Cory Martin
Illinois State Legislative Board Chairman
NTSB to Amtrak: Install video cameras in all trains to monitor engineers
7/9/2015 NTSB to Amtrak: Install video cameras in all trains to monitor engineers The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday urged Amtrak to install inward- and outward-facing audio/video cameras inside the cabs of all of its trains to monitor the actions of engineers. The recommendation comes as the agency continues its investigation into the May 12 derailment of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia, which killed eight passengers and injured 200 more. The NTSB has said...
PTC
Getty Images By Keith Laing - 07/06/15 05:37 PM EDT A group of Democrats from Illinois are pushing Congress to increase funding for the installation of a system to automate the nation's trains after a deadly Amtrak crash in May. Railroads currently have until Dec. 31 to install the positive train control (PTC) system, which regulates the speed and track movements of trains, under a law passed in the aftermath of a 2008 commuter rail crash in California. They have complained that the deadline...
RRB announces fall 2015 dates for Informational Conferences, Pre-Retirement Seminars
RRB announces fall 2015 dates for Informational Conferences, Pre-Retirement Seminars The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has announced a schedule of dates for the agency’s fall 2015 Informational Conferences and Pre-Retirement Seminars. Informational Conferences will be held in 14 locations across the country, beginning September 11 in Roanoke, VA, and Duluth, MN. Started nearly 60 years ago by the RRB’s Office of the Labor Member, the conferences provide rail union officers with a...
Oil train traffic down on BNSF lines in Illinois, Wisconsin
Oil train traffic down on BNSF lines in Illinois, Wisconsin June 29, 2015 Chris Hubbuch | La Crosse Tribune, Wis. New documents show BNSF Railroad is hauling fewer crude oil trains through Illinois and Wisconsin than it was last winter. BNSF now averages 25 unit trains per week along its line that follows the Mississippi River from the Twin Cities to Illinois, according to a report released Friday by the Wisconsin Department of Emergency Management. That’s down from an average of 36 reported...
United States Senator Richard Durbin to speak at Mother Jones Monument Rededication Ceremony on June 20
United States Senator Richard Durbin to speak at Mother Jones Monument Rededication Ceremony on June 20 United States Senator Richard Durbin will be speaking at the at the Mother Jones Monument rededication ceremony scheduled for 10 AM on Saturday, June 20 at the Union Miners’ Cemetery in Mt. Olive, IL. Durbin will be joining Illinois State Senator Andy Manar and Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan to present the newly renovated Mother Jones Monument. Senator Manar and...
Railroad Reform, Enhancement, and Efficiency Act of 2015 (RREEA 2015)
NARP issued the following statement in response to the Senate rail bill, released yesterday. Make sure to check out the NARP Blog for a full analysis of this exciting bill! June 18, 2015 WASHINGTON, D.C. —The National Association of Railroad Passengers applauds the pro-expansion ideas contained within the Railroad Reform, Enhancement, and Efficiency Act of 2015 (RREEA 2015), released today by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. This bill -- which serves as a response...
Trade Plan
The house just voted to extend the trade vote until July 30th. How they voted below. Obama’s trade plan in critical condition U.S. Democrats are still opposed to anything that would advance the president’s free trade pact. Congressional leaders and the White House are quickly finding there’s no easy option to revive President Barack Obama’s free trade initiative, leaving the White House’s top legislative priority in critical condition after Democrats turned against it in droves last week....
Federal Railroad Administration Recommends Actions to Prevent Passenger Trains from Speeding
Federal Railroad Administration Recommends Actions to Prevent Passenger Trains from Speeding U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Public Affairs, Washington D.C. www.dot.gov/briefingroom 09 June 2015 PRESS RELEASE NUMBER: FRA 11-15 CONTACT: FRA Public Affairs PHONE: 202-493-6024 SUBJECT: Passenger Rail KEYWORDS: Passenger, rail, curves, safety advisory ABSTRACT: The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today issued a safety advisory recommending actions that passenger railroads take...
Let’s Do Some Railing
The Opinion Pages | OP-ED COLUMNIST Let’s Do Some Railing MAY 28, 2015 Just before Congress slunk away for the three-day weekend — which it was, of course, planning to stretch into a week — senators from the Northeast held a press conference to denounce Republicans for underfunding Amtrak passenger rail service. “Amtrak has some infrastructure that is so old it was built and put into service when Jesse James and Butch Cassidy were still alive and robbing trains,” said Senator Charles Schumer...
Blankenhorn & Brauer Confirmed
Illinois Senate vote today. 49-0 vote on Randy Blankenhorn as Secretary of IDOT. AM 9900025 49-0 vote on Rich Brauer as assistant secretary at IDOT . AM 9900090. Both now confirmed.
The Koch Network Is Killing Rail Safety
The Koch Network Is Killing Rail Safety One year after a toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, inspired bipartisan legislation that would have made the nation’s railways safer for everyone, the bill has been all but killed — largely thanks to a familiar...
FRA sets hearing for G&W’s proposed zero-emissions tech test
FRA sets hearing for G&W's proposed zero-emissions tech test The Federal Railroad Administration will hold a hearing March 12 to receive public input on a petition from two Genesee & Wyoming Inc. subsidiaries to test zero-emission freight-rail technology,...
Boardroom battle at Norfolk Southern heats up as rail regulators weigh in
Boardroom battle at Norfolk Southern heats up as rail regulators weigh in Activist investor Ancora Holdings, which has begun a battle to replace the management of Norfolk Southern Rail (NS), is experiencing headwinds from its embattled NS board and regulators who view...
Stalled on the Tracks: The Long-Awaited Quad-Cities to Chicago Rail Project Faces Hurdles
Stalled on the Tracks: The Long-Awaited Quad-Cities to Chicago Rail Project Faces Hurdles Imagine the excitement that rippled through the Quad-Cities back in 2008 when the announcement came: a passenger rail line would soon connect this vibrant community to Chicago,...
Engineers’ union throws support behind Norfolk Southern, criticizes activist investor proposals
Engineers’ union throws support behind Norfolk Southern, criticizes activist investor proposals The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen today said it will “vigorously oppose” an activist investor’s attempt to gain control of the Norfolk Southern board and...
Working People Need Congress to Fund Mass Transit
Working People Need Congress to Fund Mass Transit The COVID-19 nightmare that we all lived through demonstrated the incredible impact federal funding can have when it comes to providing the essential bus and rail service millions of working men and women rely...
Following Sorensen’s Push, a New Federal Decision Puts Local Union Workers First
Following Sorensen’s Push, a New Federal Decision Puts Local Union Workers First Sorensen Applauds Decision to Support Union Jobs in Illinois MOLINE, IL – Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17), a member of the Congressional Labor Caucus, is applauding an executive order...
Transportation Sec. Buttigieg talks rail safety improvements
Transportation Sec. Buttigieg talks rail safety improvements SCOTT DETROW, HOST: It's been exactly one year since a freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, unleashing fiery plumes of toxic chemicals. While there were no casualties, the incident put a...
$80B House Bill Could Transform U.S. Transit Operations
$80B House Bill Could Transform U.S. Transit Operations As a Democratic lawmaker from Georgia tries once more to garner support for a “transformative” four-year, US$80-billion transit bill, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)—and at least one very fed-up union...
With Public Transit on the Brink, Some States Prepare to Boost Funding
With Public Transit on the Brink, Some States Prepare to Boost Funding Many of the biggest public transit systems in the U.S. are weighing the prospect of damaging service cuts and fare increases in the face of dire budget shortfalls in the coming months. They’re...