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☆ A 14-year-old took home $10,000 for his award-winning investigation into train derailments. Here's what he found.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-02 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Gary Allen Montelongo won $10,000 for a science project on train derailment. Montelongo built and coded an experiment on railroad suspension, then won a national competition. AdvertisementThe internship ended, but Montelongo couldn't get the derailment off his mind, so he went down to the train tracks near his house. Then he built three sets of model railroad tracks out of foam and fitted them with three different types of springs: fresh new springs, midlife springs, and old, worn-out springs. This mimicked the different suspension systems he'd seen at the train tracks near his home.

Persons: Gary Allen Montelongo, Montelongo, —, Lisa Fryklund, Ajmera, Montelongo couldn't Organizations: Service, Fisher Scientific, Junior, Society for Science, Broadcom, Federal Railroad Administration, University of Texas, NASA, SpaceX Locations: Ohio, East Palestine , Ohio, University of Texas Rio Grande

☆ New freight crew rule tests rail industry's clout, one year after East Palestine disaster
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Ryan Anastasio | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

One year after the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment created an environmental disaster, the Biden administration on Tuesday unveiled new regulations intended to shore up freight rail safety. Drone footage shows the freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, U.S., February 6, 2023 in this screengrab obtained from a handout video released by the NTSB. Yet the new rule stops short of the kind of rail safety updates that the Biden administration and members of Congress had originally envisioned as a response to the East Palestine disaster. Making any major updates to rail safety will require congressional funding that has not yet been approved. The stalling of the Railway Safety Act also underscores the power of the freight rail industry's Washington lobbying shop, the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Persons: Pete Buttigieg, Biden, Vince Verna, Buttigieg Organizations: Federal Railroad Administration, NTSB, Norfolk Southern, Railway, of Locomotive Engineers, Trainmen, Association of American Railroads, CNBC, CSX, Union Pacific, AAR, ARA, Transportation Department Locations: States, United States, Palestine , Ohio, East Palestine , Ohio, U.S, East Palestine, Norfolk, Palestine, Ohio, Washington

A day after Trump's visit last year, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg went to East Palestine. But soon after the East Palestine derailment, some local officials began to criticize the Biden administration for the lack of a presidential visit. Biden issued an executive order requiring Norfolk Southern to pay for any long-term cleanup efforts. At a White House briefing this week, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was traveling to East Palestine at the mayor's invitation. Deeter, a member of a local advocacy group, River Valley Organizing, hopes Biden's visit is more than a photo-op.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Trump's, Pete Buttigieg, Trent Conaway, Karine Jean, Pierre, Conaway, Jean, Pierre said, Alan Shaw, Timothea Deeter, Biden's, we've, He's Organizations: Republican, Democratic, Transportation, White, Norfolk Southern, Railway Safety, Commerce, Science, Environmental Protection Agency Locations: East Palestine , Ohio, East Palestine, Palestine, Southern

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Monday that it has awarded more than $1.4 billion to projects that improve railway safety and boost capacity, with much of the money coming from the 2021 infrastructure law. The projects include track upgrades and bridge repairs, in addition to improving the connectivity among railways and making routes less vulnerable to extreme weather. “We’ve been fighting to return passenger trains to the Gulf Coast since it was knocked offline by Hurricane Katrina. A project in Kentucky will receive $29.5 million to make improvements to 280 miles of track and other infrastructure along the Paducah and Louisville Railway. And in Tennessee, $23.7 million will go to helping upgrade about 42 bridges on 10 different short-line railroads.

Persons: —, Pete Buttigieg, Hurricane Katrina, Katrina, ” Sen, Roger Wicker, “ We’ve, Jim Mathews Organizations: WASHINGTON, Biden, Hurricane, Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern, ” Rail Passengers Association, Railroad, Paducah and Louisville Railway, & $ Locations: Alabama , Louisiana, Mississippi, of Mexico, Gulf, Gulf Coast, Coulee, Washington, Kentucky, Paducah, Tennessee

☆ Mitt Romney doesn't respect JD Vance — but he sure is willing to work with him
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Mitt Romney said he couldn't "disrespect someone more" than his GOP colleague, JD Vance. On Wednesday afternoon, less than an hour after Republican Sen. Mitt Romney announced that he would not seek re-election next year, The Atlantic published the first excerpt of a forthcoming biography of the Utah senator. AdvertisementAdvertisement"I don't know that I can disrespect someone more than JD Vance," Romney said in the summer of 2021, according to the excerpt. Romney, the genteel Never-Trumper and 2012 presidential nominee, has partnered with Sen. Vance on major pieces of legislation more than once. AdvertisementAdvertisementVance, who loudly laughed when asked about Romney's comments, also offered something of a challenge to the retiring senator.

