Rail Industry News
Amtrak dining cars as profit centers
(Source: Railway Age opinion column by J. Bruce Richardson, November 29, 2019. Mr. Richardson is Executive Vice President, Passenger Services for Corridor Rail Development Corporation of Chicago.) NEW YORK — One of the great hurrahs of Amtrak dining cars came in the...
Hiawatha ridership numbers grow despite lack of speedy service improvements
(Source: Radio Station WUWM, November 28, 2019) MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — Amtrak is projecting a new record for ridership on its Hiawatha trains between Milwaukee and Chicago. Looking ahead, some modest changes to the service are expected in the next few years, but it isn't...
Bluff collapse north of San Diego disrupts passenger rail service
(Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, December 1, 2019) SAN DIEGO — Passenger rail service on the main line between Los Angeles and San Diego faced interruptions Saturday after a section of the Del Mar bluffs collapsed within a few feet of tracks following heavy rains...
China plans new coal plants, trims support for clean energy
(Source: Associated Press, December 2, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — As world leaders gather in Spain to discuss how to slow the warming of the planet, a spotlight falls on China — the top emitter of greenhouse gases. As China’s economy slows to the lowest level in a...
Warren, Sanders criticize Amtrak’s arbitration policy for passengers
(Source: Politico, November 27, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fourteen Senate Democrats, including four presidential candidates, criticized Amtrak's new arbitration policy for passengers in a letter to the CEO of the federally subsidized railroad. Full story: Politico
Union Pacific suing the city of Palestine, Texas, to nullify 150-year-old jobs contract
(Source: Palestine Herald-Press, November 29, 2019) PALESTIN, Texas — Union Pacific Railroad is suing the city of Palestine to scrap a 150-year-old contract that now guarantees the employment of dozens of local residents. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges the...
No way Conservatives will admit they look foolish for calls to legislate CN strikers back to work
(Source: www.rabble.ca, November 27, 2019) OTTAWA — Now that a tentative agreement in the national strike by 3,200 CN yard workers and train crew members has been reached in collective bargaining as God and the Canada Industrial Relations Board both intended, you'd...
How the CN strike played on the freight market
(Source: Freight Waves, December 1, 2019) TORONTO — The end of the Canadian National strike couldn’t have come soon enough for Canada. Further disruption to the flow of goods – especially canola and wheat exports — could have been devastating to an economy whose...
“It’s the equivalent of being drunk:” Fatigue baked into Canadian rail worker scheduling, experts say
(Source: Toronto Star, December 1, 2019) CALGARY — Fatigue was one of the major factors behind a recent weeklong strike by 3,200 CN workers represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. According to fatigue experts and past research, railway crews awake for...
STB: U.S. Class I employment decline continued in October
(Source: Progressive Railroading, November 27, 2019) Class Is as of mid-October employed 134,582 people, down 1.67 percent from mid-September's level and down 9.51 percent from October 2018's count, according to Surface Transportation Board (STB) data. All but one of...
Weekly U.S. coal carloads down 7.6% on the year
(Source: S&P Global Platts, November 27, 2019) HOUSTON — Weekly US coal carload originations totaled 75,859 in the week ended November 23, up 4.5% from the previous week, Association of American roads data showed Wednesday. From the year-ago week, originations were...
AAR reports rail traffic increase for week ending November 23, 2019
(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, November 27, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending November 23, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was...
Snowstorm can’t stop Big Boy steam locomotive
(Source: Denverite, November 26, 2019) DENVER, Colo. — If you want to get around snowy conditions, maybe try a giant train. Tuesday’s snowstorm was no match for Union Pacific Railroad’s Big Boy No. 4014, a 1.2 million pound engine that successfully departed Denver on...
Canadian Pacific wants back into the Port of Saint John
(Source: CBC News, November 27, 2019) MONTREAL — Twenty-five years after selling off or abandoning its rail operations to the East Coast, Canadian Pacific Railway is moving back into the region with the purchase of close to 800 kilometers of track leading deep into...
