July 31, 2024 | Amtrak, Commuter Rail, News, Organizing, Top News
BLET National President Eddie Hall officially welcomed 36 new members into the BLET family today. Train and engine service employees with commuter railroad COASTER voted to join the union in an election certified by the National Mediation Board earlier this afternoon....
July 25, 2024 | Commuter Rail, Contract Negotiations, Headlines
(Source: Fox 5 New York, July 24, 2024) Following a summer of delays and service outages, President Biden just signed an order to keep NJ Transit workers from walking off the job for at least the next few months. However, do riders still need to worry about a...
July 25, 2024 | Commuter Rail, Contract Negotiations, Headlines
(Source: www.nj.com, July 24, 2025) NJ Transit officials asked President Joe Biden to form a Presidential Emergency Board, a move heading off a potential rail strike by locomotive engineers and trainmen that could have crippled the daily commute. Full story:...
July 19, 2024 | Amtrak, Commuter Rail, Headlines, Weather
(Source: Trains.com, July 18, 2024) Extreme heat is taking its toll on rail transportation along the Northeast Corridor, with transit agencies and Amtrak all feeling the impact and taking operational measures. Full story: Trains.com
July 1, 2024 | Commuter Rail, News, Tentative Contract
The BLET has reached a tentative contract with SEPTA, and ballots were mailed today to eligible members who operate regional rail trains for the transit agency. The tentative three-year contract would run from March 3, 2023 to March 2, 2026. Among other gains, the...
June 25, 2024 | Commuter Rail, Contract Negotiations, National Mediation Board, News
30-day “cooling-off” period begins today as NMB releases BLET from mediation Today, the National Mediation Board (NMB), the federal agency that regulates labor relations for railroads and airlines, has granted release to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and...
May 15, 2024 | Amtrak, Commuter Rail, DOT, FRA, Headlines
(Source: Federal Railroad Administration press release, May 14, 2024) The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that makes available over $2 billion in Federal-State Partnership...
April 11, 2024 | Commuter Rail, Headlines
(Source: NBC New York, April 10, 2024) NJ Transit’s board convened Wednesday to vote on what would be its first fare hike in nearly a decade, a 15% increase that would take effect on the heels of New York City’s controversial congestion pricing tolls, if...
April 11, 2024 | Commuter Rail, Headlines
(Source: Progressive Railroading, April 9, 2024) The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) has launched a $430 million program to upgrade stations, track and other critical equipment on the 116-year-old Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. (PATH) rail...
March 11, 2024 | Commuter Rail, News
BLET members at a recent NJ Transit public hearing, from left: Mike Liffner, Division 53; Steve McCusker, Division 373; Pete McGinnis, Division 373 Vice Local Chairman; and Don Melhorn, Division 272 Secretary-Treasurer. __________ NJ Transit held the first of 10...
