February 8, 2024 | Fatality, Memorials, News, NS
A visitation and funeral for fallen Brother Christopher M. Wilson will be held on February 9 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. A member of BLET Division 423, Brother Wilson was killed in a Norfolk Southern rail yard accident on January 31. The National Transportation Safety...
February 5, 2024 | Derailment, Fatality, FRA, Legislation, News, NS, Railroad Safety
On January 25, 2024, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced a final rule requiring railroads to provide emergency escape breathing apparatuses to train crew members who work on hazardous materials trains. The FRA press release announcing the final rule...
February 3, 2024 | 2-man Crews, East Palestine-NS, Legislation, News, NS, Railroad Safety
In an ideal world, February 3, 2024, would serve as a day to reflect on the safety improvements the rail industry has made since Norfolk Southern’s derailment and massive chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio. But the sad reality is that the rail industry has learned...
February 2, 2024 | News, NS, Railroad Safety
The BLET and Norfolk Southern will begin working together to improve safe train operations under a joint FRA Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS). The Implementing Memorandum of Understanding (IMOU), was announced on January 29. C3RS allows operating...
February 2, 2024 | Fatality, News, NS, Obituary
It is with heavy hearts that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) reports that on Wednesday, January 31, locomotive engineer Chris M. Wilson, 55, was killed at the Norfolk Southern yard in Decatur, Alabama. Wilson, a BLET member, was a 30-year...
February 2, 2024 | Headlines, NS, Railroad Safety
(Source: Associated Press, January 29, 2024) About 1,000 engineers and conductors who work for Norfolk Southern will soon be able to report safety concerns anonymously through a federal system without any fear of discipline. Officials with the unions that signed onto...
February 2, 2024 | Headlines, NS, Railroad Safety
(Source: Television station WDBJ 7, January 30, 2024) The Confidential Close Call Reporting System has been used successfully in the aviation industry, but so far, only about two dozen of the 800 railroads in the U.S. are participating. “It’s a good deal. And it’s a...
February 2, 2024 | Headlines, NS
(Source: Trains.com, January 31, 2024) An activist investor group has taken a $1 billion stake in Norfolk Southern and aims to wrest control of the company’s board and oust CEO Alan Shaw, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal this evening. Full story:...
February 2, 2024 | BNSF, CSX, Headlines, NS, STB, UP
(Source: Trains.com, January 31, 2024) The Surface Transportation Board today issued a decision that extends the temporary reporting of employment data through the end of the year and that requires certain updated information from BNSF Railway, CSX, Norfolk Southern,...
January 29, 2024 | News, NS, Railroad Safety, SMART-TD
Joint safety initiative provides employees confidential forum to report safety issues Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC), the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation...
