(The Clinton Herald posted the following article by Scott. T. Holland on its website on May 25.)
CLINTON, Iowa — Are remote control trains a threat to public safety?
Not the ones that move around a miniature landscape in someone’s basement, but real, live, remote-controlled, unmanned locomotives.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers will address the Clinton City Council on Tuesday night to present the argument that an unmanned locomotive is an open invitation to trespassers, possible vandals and even terrorists.
According to the BLE Web site, 17 cities – including Boston, Detroit and Cleveland – and nine counties have passed resolutions calling for a ban of unmanned locomotives. May also are asking the Federal Railroad Administration to adopt enforceable regulations to make these operations safer.
Literature provided by the BLE to the Clinton Herald states the Union Pacific Railroad intends to use the technology in Clinton, “where much of the train traffic is petrochemicals and hazardous cargo.”
The BLE packet contains resolutions adopted by other communities, many of which ban the use of unmanned locomotives until four safety criteria are met. They include notification of the mayor’s office before such operations are implemented; restricting remote control locomotives’ use in transporting hazardous materials or switching cars containing or near hazardous materials; prohibiting remote-controlled locomotives from operating over a public or private highway rail crossing without a person in the cab of the locomotive who is capable of stopping the engine and its attached equipment; and demanding the railroad provide effective and reliable protection at the point of movement in any location accessible to the general public for any remote-control operation.
The literature also includes a copyrighted story from the Baton Rouge, La., Advocate detailing a remote-controlled train derailment on Feb. 12. The story said an unmanned train derailed “on a highway overpass, damaging cars below and closing the highway for hours.”
Furthermore, it details reports from the FBI that rail traffic is highly susceptible to terrorist attacks. The Union Pacific railroad bridge in Clinton as well as the Burlington Northern Sante Fe bridge in Fort Madison were identified among 250 critical assets across the country that need protection while the nation was under a heightened security alert in March and April.
The terror level dropped and 24-hour supervision of the bridges stopped, but the terror alert level was raised again earlier this week to orange, the second-highest on the Department of Homeland Security’s color-coded chart.
The issue will be discussed during the council’s Committee of the Whole session, which immediately follows the regular business agenda beginning at 7 p.m.