Posts by William Wallace
Criminal prosecution for unintentional mistakes is blatantly unfair to locomotive engineers and trainmen
By Dennis R. Pierce BLET National President INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, February 12 — In the wake of recent dramatic and highly visible railroad accidents in the United States and Canada, there has been a trend to criminalize railroad workers and prosecute them as the sole cause of these tragedies. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen…
Read MoreUP reports PTC status for Q4 2017
(Source: Progressive Railroading 02/08/2018) Union Pacific Railroad yesterday announced the status of its positive train control(PTC) implementation plan. UP will meet all required deadlines for installing PTC on its network, and will continue to test and refine the system’s “immature technologies” in 2019-2020, according to a company press release. The Class I’s PTC footprint covers 17,000 route…
Read MoreBNSF slates $160 million in capex for Washington state
(Source: Progressive Railroading 02/08/2018) BNSF Railway Co. will spend $160 million to upgrade its infrastructure in Washington state, the Class I announced yesterday. The railroad’s Washington capital expenditures plan this year will focus on maintenance projects. The plan’s largest component will involve replacing and upgrading rail, ties and ballast, BNSF officials said in a press release.…
Read MoreUP says PTC to be ready in 2020
(Source: Associated Press, February 7, 2018) OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific says it expects to finish installing and testing a new automatic braking system on the railroad by the end of 2020. Full story: www.usnews.com Thursday, February 08, 2018
Read MoreSen. Blumenthal blasts withdrawal of sleep apnea policy
(Source: Transport Topics, February 7, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The determination by federal investigators that two high-profile train collisions in New York and New Jersey were the result of undiagnosed sleep apnea prompted a member of the Senate Commerce Committee to rebuke the Trump administration’s withdrawal of a potential new policy on the sleep disorder.…
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