General Information

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, January 24 — Each year, the BLET National Division compiles a list of scholarship opportunities available to the children of BLET members. Numerous financial aid opportunities are published below in the 2023 BLET Scholarship Directory. The following comprehensive list provides members and their families with contact information for each scholarship program. The BLET…

(Source: Trains Magazine, January 12, 2023) The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a lower-court ruling that Union Pacific is no longer bound by a contract requiring it to maintain a certain number of employees in the city of Palestine, which dates to an 1872 contract with one of the railroad’s predecessors. Full story: Trains…

(Source: Trains Magazine, January 12, 2023) Rail traffic is expected to have another tough year as intermodal, carload, and coal traffic will all struggle to show growth. North American rail traffic was down 1.9% overall last year, according to the Association of American Railroads. International and domestic intermodal aren’t likely to grow this year as…

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, January 10 — This is truly a new year for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. On January 1, a new team of officers took the oath of office and the union embarked on a new era.   Edward A. Hall, the union’s new National President, is joined by new First Vice President Mark…

(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, January 4, 2023) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending December 31, 2022, as well as volumes for December 2022. U.S. railroads originated 842,171 carloads in December 2022, down 4.4 percent, or 38,476 carloads, from December 2021. U.S.…