Your weekly source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the NARP Blog.
December 27, 1991
It's NARP board election time again. To become one of 70 NARP regional directors, have your candidate's statement, not exceeding 75 words, postmarked by January 4 and mailed to our office. Or fax it by January 6. Miraculously, after a six-alarm fire the evening of December 23 at Philadelphia 30th Street Station, Amtrak and SEPTA ran almost normally on December 24, but SEPTA commuter trains could...
December 24, 1991
Thousands of travelers were delayed last night after a fire at Philadelphia 30th Street Station halted all Amtrak and commuter trains there for several hours. This morning, trains were running normally except that commuter trains ran through non-stop because their upper-level platforms -- located above where the fire was -- were filled with debris. Also, highway access to the station was limited a...
December 20, 1991
Amtrak train 87, the southbound Tampa section of the Silver Meteor, derailed at Palatka, Fla., the morning of December 17. The train derailed approaching the station, on a 30-mph curve, but at a speed of 72 mph. Investigators are still examining the evidence. Amtrak said that 39 of the 173 passengers on board were sent to three area hospitals, four of them having serious injuries. Five were still...
December 17, 1991
Amtrak train 87, the southbound Tampa section of the Silver Meteor, derailed this morning at 11:25 am Easter Time at Palatka, Fla. No cause has been determined. Amtrak reports that 39 of the 173 passengers on board were taken to three area hospitals; four of them appeared to have serious injuries. The locomotive derailed and two coaches derailed, but remained upright in a jack-knife position, and...
December 13, 1991
President Bush will sign the surface transportation bill on December 18 in a ceremony at a construction site in Dallas, to highlight what he feels is important about the bill -- jobs. With the passage of the law, there will be no more UMTA. The Urban Mass Transit Administration's name will be changed to Federal Transit Administration (FTA). DOT Secretary Sam Skinner leaves his post as of December...