Rail Industry News
Commuter railroads have catching up to do ahead of PTC deadline
(Source: Politico, November 26, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Railroads are making progress on meeting a statutory mandate to install positive train control, but some hurdles still remain ahead of a rapidly approaching December 2020 deadline. The Federal Railroad...
FRA says PTC now operating on 92 percent of route miles
(Source: Federal Railroad Administration press release, November 25, 2019) ABSTRACT: The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today released a quarterly status update on railroads’ self-reported progress toward fully implementing positive train control (PTC) systems....
Everyone agrees Amtrak’s on-time performance is a problem, but not on how to fix it
(Source: Illinois Public Radio, November 25, 2019) CHICAGO — The Amtrak route between Chicago and Carbondale is the least on-time state-supported passenger rail route in the country, according to Amtrak’s own data. Amtrak blames the Canadian National Railroad, which...
Redevelopment of Baltimore’s Penn Station gets critical piece of funding puzzle
(Source: Baltimore Sun, November 26, 2019) BALTIMORE, Md. — The long-awaited redevelopment of Baltimore’s historic Penn Station got a “critical missing piece” of its funding sources when the state said it would award the project a $3 million historic tax credit,...
CN touts Positive Train Control progress
(Source: Canadian National press release, November 25, 2019) CHICAGO — CN announced today that it has successfully met the federal requirement to operate Positive Train Control (PTC) on all 35 of its U.S. subdivisions required to be equipped with PTC. This important...
FRA extends deadline for training standards rule
(Source: Progressive Railroading, November 25, 2019) The Federal Railroad Administration last week announced an amendment to a proposed rulemaking regarding training, qualification and oversight for safety-related railroad employees. Full story: Progressive...
Railroads need to step up their game, new report says
(Source: Supply Chain Brain, November 26, 2019) NEW YORK — A new white paper from Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business, in association with Maine Pointe, outlines the biggest challenges that rail carriers, shippers and investors are facing today....
Class I rail employment hits new low
(Source: Freight Waves, November 26, 2019) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Employee headcount levels for the U.S. rail operations of Class I railroads hit a new low in October amid a slump in U.S. rail traffic and the transition to precision scheduled railroading (PSR). The...
Every option on the table to end CN strike, Canadian minister says
(Source: Freight Waves, November 25, 2019) TORONTO — A Canadian federal minister signaled that the federal government would consider forcing an end to the nearly week-old strike by Canadian National workers that has taken an increasingly grave toll on the country’s...
Teamsters Canada releases audio recording of CN ordering fatigued conductor to work
(Source: Teamsters Canada press release, November 25, 2019) MONTREAL — Teamsters Canada today released a recording of a CN supervisor, a chief rail traffic controller (RTC), ordering a fatigued conductor to continue working for several hours. The chief RTC ignored...
TCRC signals progress in talks to end strike at CN
(Source: Reuters, November 26, 2019) MONTREAL — Teamsters Canada said on Tuesday that there had been progress in negotiations with the Canadian National Railway Co to end a week-long strike that has severed supply chains across the country. There has been “progress at...
Santa Train completes 77th annual run
(Source: Kingsport Times News, November 23, 2019) ABOARD THE SANTA TRAIN — What’s a little rain? Nothing much, when you want to see the Santa Train. That, apparently, is the way folks along CSX’s rail line between Shelby, Kentucky, and downtown Kingsport were looking...
Is the Alameda Corridor in trouble?
(Source: Railway Age, November 22, 2019) NEW YORK — There are reports that the Alameda Corridor, the heavily used, 20-mile-long, grade-separated railroad intermodal corridor connecting the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach with the BNSF and Union Pacific main...
CP to build new multi-commodity terminal in Montreal
(Source: Canadian Pacific Railway press release, November 22, 2019) CALGARY — Canadian Pacific is leveraging its unique real estate holdings in establishing a new multi-commodity transload terminal that offers transportation and distribution services from CP's...
