(The following article by Reuter’s correspondent Christopher Doering appeared on Forbes.com.)
WASHINGTON — Labor unions on Tuesday said using remote-controlled locomotives in train switching yards compromises safety and leaves trains more susceptible to terror attacks, but railroads dismissed the charge as the latest attempt to tarnish the technology.
The Teamsters Union and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers said as railroads handle more radioactive and dangerous material, locomotives being operated from another location could be commandeered by terror groups, creating a safety hazard for workers and the public.
U.S. railroads started to use the technology last year in switching yards, where more than half of all train accidents occur. Remote-controlled locomotives are operated by workers using handheld devices assigned to a specific engine.
“Do you think the terrorist might be able to figure out how to override that thing and run it into something where they can cause an explosion?” James Hoffa, president of the Teamsters Union, told about 100 supporters at a rally called to protest increasing use of remote-controlled locomotives.
“There is someone asleep at the switch, and it’s not the engineer. It’s the (Federal Railroad Administration),” he said.
Union officials contend this locomotive will hinder job growth in the industry, but railroads said that no jobs will be lost even as popularity increases.
The remote-controlled engine was introduced nearly 20 years ago, but the FRA, a division of the Transportation Department, approved it for use in the U.S. in 2001.
CSX Corp. (nyse: CSX – news – people), the biggest rail operator in the eastern United States, was among the first to replace some of its switching operations with the remote control technology. CSX said last month that train accidents causing more than $6,700 in damage fell by 60 percent in 2002 when the engines were used.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (nyse: BNI – news – people), Norfolk Southern Corp. (nyse: BNI – news – people) and Union Pacific Corp. (nyse: BNI – news – people) also have successfully deployed dozens of these switching engines in their yards.
The technology has been available in Canada for more than 10 years and has cut accidents by more than 50 percent, according to the Association of American Railroads.
The unions “couldn’t make the (safety) argument fly so they are searching around for a new argument of terrorism”, said Tom White, a spokesman with the AAR, which represents major North American railroads.
Hoffa and other union members said that more than 40 accidents have occurred since 2000 using the remote technology, but they would not say whether the accidents would still have occurred if an engineer was manually operating the train.