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Railroad Safety Award Presented to Trio of Amtrak Engineers<http://narprail.org/index.php/news/press-releases/1973-railroad-safety-award-to-be-presented-to-trio-of-amtrak-engineers>

Release #12-08-April 25, 2012

Contact: Sean Jeans-Gail, 202-320-2723

The family of Dr. Gary Burch and the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) presented the 2012 Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award to three Amtrak employees for their groundbreaking work on the monitoring of track conditions, reducing the risk of accidents and derailments. The award, which honors individuals who have significantly enhanced rail passenger safety, is sponsored by the family of Dr. Burch, who died in a 1991 passenger train derailment in South Carolina.

The three members of Amtrak's engineering department-Michael Trosino (Senior Director, Clearances, Inspections and Tests), Steven Chrismer (Principal Engineer Track Geometry), and Marty Perkins, Sr. (Rail Engineer Stress Management in the Engineering Department)-developed a method of measuring rail temperature to determine when heat slow orders are needed. This has proved more precise than the ambient air temperature that most railroads use and Amtrak formerly used.

"Messrs. Trosino, Chrismer and Perkins have demonstrated an extraordinary level of safety commitment to railroad passengers on the NEC and Michigan by implementing this rail temperature monitoring program to reduce the potential for catastrophic risk of track buckles that could result in a serious accident or derailment," said Amtrak President & CEO Joseph Boardman.

The award was presented at NARP's Capitol Hill reception under the auspices of Robert VanderClute, Senior Vice President for Safety & Operations at the Association of American Railroads<http://www.aar.org/> and part of the selection committee. The committee was so impressed by the presentation of the three engineers' work they requested that AAR researchers investigate whether this approach should be adopted by the railroad industry, generally.

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was also in attendance, and congratulated the three Amtrak employees for their dedication to the safety of passengers.

"To [Mr. Trosino, Mr. Chrismer, and Mr. Perkins]: thank you for making sure that passenger rail continues to be very, very important for our country," said LaHood, who has consistently identified "safety" as the U.S. DOT's primary goal during his tenure as Secretary.

The Burch family established the $1,000 award in 1994 and has sponsored it ever since. A list of previous winners can be found on NARP's website<http://narprail.org/index.php/resources/more-about-narp/1945-narp-awards>.

About NARP
NARP is the only national organization speaking for the users of passenger trains and rail transit. We have worked since 1967 to expand the quality and quantity of passenger rail in the U.S. Our mission is to work towards a modern, customer-focused national passenger train network that provides a travel choice Americans want. Our work is supported by over 22,000 individual members.

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