The Nation - News from Feb. 22, 1988

A rash of railroad accidents last month should show Congress that serious problems remain in the industry since the worst wreck in Amtrak history 14 months ago, Federal Railroad Administrator John Riley said. Equally troubling, he said, is that the federal government has less power to curtail railroad accidents now than it did when three Conrail locomotives slid through a warning signal and collided with an Amtrak passenger train near Chase, Md., in January, 1987. Sixteen people were killed. Riley has been lobbying for measures before House-Senate conference committees that would permit direct government sanctions against railroad workers for safety violations and authorize random drug testing.