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After Tuesday’s Derailment, Norton Says Amtrak Should Withhold Proposal of 12-Hour Shifts and Reduced Layovers for Train & Engine Service Employees

May 14, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), ranking member of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, today said that while the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation of the of the derailment of an Amtrak train traveling from Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night is still ongoing, there is a heightened need to examine all rail safety protocols, including the work schedules for Train & Engine Service Employees (T&E) working at Union Station and in road service on the Northeast Corridor. She released her November, 25, 2014 letter to National Passenger Railroad Corporation President & CEO Joseph Boardman expressing her concern about scheduling changes for employees, included a proposal mandating 12-hour shifts with reduced layover time for T&E employees, which is under consideration for Terminal Operations at Union Station. Similar scheduling proposals are also under consideration for the entire Northeast Corridor.

Norton wrote in her letter that "Amtrak's proposed reconfiguration under the fatigue mitigation provision in the Rail Safety Improvement Act…appears to significantly reduce fatigue mitigation during trip layovers, lengthen total daily assignment hours, and create unprecedented overnight road assignments."

"While we do not know the causes of Tuesday night's tragic Amtrak derailment, it is a warning that rail workers should not be overscheduled and overburdened at the expense of public safety," Norton said. "As NTSB continues its investigation, I urge Amtrak and its partners to stand down, at least for the time being, on any detrimental change in worker schedules of its employees. This is not the time to reduce the highest safety standards."