July 1, 2025 | DOT, FRA, News, Technology, Top News
BMWED President Tony Cardwell testified before members of Congress this week about the potential dangers of over-reliance on technology. ____________________ BLET members rely on Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) investigations to hold railroads accountable, but...
June 25, 2025 | DOT, FRA, Headlines, Railroad Safety
(Source: Freight Waves, June 24, 2025) Rail unions are raising concerns about the Trump administration’s plan to roll back protections for federal inspectors and investigators put in place in 2021 that they say could increase safety risks in the rail industry. The...
June 9, 2025 | DOT, News, Top News
BLET leadership traveled to the southern U.S. border in Texas in late-May. ____________________ In a June 2 letter, BLET National President Mark Wallace asked U.S. President Donald J. Trump to take “immediate and decisive action” to help protect national security and...
April 15, 2025 | Amtrak, DOT, FRA, Headlines, High Speed Rail
(Source: Texas Tribune, April 15, 2025) President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday terminated a federal grant to help fund a long-sought high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston — saying that if the embattled project moves forward, it will have to do so...
March 7, 2025 | DOT, FRA, High Speed Rail, News, Top News
According to a recent survey, a majority of Californians support the state’s high-speed rail project. Image: California High-Speed Rail Authority ____________________ DOT Secretary Sean Duffy recently ordered the Federal Railroad Administration to conduct a...
February 6, 2025 | Amtrak, DOT, FRA, Headlines
(Source: Trains.com, February 4, 2025) If you thought Federal Railroad Administration grant programs for things like passenger service, shortline track maintenance, and grade crossing elimination projects would be the least likely place to become a front in the...
February 5, 2025 | DOT, News, Top News
In a positive development for rail safety, Sean Duffy, the newly-confirmed Secretary of U.S. Department of Transportation, testified that he would support the Federal Railroad Administration’s minimum crew size regulation during a Senate confirmation hearing on...
January 21, 2025 | DOT, Headlines
(Source: Trains.com, January 18, 2025) A federal court has struck down a Department of Transportation rule on transportation of liquefied natural gas enacted in 2020, saying the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration did not sufficiently consider the...
January 10, 2025 | DOT, FRA, Headlines
(Source: U.S. Department of Transportation press release, January 10, 2025) WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced that it has awarded more than $1.1 billion in Railroad Crossing Elimination...
December 12, 2024 | DOL, DOT, News, Teamsters, Top News
President-elect Trump has announced his intention to fill two cabinet-level positions of particular interest for the BLET and its members: the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Labor. Former Wisconsin Representative Sean Duffy has been nominated by...
