(The Whittier Daily News posted the following story by Ben Baeder on its website on October 6.)
WHITTIER, Calif. — With several railroad companies planning to install remote-control train operation systems within six months at area train yards, railroad union officials are leading a campaign to convince city officials the systems are unsafe.
“I see kids playing chicken (on the tracks) all the time,’ said Ray Enriquez, a Union Pacific Railroad engineer who lives in Whittier and is lobbying against the remote-control systems.
“You need a person out there looking out over the tracks. That’s the only way to be safe.’
Enriquez also said trains carry dangerous cargo, such as chlorine gas, and should be operated by trained professionals.
During remote-control operations, an operator standing on the ground with a control pack moves trains onto tracks, while workers in the train yards couple and uncouple cars. Until recently in the United States, the job of driving the trains was carried out by on-board engineers.
Railroad officials say remote- control operators only move the trains within switching yard boundaries not over public streets. They also said the maximum speed of a train under remote control is 15 mph.
When the trains leave the yard, an engineer takes over, officials say.
During the last year, remote- control systems have gradually been put in place all over the United States. Southern California is one of the last metropolitan areas in the country without remote-control operations, according to John Bromley, spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad.
Railroad officials say the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, a labor union opposed to remote-control systems, is worried more about saving members’ jobs than public safety.
Data collected from years of remote-control train operations in Canada prove the systems are safe, they say.
Officials from Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, which operate in area cities, plan to start putting the systems in place in Southern California during the next few months, Bromley said.
He also said remote-control operators receive 88 hours of training.
Engineers receive about six months to a year of training, Enriquez countered.
He also said engineers usually work in train yards for years before they become engineers.
At a City Council meeting earlier this month, the Whittier City Council decided to send letters to the Federal Railroad Administration and Union Pacific Railroad, asking the agencies to consider the safety of residents when making decisions about railroad operations.
The Montebello City Council earlier this year unanimously came out publicly against remote-control operations in their city.
“There’s no way someone with a remote control could see a little kid walking on the tracks in front of the train,’ said Montebello Mayor Kathy Salazar.
That city passed a resolution in July opposing the remote-control system. The city has no power over railroad operations, however, because railroads fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
Right now, the FRA has issued guidelines, but no official laws to govern remote-control operations exist, according to FRA reports.