April 11, 2023 | Headlines, Paid Sick Leave, PSR, Railroad Safety
(Source: Editorial in the Seattle Times, April 9, 2023) State and federal governments recently have focused on ways to make the nation’s railways safer after a series of derailments, from East Palestine, Ohio, to Swinomish, left communities concerned about their own...
April 11, 2023 | Headlines, PSR, Railroad Safety, Whistleblower
(Source: Vice, April 10, 2023) Since 2013, there have been 2,054 whistleblower complaints filed with OSHA by freight rail workers against the seven biggest railroads in the country, known as Class I railroads, according to documents obtained by Motherboard via a...
April 10, 2023 | Derailment, FRA, Headlines, PSR
(Source: Freight Waves, April 7, 2023) The six derailments shared a number of characteristics: Each involved trains that consisted of 125 or more rail cars and utilized DPUs. The six incidents also involved trains that exceeded 4,000 trailing tons. Full story: Freight...
April 10, 2023 | Derailment, East Palestine-NS, FRA, Headlines, PSR, Railroad Safety
(Source: Associated Press, April 7, 2023) “Think about going thru undulating territory sort of like a Slinky. You’re either trying to keep it stretched out or you’re trying to keep it all bunched together to control the forces from going in and out because that’s what...
April 10, 2023 | 2-man Crews, Headlines, Legislation, PSR, Railroad Safety
(Source: Freight Waves, April 6, 2023) Two popular issues among rail unions — train lengths and train crew sizes — have gained traction in state legislatures, with a bill in the Nevada legislature limiting train lengths and a provision requiring train crew sizes of at...
April 10, 2023 | 2-man Crews, Derailment, East Palestine-NS, Headlines, NS, PSR
(Source: Trains Magazine, April 7, 2023) All the positive freight railroad safety statistics in the world — like more than 99.9% of hazardous materials shipments arriving without incident — can’t overcome that image of a towering column of black smoke rising from East...
April 6, 2023 | Derailment, East Palestine-NS, Headlines, PSR
(Source: The Real News Network, March 31, 2023) I am a carman who has worked at Norfolk Southern for nearly 20 years. During that time, I’ve had a front-row seat to the complete and utter degradation of this industry. Full story: The Real News...
April 6, 2023 | Derailment, East Palestine-NS, Headlines, PSR
(Source: Transportation for America, April 5, 2023) Between all seven Class I freight railroad companies, the U.S. saw over 1,000 derailments in 2022. Norfolk Southern (the company responsible for the derailment in East Palestine) had 119 by itself. Other railways had...
April 6, 2023 | East Palestine-NS, Headlines, NS, PSR
(Source: People’s World, April 4, 2023) Unions, safety specialists, and—now—the residents of East Palestine, Ohio, have contended that corporate greed drove Norfolk Southern Railway to cut corners on safety inspections and prevention, thus leading to the disastrous...
April 6, 2023 | Headlines, Legislation, PSR, Railroad Safety
(Source: Nevada Independent, April 5, 2023) Sponsored by the Assembly Committee on Growth and Infrastructure, AB456 would look to cut down on the size of trains that can often reach or exceed 3 miles long and weigh more than 60 million pounds — “monster trains” that...
