USA - railways, public transport, services and incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[Electric train]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

US freight rail companies and unions representing their workers have reached a "tentative agreement" to avert the first national rail strike in 30 years.

The deal follows months of back and forth negotiations and 20 hours of overnight talks on working conditions.

Reading and hearing about these potential strikes, the threat of them comes across as utterly understandable when you read what the main "grouch" was/is.     I'm also struck by what appears to be a strike threat has resulted in further negotiations to avert the strikes and to avoid an actual shutdown - is there a lesson there for folks in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) to learn from and follow?

The USA railways are freight centric.   The US economy is dependent on the movement of freight by rail hence the US railroad unions have a lot more economic power.  A USA railroad strike would also have a major impact on us in the UK, a lot of Europe - Asia container traffic is transhipped across USA / Canada.

Also looks like there has been no US Government interference in the negotiations

Fortunately, in the UK we do not have the same employment laws as the USA, although I suspect the Government want to move in that direction.

[ChrisB]

From The Grauniad

Some passengers called 911 fearing they were being held hostage, prompting conductor to announce ‘we’re not holding you hostage’

Hundreds of Amtrak passengers in South Carolina were stranded on a train for more than a day, prompting several to call the police out of fear they were being held hostage.

The train, which departed from Washington DC^▸ (Direct Current), was delayed for more than 29 hours after being rerouted due to a derailed CSX freight train, reported ABC News.

Panicked passengers fearing a more serious situation eventually began dialling 911, prompting the conductor to announce, “For those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage.”.

The autotrain, which allows passengers to travel with their vehicles, was set to arrive in Sanford, Florida, at about 10am on Tuesday. But after a scheduled stop in Lorton, Virginia, at 5.30pm on Monday, it halted in a wooded area in Denmark, South Carolina, an hour outside of Columbia.

After a long wait, the employees “timed out”, meaning they could not legally operate the train, and had to wait for a new crew to arrive. The train had limited food supplies and multiple pets in need of a bathroom break, reported the Washington Post.

The major delays caused several people onboard the train to panic and call 911. Frustrated staff asked them to stop.

“For those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage,” said one conductor in a recorded video of the announcement. “We are giving you all the information which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience.”

The conductor also reminded passengers not to open their windows to smoke.

Throughout the ordeal, several trapped passengers took to social media to air their frustrations.

“Any help heading towards the fully booked Amtrak auto train full of elderly passengers that is now almost 10 hours past arrival time? No food, no access to medical care, crew has disembarked, no replacement. Stuck in SC,” wrote one Twitter user, who also tagged the US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg.

An Amtrak spokesperson, Christina Leeds, stated the delays were caused by the derailed freight train and that Amtrak had �

[Electric train]

From The Grauniad

Some passengers called 911 fearing they were being held hostage, prompting conductor to announce ‘we’re not holding you hostage’

Hundreds of Amtrak passengers in South Carolina were stranded on a train for more than a day, prompting several to call the police out of fear they were being held hostage.

The train, which departed from Washington DC^▸ (Direct Current), was delayed for more than 29 hours after being rerouted due to a derailed CSX freight train, reported ABC News.

Panicked passengers fearing a more serious situation eventually began dialling 911, prompting the conductor to announce, “For those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage.”.

The autotrain, which allows passengers to travel with their vehicles, was set to arrive in Sanford, Florida, at about 10am on Tuesday. But after a scheduled stop in Lorton, Virginia, at 5.30pm on Monday, it halted in a wooded area in Denmark, South Carolina, an hour outside of Columbia.

After a long wait, the employees “timed out”, meaning they could not legally operate the train, and had to wait for a new crew to arrive. The train had limited food supplies and multiple pets in need of a bathroom break, reported the Washington Post.

The major delays caused several people onboard the train to panic and call 911. Frustrated staff asked them to stop.

“For those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage,” said one conductor in a recorded video of the announcement. “We are giving you all the information which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience.”

The conductor also reminded passengers not to open their windows to smoke.

Throughout the ordeal, several trapped passengers took to social media to air their frustrations.

“Any help heading towards the fully booked Amtrak auto train full of elderly passengers that is now almost 10 hours past arrival time? No food, no access to medical care, crew has disembarked, no replacement. Stuck in SC,” wrote one Twitter user, who also tagged the US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg.

