Jimbo's RailNews For 2/14/17

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board says that a defective axle on a BNSF Railway grain train is the probable cause of a 2013 derailment and subsequent collision and fire.

During a public meeting on Tuesday, board members and staff said that 13 cars of the BNSF Railway grain train derailed at Casselton, N.D., on Dec. 30, 2013. Seconds later, an oil train passing in the opposite direction struck the 45^th car, forcing two locomotives and 13 tank cars off the tracks. The tank cars spilled more than 400,000 gallons of oil, causing an explosion and fire that resulted in the evacuation of hundreds of area residents. There were no injuries.

Earlier news reports said NTSB investigators found a broken axle that quickly became an item of interest. Further research found that there was a void in the axle when it left the manufacturer, Standard Steel LLC. In cooperation with the Association of American Railroads, the NTSB started looking for other axles in the same batch of 48, but to date only 13 have been found.

When the locomotives derailed, the left side cab door that leads to the front platform was damaged, forcing crew members to escape by the rear-facing door, which exposed them to the fire. The train had only one non-placarded “buffer” car between the power and the tank cars. The board recommended that Federal Railroad Administration and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration enforce regulations requiring five buffer cars.

The NTSB discussed several other factors but did not make recommendations. They noted the slow pace of that DOT-111 tank cars are being replaced by sturdier DOT-117 or DOT-1232 cars. They also discussed how electronically-controlled pneumatic brakes could have shortened the time it took to apply emergency braking to all cars in the train.

11. From TRAINS Magazine: Deadline looms for CSX to reach friendly deal with Harrison, hedge fund

Absent a deal, railroad faces prospect of proxy contest

By Bill Stephens | February 8, 2017

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tick, tick, tick.

That’s the sound of the clock running toward a Feb. 10 deadline for CSX Transportation.

By the end of the day, the CSX board will have a decision to make: Reach a friendly deal with former Canadian Pacific CEO E. Hunter Harrison and his hedge fund partner, Paul Hilal of Mantle Ridge, or face the prospect of a proxy contest.

Harrison and Hilal are pursuing a management shakeup at the railroad. They aim to have Harrison become CEO and gain at least three seats on the railroad’s board of directors. The Wall Street Journal has reported that while the railroad may welcome Harrison, the number of board seats is a sticking point in negotiations.

If no deal is reached by the close of business on Friday, it’s likely that Mantle Ridge will put up its own slate of board candidates for shareholders to consider at the annual meeting, which is typically held in May. CSX’s corporate bylaws set a Feb. 10 deadline for receipt of shareholder resolutions.

The CSX board is under pressure to respond to Mantle Ridge, a new hedge fund that may have a $1 billion stake in the company. Investors cheered the prospect that Harrison could wind up running the show in Jacksonville. News that Harrison and Hilal were targeting CSX sent its stock soaring 23 percent in just one day.

Media reports suggest that Mantle Ridge has the backing of at least some of CSX’s major shareholders.

Hilal was the architect of Pershing Square Capital Management’s successful proxy battle at CP, which ousted CEO Fred Green and the majority of the railway’s board in 2012. Harrison was installed as CEO and made CP an efficient and highly profitable railway.

This is not the first time CSX and CEO Michael Ward have faced a proxy contest. A decade ago, CSX fought – and lost – a proxy battle launched by The Children’s Investment Fund and 3G Capital Partners. The railroad spent $22 million in the effort, but four of the activist investor’s five candidates were elected to its board.

In a 2015 roundtable discussion – one of just two documents posted on the Mantle Ridge website – Hilal highlighted his approach to creating change at underperforming companies.

“First, when we embark on a project, we are committed to following through,” Hilal says. “This can be easy and quick if the incumbent leadership of the company engages with us, takes the time to understand the value of our proposals, and acts decisively in the shareholders’ best interests.”

Hilal says he’ll always pursue a proxy contest when a company doesn’t act in the best interests of its investors. If Mantle Ridge wages and wins a proxy battle, it would mean the new board members would then hire Harrison as CEO.

Many Wall Street analysts believe Harrison will wind up in Jacksonville one way or the other.

12. From TRAINS Magazine: Amtrak police officer shoots man in Chicago

February 10, 2017

CHICAGO — Law enforcement officials are investigating an incident involving an Amtrak police officer and a man outside of Chicago Union Station.

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, an Amtrak police officer shot and wounded a man in the 300 block of South Canal Street near Union Station on Wednesday night. The 25-year-old was taken to the hospital in serious-to-critical condition.

An Amtrak representative tells the Tribune the officer was not injured and referred additional questions to the Chicago police.

Neither railroad nor police officials could confirm whether a gun was recovered from the wounded man. Cash and drugs were found on the man, the article says.

13. From TRAINS Magazine: NJ Transit officials say they'll deploy PTC on-time

February 13, 2017

NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit managers say they will meet the December 2018 federal deadline for having a working positive train control system.

NJ Transit Executive Director Steve Santoro tells the Associated Press that the commuter railroad is working diligently to make the deadline. He says the agency has no intentions of asking for an extension.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, NJ Transit is testing a PTC system on more than 80 miles of track in New Jersey and New York. The agency is testing the technology on a 21-mile section between Spring Valley, N.Y., and Woodridge, N.J., as well as a 60-mile corridor between Port Jervis, N.Y., and Secaucus, N.J.

