In early 2016, a railroad worker who had just been briefed on an upcoming assignment was found dead in a restroom, having overdosed on illegal prescription drugs. In the following months, tests that were done after three railroad accidents found that six employees on the trains tested positive for drugs. In a report done by the Washington Post, testing in […]
US Railroad Workers Testing Positive for Drugs Skyrockets
Flashing Lights Never Installed At PA at Deadly RR Crossing
A Halifax PA railroad crossing where a woman was killed in a train accident on Labor Day is only marked by faded crossbuck signs. The community is asking if there should have been flashing lights and additional warnings installed at the deadly railroad crossing. The woman, Trisha Hoffman, 29, died instantly on Sept. 5 when her car was hit near […]
New Jersey Train Station Crash Kills 1, Injures 100
A New Jersey Transit train crashed and derailed as it arrive into Hoboken Terminal just before 9 am on Thursday morning. The rush hour train crash killed one person and injured more than 100. Images posted on social media showed that the train tore through a wall and severely damaged the station, leaving train debris strewn about and twisted metal […]
Lethal PA Railroad Crossing Called ‘Seriously Deficient’ by Railroad Experts
A railroad crossing in Halifax PA where new mother Trisha Hoffman died on Sept. 4 has been termed ‘seriously deficient’ by two railway experts interviewed in early September by PennLive.com. Pennsylvania state law does not require that drivers stop at all railroad crossings. They only must stop for flashing lights, gates, or if they know a train is oncoming. The problem […]
Kentucky RR Crossing Has Major Safety Issues
Changes have not yet been made to a railroad crossing in Oakland KY that saw a local man lose his life in a train-car accident in early August 2016. And State Rep. Michael Meredith has taken notice. Meredith stated recently that the crossing makes it too easy for a train to sneak up on the driver. He noted that you […]
Railroads Sluggish to Adopt Safety Technology as Deadline Passes
Many commuter and freight railroads continue to be slow to adopt safety technology that could prevent deadly crashes and derailments. This is in spite of the fact that that Congress has mandated that railroads install positive train control or PTC. PTC uses digital radio signals, GPS and signals on tracks to monitor the position of trains. It has the ability […]
Ohio Man Dies in Railroad Crossing Accident
A 70 year old man in West Chester Township OH near Cincinnati died on Aug. 24 in a rail road crossing accident. The driver was crossing the railroad track when his SUV was struck at high speed by a train. There were witness reports that stated that the crossing gates may not have come down in time. West Chester Township […]
New Study: Peritoneal Mesothelioma Risk Does Not Decline After Decades
A recent published clinical study in Italy has shown one of the most devastating and deadly factors about malignant peritoneal mesothelioma: The risk for contracting the terminal disease is high even many decades after the asbestos exposure ended. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a horrible form of mesothelioma that infests the membranes that surround the organs in the abdomen. Asbestos exposure is well […]
FRA Issues Status Updates for Positive Train Control Progress
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week issued a status update that is calling for railroads to come out with Positive Train Control (PTC) technologies, which uses GNSS technology, as some as they are able to do so. This update also emphasizes the Obama administration’s call to send more funding to help commuter railroads to implement Positive Train Control. PTC […]
FRA Final Rule Requires Better Safety Approach for Passenger Rail
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a final rule in August 2016 that states that passenger railroads will need to adopt more proactive safety rules to prevent serious accidents, injuries and deaths. The final rule issued by the US railroad regulator is called the system Safety Program. Under it, railroads are required to develop a better and quantifiable safety […]