Rail Industry News
14 states states challenge new rule on moving liquefied natural gas by rail
(Source: WHYY, August 20, 2020) PHILADELPHIA — Fourteen states — including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware — and the District of Columbia have filed a legal challenge to a new federal rule that would allow trains to carry liquefied natural gas (LNG) across the...
Class I workforce continued to shrink in July
(Source: Progressive Railroading, August 20, 2020) Class Is employed 117,230 people as of mid-July, down 0.95 percent from June and down 16.68 percent from July 2019 levels, according to Surface Transportation Board data. Five out of six employment categories logged...
AAR: Intermodal up for second week in a row, but overall traffic down 6.9% for week ending August 15, 2020
(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, August 19, 2020) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending August 15, 2020. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 500,563...
Woman gets car stuck while driving through barricades at train derailment cleanup site
(Source: My Leader Paper, August 19, 2020) FESTUS, Mo. — A local woman who was driving near the Festus site where a train derailed the day before, drove past two “Road Closed” signs and dropped into a shallow hole at the railroad crossing on Old State Hwy. A just west...
Feds issue advisory for counter-drone technology
(Source: Progressive Railroading, August 18, 2020) Four federal agencies have issued an advisory document to help non-federal public and private entities understand federal laws and regulations that may apply to the capabilities to detect and mitigate threats posed by...
Metra falling further behind budget amid COVID-19 ridership drop
(Source: Chicago Tribune, August 19, 2020) CHICAGO — As the pandemic persists and people stay home in droves, Metra is falling further behind its revenue schedule. Full story: Chicago Tribune
R.J. Corman purchases 3 short lines, TranZ
(Source: Railway Age, August 19, 2020) NEW YORK — R. J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC has finalized an agreement to acquire Owego and Harford Railway, Inc (OHRY), Lehigh Railway, LLC (LRWY), and Luzerne and Susquehanna Railway Company (LS), as well as short line...
Mexico’s rail agency sets rate regulations for certain chemicals, petrochemicals
(Source: Progressive Railroading, August 19, 2020) The Rail Transportation Regulatory Agency of Mexico has established rate regulations related to the transportation of several chemical and petrochemical products in southern Veracruz, the agency announced Aug. 17....
Amtrak IG: Bungles may delay NYC Penn Station expansion
(Source: New York Daily News, August 19, 2020) NEW YORK — Amtrak mismanagement could delay by three months Penn Station’s expansion across Eighth Ave. into the Farley Post Office, says a report published Wednesday by the railroad’s Inspector General. Full story: New...
Environmental groups sue to stop LNG trains
(Source: DeSmog Blog, August 19, 2020) NEW YORK — Nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups against the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), challenging a recently...
North Dakota firefighter, a heroic trainee engineer during Casselton oil train crash, is laid to rest
(Source: Bemidij Pioneer, August 19, 2020) LARIMORE, N.D. — Hundreds gathered at the baseball field here on August 18 to say goodbye to their hometown hero and Larimore firefighter Geoff Andersen. His casket draped in the quilt his mom made him when he first joined...
Metro-North fully implements PTC on all 3 major lines
(Source: Rockland/Westchester Journal News, August 19, 2020) NEW YORK — All three of Metro-North Railroad's major lines are outfitted with life-saving technology designed to prevent high-speed derailments like the one that killed four passengers on a Manhattan-bound...
Amtrak partners with Waze to announce global rollout of railroad crossing alerts
(Source: Amtrak press release, August 13, 2020) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Waze and Amtrak have partnered to introduce the company’s new feature that will alert users approaching a railroad crossing. Full story: www.masstransitmag.com
KCS, NS and CN sign onto campaign to prevent plastic pellet spills
(Source: Freight Waves, August 18, 2020) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Freight railroads and the plastics industry have started to work together to address a side effect of North America’s booming plastics production: the dispersion of wayward plastic pellets in transit. Full...