Persons: Sen, Mitt Romney, JD Vance, Vance, Republican Sen, Romney —, —, JD Vance —, Trumper, Romney, It's Organizations: GOP, Service, United States Senate, Republican, United, Railway Locations: Wall, Silicon, Utah, United States, Ohio, cosponsor, East Palestine

☆ John Fetterman says JD Vance is more focused on 'silly performance art' than trying to pass the railway safety bill they've introduced together
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

JD Vance and John Fetterman, populists from different parties, worked together on a rail safety bill. Fetterman accused Vance of "silly performance art" over his doomed effort to ban mask mandates. Vance argued his mask crusade isn't distracting from the rail bill, and that he's been building support for it. The duo, among others, are the prime co-sponsors of the Railway Safety Act, a bill to improve safety protocols for trains carrying hazardous materials. AdvertisementAdvertisement"Most of my work on the railway bill has been persuading Republican colleagues to sign on to the bill," said Vance.

Persons: JD Vance, John Fetterman, Fetterman, Vance, Sen, John Fetterman's, John, We're, he's, they've, we've Organizations: Service, Democrat, Republican, Railway, Senate Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ohio, East Palestine , Ohio, COVID

MUMBAI, July 7 (Reuters) - India's federal police have arrested three railway employees on Friday in connection with the country's deadliest train crash in two decades that killed 292 people last month, the crime agency said in a statement. It is India's worst train crash in more than two decades. The accident happened when a passenger train hit a stationary freight train, jumped off the tracks and hit another passenger train coming from the opposite direction. Reuters reported earlier this week that workers repairing a rail-road barrier had made faulty connections in the automated signalling system on the network. The malfunctioning system directed the passenger train onto the path of the freight train, it said.

Persons: Narendra Modi's, Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Krishn Kaushik, Jatindra, Shivam Patel, YP Rajesh, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, Reuters, of Railway Safety, CRS, Local, Indian Railways, Railway Board, Railways Ministry, YP, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Bahanaga Bazar, Odisha

BHUBANESWAR, India, July 4 (Reuters) - Workers repairing a rail-road barrier in India made faulty connections in the automated signalling system on the network, leading to the country's worst rail disaster in two decades, an official probe has found. The June 2 crash at Bahanaga Bazar station, in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, killed 288 people and injured more than 1,000. The disaster struck when a passenger train hit a stationary freight train, jumped off the tracks and hit another passenger train coming from the opposite direction. The malfunctioning system directed the passenger train onto the path of the freight train, it said. Indian Railways, the fourth largest train network in the world, is a state monopoly run by the Railway Board.

Persons: Narendra Modi's, Jatindra Dash, Krishn Kaushik, Sudipto Ganguly, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Workers, Reuters, of Railway Safety, CRS, Local, Railways, Railway Board, Railways Ministry, Thomson Locations: BHUBANESWAR, India, Bahanaga Bazar, Odisha, New Delhi, Mumbai

☆ How India’s deadly train accident affected poorest passengers the most
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

On the Howrah they were the farthest from the engine, and were hit by the derailed Coromandel Express carriages. Graphic shows the sequence of coaches behind the engine on the Coromandel Express and Howrah Superfast Express. On the Coromandel Express, the engine is closely followed by non-air conditioned coaches, including three unreserved coaches. Deaths and injuries in Indian railway accidents Graphic shows the number of deaths and injuries in Indian railway accidents annually since 2001. Drone footage shows aftermath of train crash in the Indian state of Odisha Drone footage shows aftermath of train crash in the Indian state of Odisha | ReutersThe site of the accident is rural.

Persons: Bahanaga, Sandeep Mathur, Long, Narendra Modi Organizations: Coromandel, Reuters, Indian Railways, Commission of Railway Safety, Railways, CRS, Superfast Express, Express, Railway Ministry Locations: Chennai, Odisha, Balasore, Indian, Kolkata, Bengaluru, India, Coromandel, Howrah, Bihar, Odisha’s Balasore

Indian and international media have previously reported that a possible malfunction in the automated signalling system may have led to the crash. However, details of the frequent malfunctions at the nearby rail-road barrier and its possible connection to a manual bypass of the signalling system are reported by Reuters for the first time. A spokesman for Indian Railways said "repair works keep happening as per requirements" but tampering with the automated system is not allowed. "(Indian) Railways believes the system was tampered with," said the second source, who has access to briefings on the investigation. The Indian Railways spokesman did not directly address the authorisation issue and only said it is not allowed under Indian Railways rules.

