BLET News
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 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.…
Read MoreNTSB cites undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea in two recent commuter rail crashes
(Source: National Transportation Safety Board press release, February 6, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday determined that two commuter railroad terminal accidents in the New York area were caused by engineer fatigue resulting from undiagnosed severe obstructive sleep apnea. The Sept. 29, 2016, accident on the New Jersey Transit railroad at Hoboken,…
Read MoreAll charges reinstated against engineer in fatal 2015 Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia
(Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, February 6, 2018) PHILADELPHIA — In a decision certain to reignite debate over one of the most consequential events in recent city history, a Philadelphia judge on Tuesday reinstated all criminal charges against the engineer in the fatal 2015 Amtrak derailment. Full story: Philadelphia Inquirer Thursday, February 08, 2018
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