(The following story by Joan Kent appeared on the Lacrosse Tribune website on November 21.)
LACROSSE, Wisc. — The four Democratic members of Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation have sent a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration asking for enforceable regulations of remote-control trains.
The letter, dated Nov. 19, follows a similar letter sent July 29 by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said James Kinsman, local member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
“This is a national grassroots campaign,” he said. “Wisconsin is the first state that has half its delegation sending a letter stating in one clear voice that they have concerns about the operation (of remote-control trains).”
“Wisconsin Congressional members have been taking a huge lead in this,” Kinsman said. “We appreciate everything they have done. We feel they made the right decision in sending this letter because this is a community-wide safety issue.”
The BLE has been seeking stricter controls on the remote-control trains through several measures. Last May, the La Crosse Common Council said no to a proposal to hold public hearings on the issue. BLE members argued it is a safety issue, but members of the United Transportation Union, whose members operate the trains, argued that it is a labor dispute.
“Numerous industry experts assert that this technology is inherently unsafe and increases the risk of injury to people and property from accidents,” says the letter signed by Jerry Kleczka, Ron Kind, David Obey and Tammy Baldwin. In addition, the four say they have been told that the employees operating the controls are not adequately trained.
The unmanned trains pose a hazard to communities when they are carrying hazardous materials and are “an open invitation to terrorists seeking to turn them into vehicles of destruction,” the letter says.
FRA regulations are voluntary, and railroad companies have failed to adopt many of the suggested actions, so the use of remote-control trains is essentially unregulated, the letter says.
In addition to asking for enforceable regulations, the four members of Congress ask the FRA to forward any documentation pertaining to accidents involving remote-control trains. They ask specifically for the number of fatalities or serious injuries and property damage costs.
A spokesperson for the Association of American Railroads disagreed with the contention that numerous industry experts say remote-control technology is not safe.
“As far as I know, the only one asserting that is the BLE,” said Tom White. “The evidence indicates that when you put in the remote control technology, the accident rate falls.”
It is premature to ask for more regulations until an audit of safety issues, being done by the FRA, is completed, he said.
White also disputed that the trains are attractive to terrorists. Taking over a train would require overcoming the two people operating the remotes, taking over the devices and knowing how to use them, he said, “as opposed to taking over from one person in the locomotive cab.”
He and James M. Brunkenhoefer, UTU national legislative director, contend that the the issue is a jurisdictional dispute between the UTU and BLE.
In an April 16 letter to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Brunkenhoefer said the BLE appears to be saying that remote control technology is unsafe “to either stop the use of remote control in the United States or to gain work for their own members.”