on the effectiveness of using a
Switch Position Awareness
Form to mitigate the risk of an
improperly lined switch. NTSB
investigators reported they
could not find the form used by
F777’s crew that day.
Since the Cayce crash and
the fatal December 2017 acci-
dent involving Amtrak Cas-
cades train No. 501 in DuPont,
Wash., Amtrak has taken safety
risk management into its own
hands rather than relying on its
host carriers, NTSB experts
noted. Roughly 97 percent of
Amtrak’s operations take place
on other railroads’ tracks.
Hoepf said Amtrak has “made
an awful lot of progress.”
As was the case in the
NTSB’s report on the DuPont
accident [see “Cascades Inves-
tigation Finds Widespread
Blame, Dooms Talgos,”
“News,” August 2019], the
NTSB had pointed criticisms
of the FRA in both the synop-
sis of its final report (which
will be issued later) and its
comments. The document said
the FRA “has failed to imple-
ment effective regulation to
mitigate the risk of misaligned
switch accidents” and “has de-
layed needed safety improve-ments” by postponing federal
regulations. (The NTSB also re-
iterated prior calls for the FRA
to evaluate the possible installa-
tion of seat belts in railcars.)“It seems like they have
been doing an awful lot of foot
dragging,” NTSB Vice Chair-
man Bruce Landsberg said of
the FRA. — Curtis TateTrainsMag.com 11The NTSB found human error and inadequate attention to safety led to the 2018 accident in which
Amtrak’s Silver Star hit a parked CSX train. Two Amtrak crew members died. Associated Press/Jeff BlakeShop for books, DVDs,
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