Chinese rail company in Massachusetts seeks more MBTA money as Trump ban looms
(Source: Boston Herald, November 23, 2019) BOSTON — China’s government-owned CRRC is fighting for more lucrative MBTA contracts to keep its Springfield plant humming as the Trump administration looks to ban federal dollars going to the mass transit company and state...
Coal: Is this the beginning of the end?
(Source: BBC News, November 25, 2019) LONDON — The fuel that powered the industrial revolution may be in decline at last. This year looks set to see the largest fall in electricity production from coal on record, according to a new report. The reduction is estimated...
Canada’s economy could end up big loser as rail strike drags on
(Source: Bloomberg, November 23, 2019) OTTAWA — Canada’s $1.7 trillion economy has long been closely tied to the ebbs and flows of global trade. Now, a homegrown crisis threatens to hobble its export industries and stunt its already weak growth. Full story: Financial...
CN strike the latest blow to Prairie farmers in difficult year
(Source: Globe and Mail, November 24, 2019) WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Bev Wieben is a farmer in northwestern Alberta’s Peace region, a slice of the province where roughly one-third of the crops remain unharvested. Farmers in the area ship grain on the Canadian National...
What the media misses about national rail strike by CN train crews and yard workers
(Source: www.rabble.ca, November 24, 2019) CALGARY — Here in Alberta, what news coverage there has been about the strike for safer working conditions by Canadian National Railway train crews and rail yard workers has focused on the increasingly agitated calls by...
TCRC says no progress in talks with CN
(Source: Reuters, November 25, 2019) TORONTO — Labor union Teamsters Canada said on Monday it has made no progress in reaching an agreement with Canadian National Railway Co, the country’s biggest railroad. Full story: Reuters
BLET News
President Bush announces intent to nominate Joseph H. Boardman for FRA Administrator
On March 17 President Bush announced that he intends to nominate Joseph H. Boardman to be Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration at the Department of Transportation.
62nd U.S. community passes remote control safety resolution
The city council of Corbin, Ky., passed a remote control safety resolution on March 14 that urges the U.S. Congress to force the Federal Railroad Administration to implement enforceable safety regulations to govern the operation of remote control locomotives.
BLET helps defeat paycheck deception bill in Georgia
Members of the Georgia House of Representatives defeated a “paycheck deception” bill on March 11 with the help of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and members of other labor organizations.
Room still available for advanced Local Chairman Workshop in May
Room is still available for BLET members who wish to participate in the advanced Local Chairman Workshop scheduled for May 22-27 at the National Labor College on the campus of the George Meany Center in Silver Spring, Md.
BLET State Legislative Chairmen to meet
BLET Legislative Chairmen from across the U.S. will meet in Las Vegas in early May for their annual business conference, a legislative workshop and the IBT Unity Conference.
Rail Carriers’ outright rejection of Rail Labor’s proposed ‘ground rules’ derails negotiations
The second bargaining session over changes in wages and work rules of the national rail carriers concluded prematurely on March 9 when the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC), representing the Class One carriers, refused to entertain or even discuss ground rules for negotiations proposed by the Rail Labor Bargaining Coalition (RLBC), representing seven rail unions comprised of 85,000 rail workers.
TTD resolutions cite FRA, rail security needs
The AFL-CIO’s transportation leaders this week condemned the Federal Railroad Administration for being “asleep at the switch” and issued a call for improved transportation security during its winter board meeting held in Las Vegas.
Statement of facts about remote control
It is apparent — once again — that the United Transportation Union has missed the mark when it comes to remote control.
A time to heal
In light of the deadly Norfolk Southern train crash in January, the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is participating in a candlelight prayer vigil in Graniteville, S.C., on February 27.
Meany Center holds hazmat training in N.J. March 10-13
The National Labor College/George Meany Center will conduct a series of hazardous materials training courses for both rail workers and community responders in Carteret, N.J., from March 10-13.
