— One crewman suffered a foot injury when nine auto racks of Amtrak’s northbound Auto Train derailed Thursday afternoon near DeLand, Fla. None of the train’s passenger cars derailed and no passengers were injured, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, which attributed the derailment to “a problem with the track.” The passenger portion of the train eventually continued north. The Amtrak Alerts twitter feed reports today’s AutoTrain has been cancelled in both directions; today’s Silver Star and Silver Meteor will originate in Jacksonville instead of Miami, while the southbound versions of those trains that departed yesterday will terminate in Jacksonville.
— A New York subway conductor has died of the coronavirus, becoming the first reported Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker to be killed by the disease. The New York Daily News reports that Peter Petrassi, 49, served as a conductor for 21 years and most recently was working in subway operations at an office in Long Island City, N.Y. Subsequently, bus operator Oliver Cyrus, 61, a 21-year veteran of the MTA, also was reported to have died of the COVID-19 virus. They were among at least 52 MTA employees who have tested positive for the virus.
— The Transportation Security Administration will require freight and passenger railroads and public transportation agencies to train employees to “observe, assess, and respond to terrorist-related threats and/or incidents” if they are considered “higher-risk operations” under a rule published in the Federal Register on March 23. The rule estimates about 300 of the nation’s approximately 10,000 surface transportation operations will meet that criteria, including Class I railroads; others handling certain hazardous materials; Amtrak; 46 specified transit agencies in eight major metropolitan areas; and other transit agencies which host a higher-risk freight railroad. The rule, available here, is effective June 22, 2020.