Persons: Amitabh Sharma, Sharma, Soubhagya Ranjan Sarangi, Narendra Modi's, Jaya Varma Sinha, Sinha, Sandeep Mathur, Mathur, Sudhanshu Mishra, Krishn Kaushik, Jatindra, Sarita Chaganti Singh, YP Rajesh, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Railways, Reuters, of Railway Safety, CRS, Railway Board, Railways Ministry, Indian Railways, police’s Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, Coromandel Express, Express, YP, Thomson Locations: India, DELHI, Bahanaga Bazar, Balasore, Odisha, Bahanaga, Niranjan, Chennai, Kolkata, New Delhi

REUTERS/Francis MascarenhasBALASORE, India, June 7 (Reuters) - Indian authorities made fervent appeals to families on Tuesday to help identify over 100 unclaimed bodies kept in hospitals and mortuaries after 275 people were killed in the country's deadliest rail crash in over two decades. Following non-stop efforts to rescue survivors and clear and repair the track, trains resumed running over that section of the line on Sunday night. Till Monday evening around 100 bodies were yet to be identified, a senior state health department official told Reuters. Bijay Kumar Mohapatra, health director of Odisha, said authorities were trying to source iced containers to help preserve the bodies. "Unless they are identified, a post mortem cannot be done," Mohapatra said, explaining that under Odisha state regulations no autopsy can be conducted on an unclaimed body until 96 hours has passed.

Persons: Dilip Kumar Sabar, Jyotilal Sabar, Francis Mascarenhas BALASORE, Bijay Kumar Mohapatra, Odisha, Mohapatra, A.M, Chowdhary, Jatindra Dash, Krishn Kaushik, Sudipto Ganguly, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India's Railway, federal Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, Railway, Express, Thomson Locations: Balasore, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, Bhubaneswar's, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Kolkata, Howrah

☆ Probe into Indian rail disaster opens as trains start running
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Jatindra Dash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Following non-stop efforts to rescue survivors, and clear and repair the track, trains resumed running over that section of the line on Sunday night. The inquiry is underway," a senior railway officer told a Reuters reporter, as officials checked documents being submitted for examination. India's Railway Board, the top executive body, has recommended that the Central Bureau of Investigation take over the investigation into the cause of the disaster. "We have to move towards normalization... Our responsibility is not over yet," railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters. "Passenger occupancy is almost 99%," Aditya Chaudhary, chief public relations officer of South Eastern Railway, told Reuters.

Persons: Adnan Abidi, A.M, Chowdhary, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Aditya Chaudhary, Jatindra Dash, Subrata, Tanvi Mehta, Sudipto Ganguly, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Railway Board, Central Bureau of, Express, South Eastern Railway, Thomson Locations: Balasore district, Odisha, India, Adnan, Adnan Abidi KHARAGPUR, Balasore, Kharagpur, West Bengal, Chennai, Kolkata, Howrah, New Delhi

☆ Ted Cruz accused JD Vance of empowering 'the radical Green Movement' by aligning with Democrats on a bill to prevent rail disasters like the East Palestine crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, proposed the Rail Safety Act in March. "All of us were moved by the testimony of the witnesses" from East Palestine, Cruz said. "We cannot undo the psychological, economic, and physical toll of the derailment in East Palestine," Vance noted, but "there will be another East Palestine in this country if we do not pass the Railway Safety Act." "I earnestly hoped that we would reach a bipartisan consensus," Cruz said, but "this bill is overly and needlessly prescriptive." Nonetheless, Cruz doubted the bill would pass the Senate with 60 votes, let alone the House.

☆ Senators unveil new rail safety bill in wake of toxic Ohio derailment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

John Fetterman and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Sherrod Brown of Ohio – would build on provisions of the bipartisan Railway Safety Act. Brown and his fellow senator from Ohio, Republican J.D. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw endorsed parts of the bipartisan bill. The Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, released toxic chemicals into the environment. Shaw said Norfolk Southern would continue to support cleanup efforts in the area.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., will return to the Senate during the week of April 17 after about two months of treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center for depression, his office tells NBC News. The announcement comes as Fetterman introduces a new bill Wednesday focused on bolstering railway safety regulations in the aftermath of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The legislation is the first bill that Fetterman is leading since being elected to the Senate — he's previously introduced legislation alongside fellow Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who also join Fetterman in backing his new bill. Fetterman has also worked in bipartisan tandem with Senator JD Vance, R-Ohio, on legislation aimed at preventing future rail disasters. The new legislation includes measures to ensure that railroads provide warning equipment to railroad watchmen and mandates mechanics inspect rail cars to attest to their safety, among other proposals.

