April 2, 2024 | 2-man Crews, FRA, News, Railroad Safety, Train Length
Statement by Eddie Hall BLET National President April 2, 2024 For the past 13 years our union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, has advocated for a federal rule requiring that trains be staffed by a minimum of one certified engineer and a...
April 2, 2024 | 2-man Crews, FRA, Headlines, News, Railroad Safety
(Source: Associated Press, April 2, 2024) Major freight railroads will have to maintain two-person crews on most routes under a new federal rule that was finalized Tuesday. The Federal Railroad Administration released the details of the rule Tuesday morning,...
April 1, 2024 | DOT, FRA, Headlines
(Source: Federal Railroad Administration press release, March 29, 2024) The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that makes available over $2.4 billion in Consolidated Rail...
March 19, 2024 | FRA, News, Technology
Actual photos of autonomous rail equipment differ significantly from the computer-generated imagery widely distributed by manufacturers. (BLET photo taken during 2022 demonstration in Culver City, Calif.) __________ BLET National Vice President Vince Verna reiterated...
March 16, 2024 | FRA, Headlines, PSR, UP
(Source: Freight Waves, March 13, 2024) Jim Vena’s opening remarks Wednesday at the J.P. Morgan 2024 Industrials Conference could easily be seen as a rebuttal to one man: Amit Bose, the chairman of the Federal Railroad Administration. Full story: Freight...
March 14, 2024 | DOT, East Palestine-NS, FRA, Headlines, Railroad Safety
(Source: Associated Press, March 12, 2024) Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has reiterated his concerns about railroad safety and scolded the industry for not doing more to improve since last year’s fiery Ohio derailment. In a new letter to the freight...
March 14, 2024 | BNSF, FRA, Furloughs, Headlines, PSR, UP
(Source: Progressive Farmer, March 11, 2024) Recent layoffs by Class 1 railroads Union Pacific (UP) and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) have not only raised alarms that safety may be compromised but shippers are complaining service has been poor. The Federal...
March 4, 2024 | Engineer Trauma, FRA, Headlines
(Source: BNN Breaking, March 3, 2024) High-profile train derailments may capture public attention, but a more silent crisis looms over America’s railroads, with suicides potentially constituting the majority of fatalities, a revelation that suggests a...
March 1, 2024 | FRA, Furloughs, Headlines, STB, UP
Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose yesterday told Union Pacific Railroad CEO Jim Vena that the company’s furloughs of maintenance of equipment (MoE) workers jeopardizes the safety of railroad workers and the public. “It has come to the...
February 22, 2024 | FRA, Headlines, NS, PSR, Railroad Safety
(Source: Reuters, February 21, 2024) The head of the Federal Railroad Administration on Wednesday urged Norfolk Southern to focus on safety after a group of activist investors proposed replacing the company’s top management. Full story: Yahoo...
