Rail Industry News
Three Norfolk Southern trains involved in derailment in western Pennsylvania
(Source: Railway Age, November 10, 2019) NEW YORK — Three Norfolk Southern freight trains were involved in a Nov. 11 derailment in Hempfield, Pa., about three miles east of Greensburg, Pa. (near Pittsburgh), on the high-density Pittsburgh-Philadelphia double-track...
Carbondale gets $14 million federal grant for regional transit hub
(Source: Associated Press, November 9, 2019) CARBONDALE, Ill. — The city of Carbondale is receiving a federal grant to build a downtown transit hub that will service more than 30 counties. The Southern Illinoisan reports the city will receive $14 million from the U.S....
Amtrak ridership hits record highs on two Illinois lines
(Source: State Journal-Register, November 10, 2019) SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Amtrak routes that connect Chicago to St. Louis and Milwaukee saw record numbers of riders in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 while the national passenger rail system turned in its...
Amtrak reports record ridership, but still losing money
(Source: Associated Press, November 10, 2019) NEWARK, N.J. — Amtrak on Friday reported record ridership and revenue figures for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, leading officials to predict the heavily subsidized railroad could eliminate operating losses as soon...
Congress to examine controversial Amtrak policy
(Source: Radio station WDEL, November 10, 2019) WILMINGTON, Del. — Congress has scheduled a hearing on a policy change implemented by Amtrak that requires passengers with complaints to go directly to arbitration with the government-controlled railroad. Full story:...
Amtrak’s new ticket rules won’t let passengers sue in a crash
(Source: Politico, November 8, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Passengers and their survivors won a $265 million court settlement with Amtrak after a 2015 derailment in Philadelphia killed eight people and injured hundreds more. But if such a crash happened today, the...
CN Rail workers could strike in Canada
(Source: Western Producer, November 7, 2019) SASKATOON, Sask. — About 3,000 workers at Canada’s largest railway company could go on strike as early as Nov. 19. Last month, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) including conductors, trainpersons and...
NJ Transit “Innovation Challenge:” How to move crowds in and out of new mega-mall
(Source: www.nj.com, November 8, 2019) NEWARK, N.J. — Now that the American Dream mall has partially opened, NJ Transit has begun its search for new ways to get people to and from the Meadowlands mega-complex and events at neighboring MetLife Stadium. Full story:...
DOJ, EEOC at odds in Supreme Court case over BNSF medical testing of job applicant
(Source: Reuters, November 7, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice is backing BNSF Railway’s bid to have the U.S. Supreme Court overturn a federal appeals court ruling that said it unlawfully refused to hire a job applicant who would not pay for a...
Judge says BNSF can’t use federal law to cut out on biometrics class action over trucker handprint scans
(Source: Cook County Record, November 8, 2019) CHICAGO — A federal judge has rejected a railroad’s attempt to escape a class action lawsuit filed by a truck driver over the railroad's rules requiring drivers to scan handprints to verify their identity when entering...
Metro-North chief “extremely confident” railroad will meet PTC deadline
(Source: Journal News, November 8, 2019) NEW YORK — Positive Train Control (PTC) now covers nearly 90% of the Hudson Line, from Marble Hill north to Poughkeepsie, a distance of 67 miles that includes track used by Amtrak and CSX, Metro-North President Catherine...
Oil shippers turn to rail amid Keystone pipeline shutdown
(Source: Bloomberg, November 7, 2019) NEW YORK — The shutdown of one of Canada’s largest crude pipelines has shippers turning to rail to move their oil. Demand to transport crude by rail has picked up over the past week as TC Energy Corp. works to return its Keystone...
Genesee & Wyoming’s net profit falls during 3Q 2019
(Source: Freight Waves, November 7, 2019) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Net profit for short line operator Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) slipped in the third quarter amid lower revenues and rail volumes. Third-quarter net income attributable to G&W totaled $66.8 million, or...
AFL-CIO TTD: Precision Scheduled Railroading threatens to gut America’s freight rail system
(Source: Policy Statement by the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD), October 29, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Since the first U.S. freight trains departed from Baltimore nearly 200 years ago, the freight rail industry has served as the backbone of domestic...
AAR: Rail traffic down in October and for the week ending November 2, 2019
(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, November 6, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending November 2, 2019, as well as volumes for October 2019. U.S. railroads...
Editorial: A small step toward expanded passenger rail service in Pa.
(Source: Editorial in the Tribune-Democrat, November 7, 2019) JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A state transportation official offered a glimmer of optimism when announcing that Norfolk Southern Corp. had agreed to conduct a study concerning the push to expand passenger rail service...
NJ Senators invite DOT head to meet commuters delayed by decrepit Hudson rail tunnel
(Source: NJ Spotlight, November 7, 2019) NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey’s two U.S. senators are challenging the head of the federal Department of Transportation to meet the commuters who routinely face delays caused by the Northeast Corridor’s century-old trans-Hudson rail...
FRA offers $24 million in grants for passenger service
(Source: Federal Railroad Administration press release, November 6, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced the availability of $24 million in grant funding to initiate, restore, or enhance...
California approves $3.2 billion bond for Virgin’s $4.8 billion bullet train to Las Vegas
(Source: Construction Dive, November 6, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) has authorized a $3.2 billion tax-exempt, fixed-rate revenue bond issuance to help DesertXpress Enterprises LLC, an affiliate of Virgin...
Canadian National sees record western grain volumes in October
(Source: CN press release, November 5, 2019) MONTREAL — CN announced that its Western Canadian grain movements broke another record in the month of October, with shipments of 2.8 million metric tonnes (MMT) of grain and processed grain products. The previous record,...
BLET News
Rail labor opposes NMB fees
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, along with other rail labor unions, has been actively opposing a National Mediation Board proposal to impose fees on rail employees seeking arbitration services from the NMB and, in certain cases, restrict payment to the neutral arbitrators appointed by the board.
Division 194 enters website in international competition
BLET Division 194 in Houston, Texas, has entered its website into a competition with 43 other unions from around the world to win the title “Labor Website of the Year 2004.”
UTU spreads falsehoods regarding seniority maintenance timeline
Once again, the United Transportation Union has chosen to skew the facts in its continued smear campaign against the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
Hoffa urges AFL-CIO to refuse UTU reaffiliation
International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa recently wrote to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on the behalf of the 1.4 million members of the Teamsters to convey his opposition to the United Transportation Union’s request to reaffiliate with the AFL-CIO.
Employees must stay vigilant during December and January switching operations
The Switching Operations Fatality Awareness working group is urging employees to stay vigilant in the coming weeks. December and January have the highest switching fatality rates when compared to the other months of the year.
2005 BLET Time Books coming soon
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen is currently mailing 2004 Time Books to all active BLET members.
BLET fights to stop UTU double dues
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has filed a lawsuit to halt the United Transportation Union’s attempt to implement a seniority maintenance and seniority retention agreement reached with the nation’s railroads. The implementation of this agreement could require BLET members to pay double dues if they desire to retain their BLET membership while working in train service.
Crewmember dead in CSX head-on collision
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) Safety Task Force is helping to investigate a fatal head-on collision between two CSX freight trains this morning near Vitis, Fla.
BLET honors Harold Ross with Honorary Membership
The Advisory Board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) named General Counsel Harold A. Ross an Honorary Member at a retirement dinner in his honor on November 17.
Locomotive engineers reject LIRR contract proposal
Locomotive engineers on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), the largest commuter railroad in the United States, overwhelmingly rejected management’s latest contract proposal over the weekend.
