The derailment of the Norfolk and Southern freight train carrying toxic materials and the tragic Philadelphia Amtrak crash in late 2015 appear to have little in common.
Still, the latest mishap was a reminder of the tragic consequences that come when freight or passenger cars go off the tracks.
Late last year, we learned that Amtrak will not put its newest generation of passenger cars on its Northeast Corridor routes right away.
That led to former Amtrak President Paul Reistrup writing a letter late last month to the Federal Railroad Administration Administrator questioning the Amtrak decision.
“This poses unknown safety issues because, at speeds up to 125 mph, no rail passenger service in North American railroad history has operated passenger train cars so old, so fast,” Reistrup wrote.
The former Amtrak president noted that he wrote an op-ed piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer after the derailment calling for the replacement of the cars that are nearing a half-century of service.
Reistump is an advisor to AmeriStarRail, a Wilmington-based company that would like to manage Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor operations and replace the ancient Amfleet cars with Acela service According to Reistrup, regional trains account for about 70% of passengers using Northeast Corridor service.
He went on to pitch for AmeriStarRail’s plans as a way to improve safety.
So far AmeriStarRail’s plans has been firmly rejected by Amtrak, which is now armed with federal funds for badly needed upgrades to tracks and equipment.
Amtrak’s older passenger cars are a common site in Bear, the location of Amtrak shops that refurbish the eqipment.
Frontier says families sitting together is a top priority
Frontier Airlines is working to ensure that children are seated with their parents.
When flying Frontier, at least one parent will automatically be seated with any children within their family group who are under the age of 14. At no additional charge, the airline automatically assigns seats based on family members’ ages before the check-in window opens, a release stated.
“We recognize the importance of seating children next to an adult with whom they are traveling,” said Daniel Shurz, senior vice president, commercial a Frontier Airlines. “Since last October, we have been doubling down on our efforts and further enhancing our system for ensuring a parent is seated with any children under the age of 14 in their family group. The system is working well and we are receiving positive feedback.”
The announcement likely came in response to United Airlines announcing measures that reduce the chances of children being separated from their parents. United, Frontier and Southwest all have hubs in Denver and compete with one another.
Southwest, which does not have assigned seating and boards passengers by set numbers allows families to board ahead of some passengers.
Customers also have the option to choose their own seats for a fee, if they prefer, and also have kids fly free promotion.
Southwest’s Internet change
Southwest Airlines did not make some business and leisure fliers happy, including this wirter when it was learned that the discount carrier will charge $8 for each flight segment for Internet access. The charge had been good for the entire day.
Southwest has been upgrading a sometimes balky in-flight Internet system and, according to some accounts, noted that the bulk of fliers do not take connecting flights.
That is not the case when it comes to Philadelphia, which few if any longer nonstop flights.
Frontier and Avelo, the carrier now serving Wilmington-New Castle Airport (ILG) do not offer inflight Internet. – Doug Rainey
