A remote control incident in July 2024 caused a CSXT locomotive to crash into a residential neighborhood in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
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Baltimore television station WBAL reports that a collision between two CSXT trains at the Curtis Bay Yard in Baltimore led to a derailment that injured two people on March 14. Two crew members were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
BLET sources say this is the latest in a string of accidents involving remote control locomotives. The March 14 incident involved a two-person remote control crew, who had a combined 11 months of railroad seniority. One worker was on the ground controlling the movement with the remote control belt-pack device, while the other worker was inside the cab of the locomotive to provide point protection. During a movement, however, the employee in the cab inexplicably failed to alert the operator of an obstruction ahead, causing the collision.
An inexperienced crew working in the dark of night (the accident happened around 2:45 a.m.) likely contributed to the accident. BLET sources say with confidence that this accident would not have occurred with a seasoned crew and a locomotive engineer at the throttle.
BLET has led the way in warning the public about the dangers posed by remote control locomotives. Since the Houston Chronicle published National President Eddie Hall’s column about Union Pacific’s use of remotes in 2023, major national news stories quoting BLET leaders have appeared in the Associated Press, NBC News and the New York Times.
In March, BLET First Vice President Mark Wallace met with Rep. Tim Kennedy (NY-26) regarding a number of high-profile remote control incidents that have recently taken place on CSX rail lines in the Congressman’s district, including one death and two life-altering amputations in Buffalo and a derailment in a residential neighborhood in Niagara Falls.