On tap: Booze still allowed on Amtrak in New Hampshire
Riders on an Amtrak train that runs from Maine to Boston can continue buying alcoholic beverages during the 35-mile stretch of the trip that goes through New Hampshire as officials work out a โcreative solutionโ to avoid violating a state liquor law.
In a leaky underwater rail tunnel, workers race against time
Amtrak workers perform tunnel repairs to a partially flooded train track bed, Saturday, March 20, 2021, in Weehawken, N.J. With a new rail tunnel into New York years away at best, Amtrak is embarking on an aggressive and expensive program to fix a 110-year-old tunnel in the interim. On a recent Saturday morning, workers used heavy machinery to clear away chunks of the tunnel floor after rails and wooden ties had been removed. โIf we had a new tunnel we wouldnโt be spending anything on it,โ Amtrak Chairman Anthony Coscia said. On a broader scale, it must keep the tunnel operating reliably for years until a new tunnel is built and the old one can be closed for a complete overhaul. Against that backdrop, a funding dispute between local lawmakers and the administration for former President Donald Trump stalled the new tunnel project for four years.
Buttigieg to quarantine after security agent gets COVID-19
WASHINGTON โ Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will quarantine for 14 days after a member of his security detail tested positive Monday for the coronavirus. The agent had been โin close contactโ with Buttigieg, including Monday morning prior to the agentโs positive result, the Transportation Department said in a statement. Following contact tracing protocols, the department said it determined that one other person in the security detail had also been in โclose contactโ with the agent and will also quarantine for 14 days. AdโWe will continue to prioritize safety as the foundation of everything we do,โ Buttigieg told department employees in an email message last week. โWe know itโs the appropriate measure for international travel, people traveling into the U.S.,โ partly because of the threat of virus variants from other countries, Buttigieg told CNN.
'A long two days': Major storm pummels Northeast with snow
Although the heaviest parts of the storm had moved through the metropolitan area by Monday evening, lighter snow showers were expected to continue virtually all day Tuesday, forecaster James Tomasini said. โWeโre looking at a long two days here,โ New York Gov. Across the Northeast, many coronavirus vaccination sites closed Monday. AdHundreds of flights and many trains and were canceled, and aboveground New York City subway service stopped at 2 p.m. In recent days, a storm system blanketed parts of the Midwest, with some areas getting the most snow in several years.
Unions: Passenger rails need better security, no-ride list
FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2021 file photo, The Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge overlooks the newly-completed Moynihan Train Hall in New York. Two major railroad workers unions have asked the Department of Homeland Security to beef up security on Amtrak and other passenger rail lines, including by creating a no-ride list akin to the no-fly list that prevents people identified as risks from boarding planes. โ Two major railroad workers unions have asked the Department of Homeland Security to beef up security on Amtrak and other passenger lines, including by creating a no-ride list akin to the no-fly list that prevents people identified as risks from boarding planes. Ferguson, of SMART-TD, acknowledged there would be a cost to creating a no-ride list, but he said it should be minimal considering that officials would simply be sharing the existing no-fly list with railroads. The unions also asked the Federal Railroad Administration to require more security, but that agency declined to intervene Thursday because the Department of Homeland Security has jurisdiction over such matters.
1 killed in crash involving Amtrak train on Westside
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ Police were called Thursday night to the scene of a crash involving an Amtrak train, which collided with a car that was crossing a railroad track on Jacksonvilleโs Westside. The scene was at Roosevelt Boulevard & Avent Drive, and Amtrak said the crash was reported shortly after 10 p.m. According to the Jacksonville Sheriffโs Office, a freight train was stopped on the southbound track. An Amtrak passenger train was traveling on the northbound track from Miami to New York when a car ignored the crossing signal and drove around the lowered railroad stop arms. Amtrak sent News4Jax a statement, which said no injuries were reported on board the train.
NYC begins registering travelers at COVID-19 checkpoints
Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking travelers from 34 states, including Florida where COVID-19 infection rates are high, to quarantine for 14 days after arriving in the city. Authorities said this week a fifth of all new coronavirus cases in New York City have been from travelers entering the city from other states. Despite the specter of fines, the checkpoints are more educational than punitive, and officials acknowledged the effort relies on voluntary compliance. The campaign was criticized for sowing confusion and raising questions about how travelers' personal information would be retained. He said officials have made more than 86,000 phone calls and sent more than 20,000 text messages to travelers entering New York City from states with high coronavirus infection rates.
