July 2, 2025 | Long Trains, News, Top News, Train Length
Eddie Strom, President of BLET Division 28, in his interview with television station KOLD News 13 in Tucson regarding train thefts and extremely long trains. ____________________ An investigative report by CBS Texas broadcast in June examines how the use of longer and...
May 5, 2025 | News, Rail Thefts, Railroad Safety, Railroad Security, Top News, Train Length
BLET Division 28 President Eddie Strom was in Washington D.C. to represent BLET at a roundtable discussion about rail cargo thefts. ____________________ The BLET provided a working railroader’s perspective on the growing trend of rail cargo thefts at a Congressional...
February 26, 2025 | BNSF, Headlines, Mexico, Railroad Security, Train Length, UP
(Source: Associated Press, February 24, 2025) In a Jan. 13 robbery, suspects cut an air brake hose on a BNSF freight train traveling through a remote section of Arizona and made off with more than 1,900 pairs of unreleased Nikes worth more than $440,000, according to...
October 7, 2024 | Derailment, Headlines, NS, NTSB, Train Length
(Source: Progressive Railroading, October 3, 2024) The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined the probable cause of a March 2023 train derailment of a Norfolk Southern Railway train in Alabama was the combination of the coupling together of two...
July 31, 2024 | Amtrak, Headlines, Lawsuit, NS, PSR, Train Length
(Source: Associated Press, July 30, 2024) Norfolk Southern railroad has been causing chronic delays for Amtrak between New York and New Orleans by forcing the passenger trains to wait while its massive freight trains pass, the federal government said in a lawsuit...
July 26, 2024 | Headlines, Quarterly Income, Train Length, UP
(Source: Trains.com, July 25, 2024) Union Pacific’s profits rose in the second quarter despite a sharp drop in coal traffic. Quarterly operating income increased 9%, to $2.4 billion, as revenue grew 1%, to $6 billion. Earnings per share rose 7%, to $2.74. UP’s...
July 24, 2024 | 2-man Crews, C3RS, East Palestine-NS, Headlines, Legislation, Railroad Safety, Train Length
(Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 23, 2024) New bipartisan legislation to improve railroad safety following the East Palestine derailment was announced Tuesday as a House subcommittee held a three-hour hearing on what steps were needed to prevent a repeat...
July 16, 2024 | East Palestine-NS, Headlines, Legislation, Railroad Safety, Train Length
(Source: Progressive Railroading, July 15, 2024) U.S. Reps. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) on July 11 introduced a bill calling for enhanced safety requirements for trains transporting hazardous materials. H.R. 8996 would incorporate aspects of...
July 10, 2024 | FRA, News, Top News, Train Length
A recent article published at Jacobin.com examines how the railroad industry has continued to aggressively lobby against federal safety regulations since the 2023 East Palestine disaster, even as new data suggests that increases in train length have made derailments...
June 29, 2024 | East Palestine-NS, News, NS, NTSB, Train Length
These Brothers represented BLET at the NTSB board meeting in East Palestine on June 25 (from left): Director of Political Affairs Brendan Sullivan; National VP & NLR Vince Verna; National VP and STF Chairman Randy Fannon, STF National Coordinator Brian Fransen,...
