(The LaCrosse Tribune posted the following article by Joan Kent on its website on April 28.)
LA CROSSE, Wisc. — Safer than human beings or a prescription for disaster?
That’s the divergence of opinions regarding remote control technology for trains, which will be considered by the La Crosse Common Council at its May meetings.
Mayor John Medinger, who said he has been contacted by both sides, introduced a resolution for public hearings so the city can take an official position on the issue that has stirred controversy in communities across the country.
The only remote control trains in La Crosse now are at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe train yard, Medinger said.
The railway is using the “portable locomotive control technology” on three switch engines at the yard in La Crosse, said Steve Forsberg, Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman. As the local yard is small, he said that is probably the maximum number that will be used here.
The railway started using the technology in this country in February 2002, and uses it only on switch engines in rail yards, he said.
There are no plans to use the remotes on trains that travel on railroad tracks through communities, Forsberg said. The remotes have a radius of only a mile, so it would make no sense to use them for trains outside rail yards, he said. “I wouldn’t want to run alongside to keep up with the train. The technology is not designed for it.”
The resolution being considered in La Crosse says that trains pose danger from possible collision, derailment and release of hazardous materials. It also says the U.S. government has issued a safety alert against vandalism and terrorist threats, and that rail cargo can consist of potentially lethal chemicals and hazardous materials.
“Probably there is little the city can do about them; they will probably be regulated by the federal government,” Medinger said. “But hundreds of cities have passed resolutions opposed to the trains, and (Sen.) Ted Kennedy has already introduced legislation to prohibit them.”
The resolution goes to the council’s Judiciary and Administration Committee on Tuesday, the Committee of the Whole on May 6 and the council May 8.
Canadian railroads have been using the technology, in which an operator controls a locomotive via a radio control unit, for about 10 years. The nation’s major freight railroads and the United Transportation Union entered agreements late in 2001 and began using the remote control in spring 2002.
Two railroad workers’ unions – the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the UTU – are fighting on the issue. The UTU, which stands to gain members, endorses the change, while the BLE, which stands to lose members, says it is not safe.