Five U.S. senators are urging President Obama to fill the vacant National Transportation Safety Board seat with a candidate who has a strong background in rail safety. Wednesday’s letter came on the first anniversary of the fatal Metro-North crash at a rail crossing in Valhalla, in Westchester County.
Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, along with Connecticut Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, write that since 2013 the NTSB has investigated 48 railroad accidents and issued 213 rail-related safety recommendations, including 65 to the Federal Railroad Administration that remain open. The senators say four of the NTSB board seats are occupied by professionals with experience in aviation, highway and auto safety. The vacant seat, they emphasize, should be filled by an individual with a rail background.
