Head of Railroad Administration, Facing Two Inquiries, Is Quitting -NYT

[Rose Siding]

Facing two federal investigations of her agency's oversight of rail safety, the acting head of the Federal Railroad Administration announced yesterday that she was stepping down.

The official, Betty Monro, who has led the agency for six months, told her staff in an e-mail message that she had decided to retire. She will leave at the end of the month, the agency said.

The narrower investigation focuses on certain regulatory questions, as well as Ms. Monro's ties to Mary E. McAuliffe, chief lobbyist for the biggest railroad, Union Pacific. That report, by the inspector general of Transportation Department, is complete, officials said yesterday. They declined to release it.
...
Since President Bush appointed Ms. Monro deputy administrator in 2001, she has vacationed several times with Ms. McAuliffe. Union Pacific has said that they are longtime friends and that each paid her own way.

...She issued a statement saying the inspector general had found that her agency had strengthened its enforcement actions, not weakened them. But she also acknowledged that the report raised concerns about her relationship with "a member of Union Pacific's staff."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/18/politics/18rail.html?ex=1261112400&en=8582e5aa95c59010&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

[Karenina]

1. It's really a tragedy

that the Northeast doesn't sport the most awesome rail transport ever seen...

[kclown]

2. Can't find Tom Colburn's e-mail address, but

it looks like the problem extends beyond Oklahoma high
schools.

Seems to go right to the top of the RNC.

[acmavm]

3. The NYT did an excellent expose of the railroad industry called

Blood on the Tracks. If you have the time and inclination, it's more than worthwhile to go back and read it.