Two of the country’s largest commuter rail operators recently enhanced the safety of their systems by implementing safety recommendations on the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) 2019-2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements.
The safety recommendations to Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Railroad were the result of the NTSB’s investigation into five accidents involving Metro-North trains in Connecticut and New York that killed six people, injured 126 more, and resulted in more than $28 million in damages. All five accidents occurred in 2013 and 2014.
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Recommendations R-14-65 asked Long Island Railroad to screen and evaluate employees in safety-sensitive positions for sleep disorders and then treat all that are diagnosed.
Recommendations R-14-62 and R-14-64 asked Metro-North to revise medical protocols and provide its employees in safety-sensitive positions a list of medications that engineers and conductors must avoid.
Both railroads are part of New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority.
“MTA, Metro-North and Long Island Railroad all still have open NTSB safety recommendations that need to be acted on,” said NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt. “These are steps in the right direction but there’s still more work to be done.”
These three safety recommendations, classified as “closed — acceptable action,” bring to 17 the number that have been implemented since the 2019-2020 Most Wanted List campaign was kicked off in February.
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The NTSB’s Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements serves as the agency’s road map from lessons learned to lives saved, identifying safety recommendations that are ripe for action, and that if implemented, have the potential to prevent accidents, minimize injuries and save lives.
To view explanations of status assignments for all NTSB safety recommendations, click here.
The Plan is CTA's formal response to an FTA Special Directive issued in December and details how the agency will significantly expand the law enforcement surge it launched.
On a recent episode of METROspectives, METRO Magazine’s Executive Editor Alex Roman sat down with Ana-Maria Tomlinson, Director of Strategic & Cross-Sector Programs at the CSA Group, to explore a bold initiative aimed at addressing those challenges: the development of a National Code for Transit and Passenger Rail Systems in Canada.
During a safety blitz, Metra employees will visit one of the railroad’s 243 stations during the morning rush hour, distributing educational materials on train and grade-crossing safety, answering questions, and listening to riders’ safety concerns.
Operated in partnership with Tech Valley Security, trained CDTA Ambassadors will be on select routes and will rotate throughout CDTA’s route network. Their presence is intended to provide customers with an approachable, visible resource focused on assistance and engagement.
Customers have always been able to report concerns through the CATS Customer Service line or the “Report a Problem to CATS” feature in the CATS-Pass mobile app; however, CATS has also integrated a Text-a-Tip line, giving riders multiple, easy-to-use channels to get support.