Amtrak is having a buy one, get one free sale on train tickets
If you want to visit a friend or family member by train, nowโs the time to do it! For a limited time, Amtrak is offering buy-one-get-one-free tickets. Sleeper fares, where you can ride together in your own private room. Travel dates vary by route. Blackout dates apply.
Safety measures ordered at rail crossings
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. โ Rail crossings throughout Florida, including one west of Jupiter where three members of a family were recently killed by an Amtrak train, will be upgraded for safety under a directive issued by the state transportation secretary. Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin Thibault on Thursday ordered โunprecedentedโ rail safety measures for more than 4,000 crossings, with an expected cost of almost $60 million to complete by March 2022. โOne fatality on our rail crossings is one too many, and I am committed to doing everything I can as secretary to prevent additional tragedies from occurring across our state,โ Thibault said. But Sen. Debbie Mayfield, a Rockledge Republican who has fought plans to extend the Brightline passenger-rail service north from South Florida, said more safety measures are needed. In addition to the Amtrak crash, an Associated Press report recently said the Brightline rail service, which is being rebranded Virgin Trains USA, had the worst per-mile death rate of the nationโs 821 railroads.
Woman, 2 grandsons killed by train at gate-less crossing
JUPITER, Fla. โ A Florida woman and her two grandsons were killed by a passing Amtrak train on Saturday afternoon as she drove the Cub Scouts to an overnight camping trip near West Palm Beach. The train carrying some 200 passengers collided with the family's Subaru Outback at the gate-less railroad crossing near the entrance to the J.W. The train dragged the vehicle for a half-mile, killing Valery Jo Rintamaki, 58; Tristan Prestano, 10; and Skyler Prestano, 8. "We just lost three members of our community, and young kids,'' Willhite told the Post. ``I'm going to look into why we don't have more than just a yield sign at a rail crossing where a train is going (at high speeds).''
Amtrak announces nonstop service between DC and New York
(CNN) - Train travel between New York City and Washington is now faster than ever. On Thursday, Amtrak announced that starting in September it will offer a new direct route between Washington Union Station (WAS) and New York Penn Station (NYP). "The new Acela Nonstop service will have you halfway to your New York City or DC destination in the time it would take you to board a flight," Amtrak President & CEO Richard Anderson said in a statement. "This new service will offer an ideal solution for travelers who want to save time and travel between city center DC and New York." Riders can expect to travel for two hours and 35 minutes instead of four hours with the direct service.
NTSB: Train crash that killed Orange Park man caused by safety oversights
An aerial view of the site of an early morning train crash Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018, between an Amtrak train, bottom right, and a CSX freight train, top left, in Cayce, SC. COLUMBIA, S.C. - Federal safety officials ruled Tuesday yet another fatal train crash in the United States has been caused by easy-to-fix human errors. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the crash of an Amtrak train into a parked train on a side track near Columbia, South Carolina, in February 2018 was CSX's fault. CSX also plans to have Positive Train Control in place, tested and operational where required by the end of 2020, company spokeswoman Cindy Schild said. In the 2018 South Carolina crash, Amtrak engineer Michael Kempf, 54, of Savannah, Georgia, and conductor Michael Cella, 36, of Orange Park, Florida, were killed.
Passengers aboard JTA bus to 911: 'We got hit by a train'
The report says the bus stayed there for about one minute before the train hit. Bus passengers were among the first to call 911. Were on a city bus, a JTA bus. But now two passengers are claiming injuries, so we need rescue back at Post Avenue at McDuff where the train hit the bus. LISTEN: 911 calls after train hit busThe bus driver, Carolyn Simmons, was treated and released that afternoon.
JTA driver cited in Monday's crash with Amtrak train
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jacksonville Transportation Authority bus driver involved in Monday's crash with an Amtrak train was cited with the accident, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The driver, Carolyn Simmons, got a ticket for failure to obey a traffic control device at a railroad crossing. Simmons was the only person injured in the crash and was treated and released from a hospital Monday. The JTA warned the driver three times in 2003-04 that she was close to a suspension over attendance issues. Monday's crash with the train was the latest of four incidents involving JTA buses in the past three weeks.
Records show driver in JTA bus vs. train crash has numerous previous accidents
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jacksonville Transportation Authority bus driver involved in Monday's crash between a city bus and an Amtrak train has been involved in at least eight crashes in her 20-year career with JTA, according to personnel files. The majority of the accidents happened between when she was hired as a driver JTA in 1999 and 2012, according to the records. The JTA warned the driver three times in 2003-04 that she was close to a suspension over attendance issues. In Monday's collision, the driver was the only person injured and she was treated and released from a hospital. The crash with the train was the latest of four incidents involving JTA buses in the last three weeks.