Metra Senior Manager of Train Operations Shamonda Jones has been selected by the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) as the recipient of the 2016 Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award. The award is a national honor recognizing the railroad worker who has done the most in the past year to improve safety for railroad passengers.
“This is a wonderful recognition of someone who works very hard every day to ensure that Metra’s riders get to their destinations safely,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “Shamonda’s dedication to helping Metra’s entire dispatching staff do their jobs in ways that promote safety, consistency and good communication are qualities we should all emulate.”
NARP honored Ms. Jones for her initiative in launching an audit and major revision of the agency’s train dispatcher and control operator manuals that improved safety by greatly reducing opportunities for miscommunication. Ms. Jones initiated the audit following an incident on the Metra Electric Line in 2015 where a train traveled into an area where the overhead wires had been damaged by another train. The incident resulted in a power arc that damaged a rail car.
The audit showed the need for a universal set of instructions that consolidated the rules, instructions, protocols and practices related to power control and train operations. The revised document established connectivity and consistency between the departments responsible for train movement and those responsible for power distribution. Ms Jones also identified the need for additional personnel to audit the power loads and identify potential issues that are then forwarded to Metra’s Engineering Department for review and repair if necessary.
Ms. Jones, who is responsible for managing and directing all dispatchers, control operators and load dispatchers at Metra’s Consolidated Control Facility, was also praised by NARP and her superiors at Metra for her outreach to other departments within the agency and her efforts to foster a culture of safety among the 40 dispatchers she oversees.
The Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award was created by the family of Dr. Burch, one of eight passengers killed in the 1991 derailment of Amtrak’s Silver Star in South Carolina. The award comes with a $1,000 prize.
Ms. Jones, who is the first Metra employee to receive this award, will be recognized at NARP’s Annual Congressional Reception on April 12, 2016 in Washington, D.C.