MINOT, N.D. — Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway will soon be using remote-controlled locomotives for its switching operations east of Minot at Gavin Yard, the Minot Daily News reported.
BNSF says the remote-controlled trains will improve safety and efficiency, while the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers labor union says the remote-controlled trains are unsafe and will eliminate jobs.
Gus Melonas, spokesman for Burlington Northern-Santa Fe in Seattle, said safety is one of the main reasons the remote controlled trains will be used.
“It gives direct control of the equipment to the people working around the trains,” Melonas said. “The last thing we want to do is incorporate a system that will cause safety problems.”
Melonas said some railroads in Canada have reduced yard accidents by up to 70 percent with the remote-control technology.
The technology for remote-controlled trains has been used in the United States for less than a year, but has been used in Canada for about 10 years. BNSF also uses the remote-controlled trains in Mandan.
John Bergene, a spokesman for Canadian Pacific Railway, said none of CP Rail’s trains in North Dakota are remote-controlled, but some in Canada are.
The remote-control units, which weigh about five pounds, are strapped to the controller’s body and have buttons that control the train.
Melonas said a team of two people on the ground control the trains at various locations.
There are safety features that stop the train if the controller falls on the ground or if there are problems with the trains. Only one person can operate the controls at a given time, but both operators can stop the train in case of an emergency.
One of the main arguments the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers has against using remote-controlled trains is that the people operating the controls are not engineers.
“We believe it is the engineer’s job to operate the trains whether trains are being operated by remote-control or manually,” said John Bentley, a spokesman for the BLE in Cleveland.
Bentley said the majority of people operating the trains by remote-control are switchmen, brakemen and conductors.
Melonas said the operators receive “extensive training,” in the classroom and on the ground.
Bentley said the controllers are given about 80 hours of training where an engineer goes through eight months of school to learn how to manually operate a train.
“Using this new technology and people with only 80 hours of training is a recipe for disaster,” Bentley said.
Bentley also said some claims of increased safety are skewed because they are fewer employees to consider when remote-controlled trains are used.
“If you have fewer employees there will be fewer accidents,” Bentley said.
The BLE, which has about 38,000 active members in the United States and Canada, is currently disputing the use of remote-controlled trains and hopes to resolve the issue by the end of the year through an arbitration panel.
BNSF and other railroads across the country filed a lawsuit in January to block a union strike and that suit has yet to be settled.
Engineers who are replaced by the new technology won’t lose their jobs because they have a lot of seniority with the railroad, but Bentley said some employees with little seniority will lose their jobs.
The City Council in Baton Rouge, La., passed a city ordinance last month banning the use of remote-controlled trains, but Bentley said the ordinance really isn’t enforceable and was passed as a way to draw attention to the issue.
Minot City Council member Neil Leigh, a former BNSF employee, said he believes the trains are safe.
“There is nothing to worry about as long as there are protected crossings,” Leigh said. Leigh said the Railroad Hazardous Materials Safety Committee will have a report about the remote-controlled trains at the next meeting which has not yet been set.
Melonas said the remote-controlled trains will be confined to Gavin Yard at slow speeds, but will travel over some public crossings.
There are currently signs at crossings near Gavin Yard that alert motorists to remote-controlled trains.
Melonas said technology of all kinds is used widely in the railroad industry including in maintenance, operations, safety and security.
“The railroad may appear to some people to be obsolete, however, people would be amazed at how advanced railroads are,” Melonas said.