LIRR stations being modernized as third track construction continues
(Source: New Hyde Park Herald Courier, August 18, 2020) LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — Several stations on the Long Island Rail Road are undergoing “complete reconstruction” and utility relocation is underway across the 9.8-mile third track project despite the COVID-19 pandemic,...
Long-dormant railroad tracks cutting through south Lincoln to see trains again in January
(Source: Lincoln Journal Star, August 19, 2020) LINCOLN, Neb. — Coal trains will begin running twice a day in January on the long-dormant rail line cutting across south Lincoln near Nebraska 2, officials said Tuesday. BNSF and Omaha Public Power District have reached...
Rule allowing LNG rail shipments in U.S. challenged in court
(Source: Associated Press, August 18, 2020) HARRISBURG, Pa. — A coalition of six environmental advocacy groups asked a federal judge on Tuesday to block a new Trump administration rule to allow rail shipments of liquefied natural gas, a new front in the movement of...
AAR: U.S. weekly intermodal volume up again
(Source: Railway Age, August 19, 2020) NEW YORK — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ended Aug. 15, 2020, which saw, for the second consecutive week, U.S. weekly intermodal volume up from the same week last year. Full...
Metra, Union Pacific face lawsuit after woman critically injured in crash
(Source: CBS Chicago, August 13, 2020) CHICAGO — Union Pacific and Metra are facing a lawsuit after a crash in Wheaton left a woman critically hurt. Full story: CBS Chicago
SEPTA’s social distancing coaches are the newest part of commute
(Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, August 17, 2020) PHILADELPHIA — Commuters weaving in and out of SEPTA's 69th Street Transportation Center on Thursday morning were greeted by an unfamiliar face. "Would you like a mask?" Jessica Mangold asked riders entering the...
BLET News
Red Shirt Fridays
BLET National President Paul Sorrow is asking all BLET members to wear a red shirt every Friday in the coming New Year, in support of our troops overseas.
Happy Holidays 2009
Statement by BLET National President Paul Sorrow
The holiday season is the one time during the hustle and bustle of the busy year that we set aside to share the true meaning and spirit of Brotherhood with all. It is a time to extend wishes of peace, prosperity and fellowship to all BLET members and their families.
BLET, rail unions halt SEPTA attack on FELA
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has forced SEPTA to stop misleading its Regional Rail Division workers that the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) does not apply to them.
Pierce new BLET First Vice President; Gore promoted to Vice President
The Advisory Board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen yesterday elected Vice President Dennis R. Pierce to the position of First Vice President & Alternate President, the second-highest office in the union. Additionally, Gil Gore became the newest BLET Vice President as he was elevated from the First Alternate Vice President’s position to fill Pierce’s vacancy on the Advisory Board.
BLET members ratify five-year contract with BNSF
By nearly a 3-to-1 majority, members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen yesterday ratified a new five-year collective bargaining agreement with the BNSF Railway.
BLET to conduct three S-T Workshops in early 2010
The BLET’s Education and Training Department will conduct three Secretary-Treasurer Compliance Workshops next year prior to the March 31 deadline for filing Department of Labor reports.
BLET Division 34 adopts two families for Christmas
The members of BLET Division 34 in Columbus, Ohio, are getting into the holiday spirit by helping two families who are down on their luck this Christmas.
Ohio Central workers join BLET
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen scored a short line organizing victory today as a majority of workers at the Ohio Central Railroad/ Columbus & Ohio Rail Road Co. voted to make the BLET their designated collective bargaining representative.
Recent legislation expands rail worker eligibility for extended unemployment insurance benefits
More railroad workers will be eligible to receive extended unemployment insurance benefits under legislation signed by President Obama on November 6.
Supreme Court upholds right to arbitration hearing on the merits
In a 9-0 decision issued yesterday, the United States Supreme Court affirmed an important right for BLET members and all railroad workers: the right to have their contract disputes heard on the merits by an arbitrator.
