June 1, 2024 | News, Railroad Safety, Remote Control
The BLET questions the safety of remote control train operations and demands safety reforms in a sweeping investigative report published by the New York Times on May 27 (via Yahoo, no subscription necessary). This major news story with national implications came about...
February 23, 2024 | News, Remote Control
Last week, on February 16, a woman was struck and killed by a remote controlled locomotive (RCL) in CSX Transportation’s Frontier Yard in Buffalo, New York. This is at least the second time in the past year that a CSX RCL has been involved with hitting a local...
October 13, 2023 | CSX, Fatality, Headlines, Remote Control
(Source: Associated Press, October 6, 2023) Some railroad unions want more scrutiny of the safety of remote control operations major railroads have used for years in and around railyards without significant problems. Remote control helps limit costs by using less...
September 22, 2023 | News, Remote Control
The death of a CSX carman, Fred Anderson, 56, who was struck and killed by a remote controlled train on September 17 in Wallbridge Yard, near Toledo, has renewed calls for stricter rules on the use of remote operations. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and...
June 19, 2023 | BNSF, Fatality, Headlines, NTSB, Remote Control
(Source: Trains Magazine, June 16, 2023) Slack action was the probable cause of the Feb. 9, 2022, death of a BNSF Railway remote control operator helper who fell from the front platform of his locomotive in Denver, the National Transportation Safety Board said today....
June 15, 2023 | Railroad Safety, Remote Control, UP
By Eddie Hall, BLET National President This commentary appeared in The Houston Chronicle, both in print and online, on April 26, 2023 Virtually every day, Union Pacific moves a train of up to 80 cars – many of them filled with ethanol, liquid petroleum, and a variety...
April 3, 2023 | 2-man Crews, Headlines, Remote Control, UP
(Source: NBC News, April 1, 2023) Congress is pushing to mandate a specific crew size on trains following a series of dangerous incidents. But the legislation leaves out a type of train that regularly carries hazardous chemicals in major metropolitan areas with no...
February 21, 2023 | 2-man Crews, Derailment, DOT, East Palestine-NS, News, NS, Remote Control
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, February 21 — The following statement is from BLET National President Eddie Hall in response to recommendations released today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: Our members who work in the cabs of the nation’s train engines welcome...
January 27, 2023 | 2-man Crews, Headlines, PSR, Railroad Safety, Remote Control, SMART-TD
(Source: SMART Transportation Division press release, January 26, 2023) In a letter dated Jan. 25, the general chairperson of SMART Transportation Division’s GO 577 informed Union Pacific’s senior vice president of operations that the union was withdrawing from any...
March 31, 2022 | BNSF, Headlines, NTSB, Remote Control
NTSB publishes preliminary report on February fatality of BNSF worker in Denver (Source: National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report, March 29, 2022) WASHINGTON, D.C. — This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors...