14. From TRAINS Magazine: Two-person crew rule in limbo

Obama administration returned FRA proposal to the agency for consideration by Trump officials

By R G Edmonson | February 13, 2017

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration's proposal to put two crew members in most locomotive cabs has been caught in limbo between two administrations.

A senior FRA official speaking on background tells Trains News Wire that the Department of Transportation had forwarded the final proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget for approval back in December. It was a routine step in the regulatory process. The Obama administration's budget office returned the rule to transportation department so Trump administration officials could consider it.

FRA officials are now waiting for a meeting with Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao to consider the crew rule among others, the official says. Chao took office on Jan. 31.

The rule calls for two crew members in a locomotive, unless a railroad asks for a waiver for single-person operation. Amtrak in the Northeast Corridor, certain commuter lines, and short lines now operate with one crew member in the cab. Class I and short line railroads worked against the proposal, arguing that crew size was an issue to be negotiated with labor unions.

Just after the new Congress convened, U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, introduced a bill calling for two-person crews. At the same time, a handful of states are considering their own crew size legislation.

15. From TRAINS Magazine: FRA data show increase in drug use within the rail industry

By Justin Franz | February 14, 2017

WASHINGTON — More than 4 percent of railroad employees involved in accidents in 2016 tested positive for drug use. Trains News Wire sought the information from the Federal Railroad Administration after the National Transportation Safety Board revealed that three Amtrak employees involved in a fatal crash on the Northeast Corridor in April 2016 tested positive for drugs following the incident.

While the NTSB concluded that drugs did not contribute to the fatal accident near Chester, Pa., that left two track workers dead, it reflects a troubling trend of drug use within the rail industry.

FRA data show that 4.2 percent of railroaders involved with accidents in 2016 tested positive for drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, benzodiazepine, OxyContin, and morphine. That was up from 2.9 percent in 2015. During FRA post-accident testing events, 6 percent of employees performing hours-of-service jobs tested positive, 14.3 percent of maintenance-of-way employees tested positive, and 33 percent of mechanical employees had drugs in their system, according to FRA data shared with Trains News Wire.

Overall, the number of railroaders — including engineers, train crew, and dispatchers — who tested positive for drugs during random tests increased by 19 percent from 2014 and 2015, according to the FRA.

The numbers, specifically those of post-accident positive rates, are on-par with what was found in the late 1980s when the FRA led a crackdown on drugs within the rail industry following another fatal Northeast Corridor collision. On Jan. 4, 1987, Amtrak’s Colonial collided with a set of Conrail locomotives near Chase, Md. Sixteen people, including 14 passengers and two Amtrak employees, were killed. It was later discovered that the crew aboard Conrail locomotives had been under the influence of marijuana and had failed to stop at a red signal.

At the time, 5.5 percent of railroad employees involved in an accident tested positive for drugs. In 1988, that rate increased to 6 percent. But since then there has been a steady decline, usually between 1 and 2.5 percent annually, but that began to rise in 2015.

FRA officials say they are taking the issue seriously. In May 2016, a month after the fatal Northeast Corridor wreck, the agency issued a new rule that expanded the scope of all drug and alcohol regulations to maintenance of employees.

“The FRA has been publicly sounding the alarm and taking proactive steps within our authority on this growing concern for some time,” FRA representative Tiffany Lindemann tells Trains News Wire. “We continue to urge all railroads to be vigilant in their substance testing and do all they can to ensure employees are not operating or working under the influence.”

In September 2016, then-FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg spoke at the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee meeting and expressed her concern to both railroads and labor groups about the increase in drug use.

During the remarks, Feinberg said the increase in drug use among railroaders was unsurprising when put in the context of national drug use. She praised the industry for its self-imposed high standards of drug testing but also encouraged railroads to help employees struggling with addiction.

“FRA’s position about substance abuse among rail employees and workers is very clear: the FRA will have no patience whatsoever for post-accident positive test results–railroads, and railroad employees, have the safety of the public in their hands,” Feinberg said.

The trucking industry has seen similar drug-use rates in recent years. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 5 percent of freight truck drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2014 tested positive for drugs.

In a statement to Trains News Wire, the Association of American Railroads notes that drug use is problem, although adds that all modes of transportation have seen an increase of drug use in recent years and that it reflects trends within the general population. AAR also supports any effort by the FRA to strengthen drug testing regulations and to have it include more drugs, such as opioids.

Trains News Wire reached out to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen but they declined to comment for this story.

16. From TRAINS Magazine: MBTA debuts severe weather advisory system

February 14, 2017

RELATED TOPICS: PASSENGER | TRANSIT | COMMUTER | WEATHER | NORTHEAST

MBTA's new color-coded notification system tells commuters when severe weather has disrupted rail and other transit services.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is unveiling a new commuter rail advisory system for severe weather. The service alert system uses color-coded notification boxes to inform passengers of delays or cancellations.

The new alert system provides schedule change information using station signs, mobile alerts, and media notifications. The new system is designed to provide travel forecasts for the evening rush hour.

The system is equipped with four different designations, including regular, moderate, major changes, and cancelled service levels.

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