Leaders of railroad unions say there has been a perfect storm of Amtrak corporate changes that is mostly to blame for two workers dying on railroad tracks near Philadelphia earlier this month.
Union officials wrote a letter to Amtrak President Joe Boardman last week and said that employee training is insufficient, and they demanded major changes in the policy on ‘close call’ reporting of dangerous incidents.
They maintain that routinely hazardous conditions exist on the Northeast Corridor that Amtrak serves daily. Amtrak stated in response that it always tries to improve safety measures at the railroad, and that management and unions must work together to make this happen.
It was on April 2 that an Amtrak train slammed into a backhoe south of Philadelphia at high speed, killing two workers. The accident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Our train accident attorneys in Virginia have seen far too many cases where railroads put profits ahead of employee and passenger safety. Many train accidents occur that probably could have been avoided if the railroad had better adhered to safety regulations.
It is particularly alarming when Amtrak, which is managed and run by the US government, is itself possibly not following safety regulations. Last week the Federal Railroad Administration ordered a complete safety review of Amtrak’s work crew rules and regulations.
Grieving families in a case where a person or company is guilty of neglect should file a wrongful death lawsuit to ensure that the family’s financial needs will be taken care of in the future.