2/29/08 DOT Digest: FRA Announces Guide for Managing Gap Safety at Passenger Rail Platforms

Friday, February 29, 2008 (Washington, DC)

FRA Announces Guide for Managing Gap Safety at Passenger Rail Platforms.  The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a guidance document to help minimize accidents due to gaps between the edge of a passenger station platform and...

New Grant Program Provides First-Ever Federal-State Funding Partnership to Improve and Expand Intercity Passenger Rail Service

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 (Washington, DC)

For the first time ever, states will be directly eligible for federal funding to support intercity passenger rail service under a new grant program, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced today.

“We want to...

DOT Digest: FRA Issues Grade Crossing Resource Guides, and FRA releases DEIS for Portal Bridge over Hackensack River

Friday, February 15, 2008 (Washington, DC)

U.S. Department of Transportation Releases Road Maintenance Planning Software Update.  The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has released a new version of its software that helps road maintenance managers prepare for winter...

U.S. DOT Takes Action to Reduce Train Accidents Caused by Human Error, Greater Accountability Placed on Railroad Management and Employees for Safety

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 (Washington, DC)

U.S. DOT Takes Action to Reduce Train Accidents Caused by Human Error, Greater Accountability Placed on Railroad Management and Employees for Safety

Reducing common mistakes that result in nearly half of all human factor-caused train...

New DOT Rule Makes Cheating on Drug Testing Harder

Monday, June 30, 2008 (Washington, DC)

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced today a new rule that will make it more difficult for transportation workers to cheat on their required drug tests by requiring drug testing labs to analyze every test for tampering.“We...

6/13/2008 DOT Digest: FRA Awards Grant to Alaska Railroad to Install Positive Train Control on 68 Locomotives

Friday, June 13, 2008 (Washington, D.C)

BTS Releases Special Report on Trade Growth and Transportation . The Bureau of Transportation Statistics has released U.S.-China Trade Growth and America’s Transportation System , a special report about the increase of traffic at...

Private Crossings, New Technology, and Crossing Closures Next Focus of DOT Action Plan to Reduce Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Collisions and Fatalities

Thursday, June 12, 2008 (Washington, D.C.)

Several safety initiatives designed to reduce collisions between motor vehicles and trains will be completed before the end of 2008 as part of the ongoing U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Highway-Rail Crossing Safety and Trespass...

DOT Digest: FRA Grant Aids Development of Emergency Response Training; Sets June 30 Deadline for Intercity Passenger Rail State Capital Grant Applications

Friday, June 06, 2008 (Washington, D.C.)

FRA Grant Aids Development of Emergency Response Training . The Federal Railroad Administration is providing a $250,000 grant to the Southeastern Transportation Safety Center in Meridian, Miss. to develop emergency response...

DOT Action Plan Contributes to Nearly 25 Percent Decrease in Train AccidentsNew Focus on Risk-Reduction Programs to Further Improve Rail Safety

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 (Washington, D.C.)

The number of train accidents has decreased by 23.3 percent in the past three years in part because the Department has completed an ambitious plan designed to improve safety on the Nation’s railroads, announced U.S. Secretary of...

Federal Railroad Administration Announces Availability of Rail Economic Benefit Analysis CD-ROM

Wednesday, November 04, 1998 (Washington, DC)

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced the availability of a CD-ROM containing the RailDEC family of computer programs designed to evaluate the full range of economic benefits resulting from railroad-related infrastructure...