Got this story out of Friends of Amtrak, Any Comments? CSX LINES UNSAFE--April 2, 2000. Several CSX lines used by passenger trains have unsafe conditions identified by the Federal Railroad Administration, according to a Washington Post story. This finding resulted from a two-week, systemwide track audit about a month ago done by the FRA after a 60% increase in track-caused accidents over five years on CSX. The FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) found a 60 percent increase in track-caused accidents over five years on the 22,700-mile CSX system prompting the agency to open up a new review of the safety conditions on the rails. The safety review found many instances where the distance between the rails had spread wide enough to cause derailments. Two such wide areas were found in the District of Columbia on the line used by Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express and all north-south CSX freight trains. Defects were also found in Florida, Pennsylvania and Maryland Two of three recent track-caused derailments were caused by wide track, including a minor derailment of Amtrak's Chicago-Washington Capitol Limited at Connellsville, Pa., on Jan. 30, the report said. "When you look at the nature of the defects, these are conditions that should not exist on any Class One railroad," said FRA associate adminstrator for safety George Gavalla "We will not tolerate wide gauge on any railroad." Gavalla told the Washington Post. ------------------ When in doubt, empty your magazine.
All I can say Chris is CSX is not the only bad one. If the passengers could see what the track is like where we run Amtrak on some routes, people might think twice.
Well all I can say, is Metra in Chicago was considering a route over the IHB. If any of you are there go take a look at this line and explain to me why they even considered a run on this line.there are so many sunkinks and the feights bounce about 6 inches on the joints. Just a thought, that's all.
