Railfanning.org News Wire
ZIBO, China – Construction in advance of this summer’s Beijing Olympics is at least partly to blame for a train wreck that killed more than 70 people and injured hundreds more, Chinese officials say.
According to Li Chenggang, Zibo city spokesman, the tracks where the train derailed, are being upgraded in advance of the [...]

Railfanning.org News Wire
ZIBO, China — Excessive speed could be to blame for a Monday (April 28) train crash that killed at least 70 people and sent hundreds more to the hospital.
According to a Xinhua news report, an express train traveling to the east China city of Qingdao from Beijing  was traveling 131 kph (81 mph) [...]

Special to Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — Railroads will be required to route every train carrying the most toxic and dangerous hazardous materials on the safest and most secure route under a new federal rule announced by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters.
“This strong measure better ensures that rail shipments of hazardous materials will reach [...]

Railfanning.org News Wire
ZIBO, China — At least 70 people were killed when two passenger trains collided near the east China city of Zibo, located in the Shandong province, authorities said.
Hundreds more were injured — included dozens in serious condition — in the pre-dawn train wreck, said to be the worst in China in more than [...]

Railfanning.org News Wire
NEWARK, N.J. — Trains along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor came to a standstill because of electrical problems, authorities said.
“It was done as a precautionary measure. None of the trains lost power,” The Associated Press quoted Amtrak Spokesman Cliff Cole as saying.
The voltage in the overhead wires dropped from 12,000 volts to 9,000 volts, though [...]

Rainfanning.org News Wire
CANTON, Mass. — About 150 people were injured when a lumber car crashed into a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter train Tuesday afternoon, March 25, authorities said.
“All the lights went out and people were flying down the aisles and people were on the floor of the car,” one passenger told The Boston Herald [...]

Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — Amtrak today announced the deployment of its new specialized Amtrak Mobile Security Team to patrol stations and trains and randomly inspect passenger baggage.
The Mobile Security Team supplements ongoing patrols already in place by Amtrak to enhance the safety and security of passenger rail travel. The deployment of the Mobile Security Team [...]

Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON – Amtrak and representatives of nine labor organizations today signed an agreement, avoiding a strike that would have brought to a halt the nation’s passenger railroad and dozens of other railroads that use Amtrak’s rail network.
The nine unions were legally free to strike starting Jan. 30, 2008.
The National Mediation Board had released [...]

Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — President Bush today established a Presidential Emergency Board, hoping to keep the employees of nine Amtrak unions from striking.
The unions represent more than 6,000 of Amtrak’s non-operating employees who have been working on contracts that expired in 1999.
On Nov. 1, the National Mediation Board released Amtrak and the unions from mediation, [...]

Special to Railfanning.org News Wire
America’s freight railroads have joined with one of the nation’s leading suicide prevention groups in urging Warner Bros. to help prevent suicides on the railroad tracks.
A new movie scheduled for release by the studio, “Rails and Ties,” portrays the story of a woman who dies by suicide on railroad tracks.
Tragically, incidents [...]