Safety
AAR to FRA: Emergency regs for freight-train length unnecessary
(Source: Progressive Railroading 10/17/2023) In an Oct. 12 letter to Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose, Association of American Railroads President and CEO Ian Jefferies said “there is no emergency” when it comes to the safety of freight trains that are longer than 7,500 feet. Jefferies wrote to Bose in response to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and…
Read MoreRailroad unions want scrutiny of remote control trains after death of worker in Ohio rail yard
(Source: Associated Press, October 6, 2023) Some railroad unions want more scrutiny of the safety of remote control operations major railroads have used for years in and around railyards without significant problems. Remote control helps limit costs by using less experienced workers to move locomotives that help assemble trains — a task that once required…
Read MoreBlame the workers: Despite previous promises, railroads resist joining confidential safety program because they want to be able to discipline workers
The major freight railroads say a disagreement over whether they will be allowed to discipline some workers has kept them from following through on the promise they made back in March to join the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS). The Association of American Railroads sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg this…
Read MoreU.S. Senate leader Schumer urges federal safety probe into all major freight railroads
By Richard Cowan and David Shepardson (Source: msn.com 03/16/2023) WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday urged a federal investigation into safety practices of all seven major freight railroads, following the East Palestine, Ohio derailment of a Norfolk Southern Corp train. In a letter, Schumer urged the National Transportation Safety Board…
Read MoreBLET President Hall statement on NTSB’s preliminary report on the East Palestine derailment
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, February 23 — The following statement is from Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) National President Eddie Hall in response to the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) preliminary report released today on the East Palestine, Ohio derailment: The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has been assisting the National Transportation Safety Board…
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