An Amtrak spokesperson, Christina Leeds, stated the delays were caused by the derailed freight train and that Amtrak had �

And we get grumpy with a 29 minute delay

[Bmblbzzz]

Off topic, but:

The train had limited food supplies and multiple pets in need of a bathroom break, reported the Washington Post.

I presume "pets in need of a bathroom break" has been lifted verbatim from the WaPo. Of course if the pets literally needed a bathroom, there are bathrooms on the train.

Slightly more on topic: I recall from books and movies that American passenger trains used to carry a set of portable steps that the conductor could use to let passengers off the train if, for some reason, it stopped other than at a platform. For instance, if it overshot a request stop. I don't know if that's still the case but if it were, maybe the pets (and their owners) could use it.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Off topic, but:

The train had limited food supplies and multiple pets in need of a bathroom break, reported the Washington Post.

I presume "pets in need of a bathroom break" has been lifted verbatim from the WaPo. Of course if the pets literally needed a bathroom, there are bathrooms on the train.

Slightly more on topic: I recall from books and movies that American passenger trains used to carry a set of portable steps that the conductor could use to let passengers off the train if, for some reason, it stopped other than at a platform. For instance, if it overshot a request stop. I don't know if that's still the case but if it were, maybe the pets (and their owners) could use it.

They still do. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G24wWdKZbE at about the 4:55 mark. And that's at a platform!

[Worcester_Passenger]

Or (clearer) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bANWsmK5Vgg at the 3:45 mark.

[grahame]

On Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.    Followed by a massive blaze and lots of issues with pollution.

From The Independent

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has called on the rail industry to immediately improve safety standards or face stiff penalties after a train derailment in Ohio forced mass evacuations and a toxic chemical spill and burn off.

Mr Buttigieg unveiled a package of reforms on Tuesday that would increase fines for “egregious violations”, force rail companies to provide sick pay and inform local officials when they are transporting hazardous materials through their state.

Not the first such accident - US rail is has a much worse record that British, for which we should be thankful.  It brings to mind, though Llangennech.

[Electric train]

Not the first such accident - US rail is has a much worse record that British, for which we should be thankful.  It brings to mind, though Llangennech.

President Obama brought in regulations for the transportation of toxic substances on US Railroads, during his time in office President Trump revoked the regulations.

Trump administration repealed a regulation requiring modern brakes for oil trains and cancelled a plan requiring train operators to be tested for sleep apnoea, withdraw a requirement for two-person crews on trains.

The USA FRA in Trump's time spelt out the broader department attitude toward rail safety:

“DOT’s approach to achieving safety improvements begins with a focus on removing unnecessary barriers and issuing voluntary guidance, rather than regulations that could stifle innovation.”


Derailments and level crossing accidents seem, to me, in the USA just a day to day hazard of running a railway

[Bmblbzzz]

And 12-hour shifts.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Apparently Trump is going to visit East Palestine today. It'll be interesting to see what he says.

[Electric train]

Apparently Trump is going to visit East Palestine today. It'll be interesting to see what he says.

Make America great again?

[ellendune]

Apparently Trump is going to visit East Palestine today. It'll be interesting to see what he says.

It might not be prudent for him to mention deregulation of railway safety. 

[grahame]

Apparently Trump is going to visit East Palestine today. It'll be interesting to see what he says.

It might not be prudent for him to mention deregulation of railway safety. 

Prudency and Trump tend not to go together.

[Electric train]

Apparently Trump is going to visit East Palestine today. It'll be interesting to see what he says.

It might not be prudent for him to mention deregulation of railway safety. 

Prudency and Trump tend not to go together.

This is part of what is referred to the "rust belt" once the industrial heartland of USA manufacturing it was and psoibly will be the part of the USA where his "Make America Great Again" has the biggest appeal.  I'm sure his deregulation of railroads was part of MAGA by allowing easier movement of goods

[stuving]

The NTSB has put out a preliminary report. The technical bit is that an axle bearing overheated, and was detected just before the accident and the drivers told to stop. However, the bearing failed before the train stopped, leading to the derailment. At the previous detector (20 miles away) it was not yet too hot.