Amtrak vs. freight railroads: Shippers, you are impacted
(Source: Railway Age opinion column by Jim Blaze, November 26, 2019) NEW YORK — A headline story says that U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has introduced a bill that would allow Amtrak to sue the freight railroads for preventing Amtrak from meeting suitable on-time...
Amtrak preps for its busiest travel week of the year
(Source: Television station Fox 61, November 26, 2019) HARTFORD, Conn. — ‘Tis the season for holiday travel. “This is our busiest week of the year. Thanksgiving week,” says Jason Abrams, an Amtrak Spokesperson. Last year, more than 846,000 passengers traveled via...
Railroads abandon Toys for Tots; toys to arrive by trucks instead
(Source: The Daily Star, November 26, 2019) ONEONTA, N.Y. — The annual Capital Region Toys for Tots train, which makes stops in Cobleskill, Oneonta and Bainbridge, will not be running this year, according to officials. Instead, a convoy of tractor trailers, buses and...
Farmers eager to get harvest back on track after CN strike
(Source: CBC News, November 27, 2019) OTTAWA — Grain farmers in eastern Ontario and western Quebec say they're relieved the week-long CN Rail strike has come to an end, and are hoping to resume the harvest as soon as they're resupplied with the propane they need to...
TCRC reaches tentative agreement with CN, ending strike
(Source: Teamsters Canada press release, November 26, 2019) MONTREAL — After a weeklong strike, the Teamsters and Canadian National (CN) have reached a tentative agreement to renew the collective agreement for over 3,000 conductors, trainpersons and yard workers....
NJ Transit performs well on latest Positive Train Control report card
(Source: www.nj.com, November 26, 2019) NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit got two “100s” on a Positive Train Control report card from federal regulators — and one of them could mean fewer canceled trains for commuters. Full story: www.nj.com
BLET News
FRA issues Safety Advisory on GE reservoir tanks
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen’s National Legislative Office in Washington, D.C., is warning its members of potential “catastrophic failures” in main air reservoir tanks of certain General Electric locomotives.
Montana highway named in honor of late BLET member
The governor of Montana has signed a bill renaming a portion of Montana Highway 3 east of Helena after former State Representative and BLET Member Patrick Galvin.
Chuck Yenni, former Ohio State Legislative Board Chairman, 1924-2005
Charles W. “Chuck” Yenni, 80, former Ohio State Legislative Board Chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, died on April 12 from complications following a series of strokes.
Remote control claims another victim
A Union Pacific switchman was killed in a remote control switching accident in Riverdale, Utah, on April 11, underscoring the dangers of unregulated remote control train operations.
BLET-CN tentative agreement preserves hourly wage structure for engineers on former IC territory
CN announced today it has signed a tentative labor agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) that applies to 400 locomotive engineers working on CN’s former Illinois Central (IC) properties in the United States.
Western General Chairmen meeting concludes
General Chairman Dennis Pierce was re-elected as Chairman of the Association (BNSF/MRL), General Chairman Gil Gore (UP Southern Region) was re-elected as Vice Chairman and General Chairman Mike Priester (CP/Soo Line) was re-elected as Secretary Treasurer.
Fund established to help son of BLET member
The son of a BLET member, Jonathan Miller was training to help defend his country. But in October of 2001, he stopped to help a fellow recruit pick up his gear. Little did he know that that simple act of kindness would have a profound impact on his health and could possibly lead to paralysis.
Opinion: An Engineer’s reflection on managing railroad worker fatigue
The BLET, the UTU and representatives from all major railroads operating in the US, have joined forces to implement an integrated fatigue management plan for the entire rail industry.
Opinion: Me thinks thou dost protest too much (Shakespeare), or Will the real Paul Thompson please stand up
By Ed Rodzwicz,
First Vice President,
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
Teamsters Rail Conference fights for Amtrak funding
To bring public attention to Amtrak’s potential bankruptcy, Teamsters will distribute fliers to Amtrak passengers in Solana Beach, Calif., tomorrow (March 30).
