General Information
Sound Transit light-rail tunnel construction nearly finished
(Source: Progressive Railroading: 07/02/2018) Construction of Sound Transit‘s East Link light-rail tunnel in downtown Bellevue, Washington, is more than 90 percent completed, the agency announced late last week. Crews are on track to finish the tunnel within 15 months, or about five months earlier than scheduled, Sound Transit officials said in a press release. In mid-July,…
Read MoreHouse Democrats warn FRA against PTC exemptions
(Source: Progressive Railroading 07/02/2018) House Democrats last week warned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) against issuing exemptions that allow railroads to avoid implementing positive train control(PTC). In a letter to FRA Administrator Ron Batory, the lawmakers said the exemptions included in the FRA’s PTC regulations were “overly broad.” Although Congress did not authorize exemptions to the PTC mandate, the…
Read MoreGroup funded by conservative billionaires launches anti-union campaign following Supreme Court ruling
(Source: Bloomberg, June 28, 2018) NEW YORK — Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that millions of public sector workers can stop paying union fees, a group tied to Republican billionaires long opposed to organized labor — and its support of the Democratic Party — has pledged to build on the landmark ruling to further…
Read MoreNorth American rail volume up 3.3 percent in Week 25
(Source: Progressive Railroading 06/28/18) North American rail volume for 12 U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 749,390 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending June 23, resulting in a 3.3 percent increase in traffic compared with the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported this week. U.S. carloads for…
Read MoreOpinion: Janus ruling harms us all
(Source: Opinion column by Marc Boom, Associate Director of Government Affairs for the National Resources Defense Council, June 28, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Public sector unions, which represent nurses, teachers, firefighters, EPA employees, and other public servants, have long been strong allies in protecting our environment. On climate change these unions are the core of…
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