BLET News
Amtrak layoffs, service cuts would dismantle rail system, protesting workers say
(Source: www.amny.com, October 9, 2018) NEW YORK — Amtrak workers rallied outside of Penn Station against what they fear will be a systematic dismantling of service quality and loss of thousands of middle-class jobs at the railroad. Amtrak president and CEO Richard Anderson is planning roughly 1,700 layoffs for the railroad’s onboard service workers, according…
Read MoreCleanup efforts continue from Sunday’s derailment of UP train near Alton, Iowa
(Source: Sioux City Journal, September 24, 2018) ALTON, Iowa — Cleanup efforts are continuing following a Sunday train derailment around Third and River streets in this Sioux County town. A bridge beneath a 95-car Union Pacific train collapsed, derailing 37 cars at 4:30 a.m. Sunday. Twenty of those cars carrying soybean oil and sand went…
Read MoreBipartisan group of 27 U.S. legislators urge DOT’s Chao to block KCS safety waiver that allows Mexican train crews to operate in U.S.
(BLET Editor’s Note: The following press release was issued by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.) WASHINGTON, D.C., September 18 — On September 17, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Ranking Member Michael Capuano (D-MA) sent a bipartisan letter, signed by…
Read MoreTrump officials roll back Obama-era ECP brake rule
(Source: The Hill, September 24, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration on Monday repealed a mandate that would have required trains carrying crude oil to use special brakes with new technology. The Department of Transportation’s Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said it undertook a congressionally mandated analysis of the provision in a…
Read MoreTTD: Freight rail safety, jobs must not be jeopardized in pursuit of profits
(Source: Column by AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Larry I Willis, September 20, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — There is little disagreement among lawmakers, frontline workers, government agencies, and even rail carriers themselves that freight rail in this country must be held to the highest safety standards and oversight rules. Yet, as we speak, the Federal Railroad…
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