(Utah television station KSL-TV posted the following story on its website on April 29. A video clip of this report may be downloaded at the KSL-TV website at: http://helix.ksl.com/video/ksl/0/34/3462.ram)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — An issue of safety is starting small but promises to grow in Utah.
It centers on a new trend in the railroad industry not many people know about: locomotives run by remote control.
News specialist Richard Piatt is live with more on what this may mean to all of us.
When you see a train coming, you assume a person is on board, running it.
But, believe it or not, Union Pacific is spending a lot of time and money to eliminate engineers from trains so they can be run by remote control.
This is no ordinary locomotive at Union Pacific’s Ogden railyard.
It’s run by remote control–used as a teaching tool.
Union Pacific confirms–it’s training employees to run this diesel engine here—part of a new industry standard that that uses remote control technology.
UP says it’s used mostly in railyards
In Canada, it’s been used for a decade or so.
But engineers across the nation–like Utahn Chris Gallagher are speaking out against remote control trains.
Chris Gallagher/Union Pacific Train Engineer: “The railroads always say ‘safety first, productivity second.’ but in this case, I don’t see that.”
The reason is illustrated in these photographs–serious remote control train accidents that have happened across the nation.
One involved 25-thousand gallons of a hazardous chemical.
Most involved property damage and a few serious injuries.
In all, at least 40 have been documented since December of 2000.
Union Pacific says most of the accidents weren’t caused by the technology–attributable to human error and would have happened anyway.
The company says remote technology has advanced so safety isn’t an issue.
But engineers like Mark Bleckert say safety–even close to railyards–is in question.
Mark Bleckert/Union Pacific Engineer: “They’re taking them across crossings and people don’t know, they look up in that unit and expect to see a conductor, an engineer and it’s not happening. They’re not there. ”
Bleckert and other UP engineers are taking their concerns to the public.
At this South Salt Lake community council meeting, a resolution was passed to try and ban remote control trains from the Roper terminal yard–one of the largest rail yards in the state.
Kay Snow/Millstream Park Community Council: “The mayor is already investigating it. And then the city council will look at banning it–remote control trains from the city.”
In fact 15 other communities have passed resolutions banning remote control trains from their city limits.
But the resolutions are not legally binding, so in at least some case, the trains are running anyway.
(Editor’s note: Brother Chris Gallagher is the Local Chairman of BLE Division 374 in Ogden, Utah and Brother Mark Bleckert is the President of BLE Division 222 in Salt Lake City.)