NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board has released documents related to the Tempe, Arizona, crash that killed a person, highlighting what went wrong with the driverless technology.

November 13, 2019 - Wired

The two trains were traveling on a single track in Bavaria, each going around a bend at about 62 mph so they were not visible to the engineers. The trains were equipped with automatic braking systems reported to have been deactivated.

February 12, 2016 - AFP

After a February Metrolink commuter train crash in Oxnard, Calif., train officials hailed the new Korean rail cars as having performed well. Now they have expressed second thoughts, and are replacing the front cab cars with BNSF locomotives.

September 8, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

Six days after one of Amtrak's worst derailments that resulted in the deaths of 8 passengers, service will resume on the Northeast Corridor, the busiest train route in the U.S. Amtrak #188 had accelerated to 106 mph as it entered a curve on May 12.

May 18, 2015 - Planetizen

The timeliness of the debate on Amtrak's budget could not have been worse for House Republicans who appeared insensitive at best in approving almost a 20 percent cut in funding after the fatal Philadelphia derailment that sent 200 to hospitals.

May 15, 2015 - The Hill

The death toll has risen to seven in the May 12 derailment in Philadelphia. NTSB confirmed the train was traveling over 106 mph on a curve where the speed limit is 50 mph. Positive Train Control, which would have stopped the train, was not present.

May 14, 2015 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

A northbound Amtrak Northeast Regional train derailed after leaving the Philadelphia Amtrak station around 9:30 p.m, on May 12. The scene was called a disaster, with the first of the seven cars that derailed severely crushed. No cause was given.

May 13, 2015 - The Washington Times

The emergency rules issued by DOT, including lowering oil-train speeds to 40 mph in urban areas, go into effect on April 20. They are in addition to rules expected to be released May 12 that address oil tanker car construction.

April 20, 2015 - The New York Times - Energy & Environment

While all four passenger cars derailed in Tuesday morning's crash with a pickup truck, three on their sides, experts indicate that the new cars likely prevented far greater damage. Also covered is the locomotive push-pull issue and grade separations.

February 26, 2015 - Los Angeles Times

A column in The Week argues that notwithstanding Tuesday's horrific crash of a Metro-North train that killed five passengers, rail is a much safer mode than driving. However, rail deaths are increasing.

February 8, 2015 - The Week

The commuter train had left Grand Central Terminal on Tuesday evening and hit the Jeep at a grade crossing in Valhalla, Westchester County at 6:30 pm. Five passengers died in the lead car of the train which was engulfed in flames from the impact.

February 4, 2015 - Transportation Nation

In what is being billed as the first emergency order of more to come, the Department of Transportation (DOT), the federal regulator of transporting crude oil by rail, hopes to quell the growing national furor over what some call 'ticking time bombs'.

May 9, 2014 - The Tribune

Transport Canada jumped past U.S. DOT on April 23 by taking decisive action on "exploding" oil tank cars that are traveling throughout North America due largely to an insufficient oil pipeline network. Within three years, the older cars must go.

April 25, 2014 - The Olympian

In the first case of its kind, federal regulators fined three oil companies for allegedly either failing to test, or improperly testing crude from the Bakken Shale in N.D., resulting in rail companies not knowing which type of oil tanker cars to use.

February 6, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

The National Transportation Safety Board called on federal regulators on Jan. 23 to approve several measures in light of a rash of oil train derailments and crude oil explosions as did their Canadian counterparts, the Transportation Safety Board.

January 28, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

As federal investigators focus on the likelihood of human error being the cause of the Dec. 1 derailment that killed four passengers, attention has been placed on the federal requirement for all railroads to install positive train control systems.

December 5, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal - New York

With the train's black box showing that the speeding commuter train entered a 30 M.P.H curve at 82 M.P.H, causing the derailment, attention has turned toward the engineer. CNN reports that the engineer admits to "nodding off" before the crash.

December 4, 2013 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

What caused the Metro-North train to derail Sunday at 7:20 a.m. is not known, though the train operator pointed to faulty brakes. 63 of the 100 to 150 people onboard were injured, 11 critically, in the city's deadliest train crash in two decades.

December 2, 2013 - The New York Times N.Y. / Region

The National Transportation Safety Board's recommendation is voluntary - it is up to the states to enact them into law. The CA state senator responsible for the ban on talking on hand-held cell phones and texting called it a 'political nonstarter'.

December 14, 2011 - The New York Times - Business Day - Technology