☆ Senate GOP populists push Republican colleagues to back railway regulations, arguing 'their voters' are the most affected by disasters
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Vance, Hawley, and Rubio are touting a bill to enact new regulations on the rail industry. They're trying out a new argument for their Republican colleagues: these are your voters. Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Marco Rubio of Florida, are touting the Railway Safety Act of 2023. "When derailments occur, it is predominantly Republican voters—their voters—who bear the brunt and who rush to put out the fires." "Look, I think if the vote were held today, we'd get 65 votes in the Senate," he told Insider.

☆ Norfolk Southern CEO says he supports parts of new rail safety bills
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on Wednesday told senators that his railroad company supports parts of two bipartisan rail safety bills that came in the wake of a derailment last month of a train carrying toxic materials in Ohio. Shaw did not fully endorse the Railway Safety Act, which includes provisions calling for two-person crews on all railroad locomotives. "We're not aware of any data that links crew size with safety," Shaw said Wednesday. "There are significant opportunities for advanced technology to enhance rail safety, and we encourage Congress to consider additional research into on-board rail car defect detection technology." Ohio sued Norfolk Southern last week, seeking damages, civil penalties and a "declaratory judgement that Norfolk Southern is responsible," Attorney General Dave Yost said.

☆ Live updates: East Palestine, Ohio train derailment Senate hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Chris Isidore | Aditi Sangal | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

In the lead-up to a Senate committee hearing on the toxic train derailment that spilled chemicals in the Ohio town of East Palestine last month, a bipartisan group of senators is introducing a new bill aimed at shoring up rail safety. The Railway Safety Act of 2023 will be introduced by Republican Sens. Vance of Ohio, Marco Rubio of Florida and Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Democratic Sens. It has a provision requiring “well-trained, two-person crews aboard every train.” And it boosts the maximum fines for rail carriers for wrongdoing. Data compiled by the nonprofit OpenSecrets show that Norfolk Southern, the company involved in the Ohio derailment, spent $1.8 million on federal lobbying last year.

☆ Norfolk Southern CEO to tell senators how he plans to 'make it right' after Ohio derailment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Drone footage shows the freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, U.S., February 6, 2023 in this screengrab obtained from a handout video released by the NTSB. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw will tell a U.S. Senate panel Thursday how he plans to "make it right" after one of the company's trains derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, last month. Other committees in Congress are also investigating the East Palestine derailment. On Saturday, another Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio, after which residents near Springfield were ordered to shelter in place. Hours after that derailment, internal emails obtained by CNBC indicated that Norfolk Southern was making broad safety adjustments to prevent future incidents.

☆ Senators unveil rail safety bill after Ohio train derailment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Liz Brown-Kaiser | Rose Horowitch | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A bipartisan group of senators will introduce legislation Wednesday aimed at preventing rail disasters after the devastating derailment in East Palestine last month. It would also require trained, two-person crews to work aboard every train carrying hazardous materials and levy heightened fines for rail carriers' wrongdoing. The Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying vinyl chloride led to a spill of toxic chemicals. The bill will be introduced by Brown and his Republican counterpart, Sen. JD Vance, who represent the state where the Norfolk Southern derailment occurred. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday asked Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw to participate in an upcoming hearing.

☆ Rail unions tell Biden officials workers have fallen ill at Norfolk Southern derailment site
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Pete Buttigieg, US transportation secretary, speaks during a news conference near the site of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, US, on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. The presidents of U.S. railroad unions told Biden administration officials that rail workers have fallen ill at the Norfolk Southern derailment site in East Palestine, Ohio, in a push for more train safety. The meeting comes on the heels of letters sent to both the DOT and the FRA Wednesday in which union representations claimed rail workers had gotten sick at the derailment site. According to the letter, Norfolk Southern rail workers who have worked or continue to work the cleanup site have reported experiencing "migraines and nausea." One worker reportedly asked his supervisor to be transferred off the derailment site because of his symptoms, but never heard back from his supervisor and was left at the job site.

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