Rail Industry News
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
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...
BLET News
FRA research on remote control confirms significant safety concerns
The Federal Railroad Administration’s Office of Research and Development issued two reports on May 24, confirming significant safety concerns with remote control locomotives.
NS trainmen seek BLET representation
Citing poor representation from and disillusionment with the United Transportation Union’s leadership in Cleveland, trainmen and conductors at the Norfolk Southern are seeking superior union representation from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
UTU: ‘Desperate act by a desperate union’
The United Transportation Union’s petition for a single craft of operating employees at the Union Pacific Railroad is a reckless effort by a desperate union, said BLET National President Don Hahs today.
BLET prepared for UTU attack
BLET members should rest assured that we have notified our legal counsel in Washington, D.C., of the UTU’s action and plan to take appropriate steps to defend our organization.
Message from BLET National President Don M. Hahs on Memorial Day 2005
The following is a Memorial Day statement from BLET President Don M. Hahs.
BLET friend, FRA inspector Alan Golden passes away
Alan G. Golden, 52, a friend of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and an inspector with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), passed away on May 21 at his home in Colonie, N.Y.
New reporting forms available for BLET Divisions, SLBs, GCAs
Under the Constitution of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, all subordinate bodies are required to perform a monthly audit.
BLET, Pacific Harbor Line sign new agreement
Pacific Harbor Line, Inc. (PHL) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) have signed a new four-year labor agreement covering PHL’s operating and maintenance of way employees.
Four children of BLET members win Hoffa scholarships
Four college-bound children of BLET members have earned James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund awards totaling $14,000 from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
L&I short line workers get first BLET contract
Less than a year after joining the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, members on the formerly non-union Louisville & Indiana Railroad (L&I) have their first-ever collective bargaining agreement.
