RailWorks buys companies

BALTIMORE -- RailWorks Corp. said Tuesday that it would acquire four companies that provide track construction and maintenance services and products. No terms of the deals were provided.

RailWorks said in a statement it signed letters of intent to acquire Neosho Construction Co. Inc. in Topeka, Kansas; Pacific Northern Rail Contractors Corp. in Abbotsford, British Columbia; M-Track Enterprises of New York; and an unnamed manufacturer of railroad materials.

The acquisitions are subject to due diligence and definitive acquisition agreements, among other conditions, the company said. RailWorks said it believes the companies generated about $131 million in combined revenue in 1998.