With a focus on measuring and making improvements on the fly, the Richmond, Va.-based operation has built one of the most reliable and well-run operations in the industry.
Sleep apnea is a common disorder affecting nearly 12% of the U.S. population, in which airway blockages cause shortened breaths or pauses in breathing while one sleeps.
Sleep loss leading to human fatigue is a serious issue affecting the safety of the traveling public in all modes of transportation. Simply defined, sleep loss is an inability to receive a proper amount and quality of sleep on a regular basis.
In response to a deadly September 2016 train crash, the agency updated its screening process for sleeping disorders.
Rail Operations is currently in the process of replacing all stub end tracks at Hoboken Terminal with new sliding friction bumper blocks, as well as advancing a speed control system for trains entering Hoboken Terminal.
Similarities were immediately drawn between the crashes, but after months of investigating, the NTSB now believes sleep apnea was involved in both.
Employees who are deemed at risk based upon the screening will be referred for further testing and potential diagnosis and treatment.
Investigators added that experts in analyzing tracks, signals, mechanics and human performance, and other specialists were examining as many factors as possible that may have led to the crash.
The effort by the transit agency comes on the heels of September’s accident, which killed one person standing on a platform and injured more than 100 others. It was later revealed the engineer in that crash suffered from sleep apnea, a fatigue-inducing disorder.
The agency disclosed a policy change that will prevent engineers suffering from sleep apnea to operate a train unless they are being treated, while federal regulators prepare a safety bulletin that will urge all railroads to screen for sleep apnea.
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