Still more Wednesday rail news:
— U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-Buffalo) are calling on the Federal Railroad Administration to investigate Monday night’s derailment of a Buffalo & Pittsburgh train in East Aurora, N.Y. A locomotive and 15 cars derailed in the incident, which led to the evacuation of a four-block area around the accident site because of the presence of petroleum products in the manifest freight, although the only spill was fuel from the locomotive. [See “Mt. Rainier Railroad shuts down for the ‘foreseeable future,’” News Wire Digest, May 19, 2020.] A statement from Higgins’ office said an investigation will “help inform safety policies and protocols to prevent future accidents,” his letter to FRA Administrator Ronald Batory said “residents have a right to know … why a neighborhood was forced to evacuate, and what corrective steps are being taken to prevent an occurrence like this from happening in the future.” Schumer said in a statement, “With better safety measures, accidents like the one in East Aurora are preventable. … New Yorkers deserve to sleep in peace and not worry about the possibility of a freight train overturning into their backyard.”
— Bay Area Rapid Transit service to Milpitas and San Jose is set to begin on June 13, ending a 20-year saga to extend the rail system into Santa Clara County. The San Jose Mercury News reports that BART officials on Tuesday set the date for service to the new southern terminus, the San Jose/Berryessa station. Groundbreaking on the 10-mile extension to San Jose was held in 2012, with an original two-year timeframe for completion. But the project dragged on, with the most recent delay coming when BART quietly admitted late last year it would miss its December 2019 start date. [See “BART extension into San Jose won’t make 2019 date to open,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 19, 2019.]
— Officials of Vancouver, British Columbia, transit system TransLink are asking passengers to have realistic expectations about social distancing as the area’s economy reopens after its COVID-19 shutdown. “We do have to be upfront and say that distancing is not always going to be possible on transit,” TransLink spokesman Ben Murphy told CTV News, saying masks are recommended for passengers. As of Tuesday, TransLink’s SkyTrain had returned to about 90% of pre-pandemic service levels; they are expected to be at 100% next week.
I want Schumer and company to standby at the local wind farm for a calm day. Otherwise, he is a waste of oxygen. What possible outcome from another interminable investigation does he think will happen because he spoke? Apparently, three bureaucracies isn’t enough in this situation. Afterall, look how fast Californication took to complete a short track extension. No extra bureaucratic steps were responsible there. [/sarcasm]
But he and Gov Andy will have lifetime jobs if they wish because they pander to the construction unions, who vote for them in lockstep.
If authorities didn’t provide information except to say “Evacuate. NOW!”, instead of “Train wreck. Hazardous materials. Evacuate. NOW!”, then they are mildly guilty of negligent communication.
Apparently Grandstand Chuck Schumer has never heard of the NTSB.
In East Aurora, my guess is that someone broke a switch lock and threw the switch, though it could be that the switch wasn’t properly lined by a railroad employee who used it last, or perhaps a switch point mechanical failure. That switch led into a very short (~7 cars) stub siding with a bumper at the end of it. The train (with three 6-axle units at the head end) smashed through the bumper and made it across a short deck girder bridge span before going sideways. The only way to completely prevent such things in the future would be to connect every switch into a cab signal system for every railroad in the US. And good luck with that.
“…help inform safety policies and protocols to prevent future accidents,…” Schumer & these politicians always act like if they didn’t step in, the cause of detailments would never be known. Of course any RR wants to know the cause. And yes RR don’t want repeats as derailments cost money. But thank goodness politicians step in to save the day (sarc).
I applaud TransLink for being the first transit agency to let the cat out of the bag, while everyone else is pretending there’s no bag and no cat. TransLink says that anti-social distancing is not always going to be possible on transit. I will rephrase that into English as (not) spoken on either side of the border: anti-social distancing is literally impossible on transit. Anti-social distancing is the 180-degree polar opposite of transit. If people expect not to be within someone else’s space, then drive your own car or hire a limousine with an airtight shield between you and the chauffer. And good luck with that. The virus is everywhere. Sooner or later (surely sooner rather than later) you will come into contact with the virus. The sooner you learn to live with it, the better off you will be.
I’ve been around a while. Of the several hundred men and women who have served in the Senate since I’ve been old enough to follow, it’s hard to find a less worthy Senator than Mr. Schumer.
Evacuate the room Schumer is is because of the hazardous vapors coming from his mouth.
And wasn’t Schumer the one who held up Ron Batory’s appointment for so long?
Oh my, the local TV gets the author of the “BOMB TRAIN” for quotes. And the politicians get air time as they posture.
Redundant, yes, which I’m sure they know, but it gets them face and mic time, which is what they live for.
Can we say ELECTION YEAR?
These two fail to understand that this incident is already under investigation by the safety and environmental arms of the FRA. OSHA is also looking into this. Their requests are redundant.
I’ve said it before ad nauseum. Government doesn’t know how to manage anything productive. The politicians know nothing but want to run everything. Apparently, we don’t know how to take responsibility for ourselves, so don’t expect any real improvement on any front.