TOLEDO, Ohio — A state senator from Youngstown, who is a CSX train engineer, has introduced a bill that would prohibit operation of remotely controlled locomotives over public road crossings, the Toledo Blade reported.
State Sen. Bob Hagan (D., Youngstown) said yesterday that while he “can’t deny” that the potential loss of jobs to remote-control operation is of concern to him, “my issue is one of safety more than anything.”
He questioned whether employees using remote control devices are adequately trained, and he accused railroads of putting profit ahead of the public’s welfare.
But CSX Transportation Corp., which in late May began operating remotely controlled locomotives at Stanley Yard in Wood County’s Lake Township, maintains that the safety factor is on its side with the technology.
“Remote control isn’t new technology,” said David Hall, a CSX spokesman in Lexington, Ky. “There has been a dramatic reduction in yard accidents in places where remote control has been introduced. It’s our responsibility to our employees, customers, and the communities we serve to take advantage of a technology that promotes safety.”
Rudy Husband, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern Corp., denied that remote-control training is inadequate.
“We would not allow them to operate a locomotive by remote control if we felt they were not qualified to do so,” he said.
Senator Hagan’s bill, introduced Tuesday, proposes a minimum fine of $10,000 for any railroad company found to be using a remote-control locomotive on any train that crosses a public road.
The senator, whose brother, Tim Hagan, is challenging Gov. Bob Taft in the November election, conceded that his bill faces long odds in the Republican-controlled legislature, but said he hopes colleagues whom he has supported on other matters will rally behind him in his area,
CSX operates remote-control locomotives in five switching yards in Ohio, including Stanley and Walbridge yards near Toledo, and Goodman Yard, near Lordstown, where Senator Hagan works as an engineer.
Remote-control training has begun for employees at CSX’s yard in Lima.Norfolk Southern uses remote-control locomotives in Bellevue, Portsmouth, and Columbus.
Yard switching operations at Stanley and Walbridge involve two public road crossings, and Senator Hagan said remote-control locomotives cross four roads near Goodman Yard.
Senator Hagan’s union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, has counted several accidents and two maimings since March in the United States that involved remotely controlled trains, although it has not been shown that problems with remote control devices caused the accidents.
Members of the United Transportation Union, a bitter BLE rival, have been training to operate remote-control engines after signing a pilot agreement last year with the Association of American Railroads.