Rail Industry News
Norfolk Southern furloughs 58 workers at DeButts yard in Chattanooga
(Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press, November 5, 2019) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Norfolk Southern furloughed 58 workers Tuesday at its DeButts yard in Chattanooga as part of a company-wide cutback in diesel shop operations the railroad is making in response to a drop in...
Burlington council to consider Amtrak options
(Source: Television station WCAX, November 4, 2019) BURLINGTON, Vt. — A key discussion over how Burlington could accommodate Amtrak service is set to take place before the city council Monday night. A plan in place would bring the Ethan Allen Express north from...
Union Pacific has a history of derailments at Boone rail yard
(Source: Des Moines Register, November 5, 2019) BOONE, Iowa — Over the past eight years, trains derailed 15 times in a Boone Union Pacific rail yard before a Saturday derailment caused a gas leak. Most of the derailments in the two-mile stretch of the rail yard...
Amtrak prepares for increased Thanksgiving travel
(Source: Television station WSET, November 4, 2019) LYNCHBURG, Va. — The Thanksgiving travel season will soon be underway and Amtrak is prepared to accommodate additional customers traveling during the busiest travel week of the year. Full story: www.wset.com
Amtrak prepares for increased Thanksgiving travel
(Source: Television station WSET, November 4, 2019) LYNCHBURG, Va. — The Thanksgiving travel season will soon be underway and Amtrak is prepared to accommodate additional customers traveling during the busiest travel week of the year. Full story: www.wset.com
Update on PTC implementation planned for upcoming RSAC meeting
(Source: Safety and Health Magazine, November 5, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — An update on the implementation of Positive Train Control – emergency slowing and stopping systems designed to help prevent train crashes and derailments caused by human error – is on the...
Report: CRRC’s “chief obligation is to the Chinese state”
(Source: Railway Age, November 4, 2019) NEW YORK — “CRRC AND BEIJING’S DASH FOR GLOBAL ROLLING STOCK DOMINANCE,” a report prepared by Radarlock, which describes itself as “a research organization that uses data-driven analysis to understand techno-economic dynamics in...
BNSF Q3 2019 coal revenues, volumes decline on adverse weather conditions
(Source: S&P Global Platts, November 3, 2019) HOUSTON — BNSF Railway reported a decrease in coal volumes and revenue in the third quarter of 2019, primarily because of adverse weather conditions and lower natural gas prices. The Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad...
BNSF’s Q3 2019 net earnings grow
(Source: Freight Waves, November 4, 2019) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Despite lower revenues, western U.S. railroad BNSF posted a net profit in the third quarter amid lower operating costs, BNSF said in a financial report Nov. 4. BNSF had a net profit of $1.47 billion, a...
Carper introduces bill to ban smoking on Amtrak
(Source: Dover Post, November 1, 2019) DOVER, Del. — In honor of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Delaware, former Amtrak board member and top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, introduced legislation that would ban smoking...
Amtrak restores service between Philadelphia, Harrisburg
(Source: Penn Live, November 3, 2019) HARRISBURG, Pa. — Amtrak services that had been temporarily suspended Saturday have now been restored between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Full story: www.pennlive.com
Union Pacific train derails in Boone
(Source: News Republican, November 2, 2019) BOONE, Iowa — Nine cars on a Union Pacific train derailed in Boone Saturday evening, damaging several railroad employee cars in a parking lot. Full story: News Republican
MBTA weighs long-term plans for commuter rail
(Source: Gloucester Daily Times, November 3, 2019) GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Big plans are on the drawing board to modernize the MBTA's commuter rail, but the upgrades come with a hefty price tag. Full story: Gloucester Daily Times
Blocked crossings become a nuisance for Grand Island residents
(Source: Grand Island Independent, November 3, 2019) GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Shaun Shepardson played a sound recording of the train crossing bell near her home at North Road and Highway 2 for Hall County supervisors last week. Shepardson said she hears the loud,...
Weather, lingering floods challenge grain handling
(Source: Television station KPVI, November 2, 2019) HAMILTON, Mo. — Harvest is an exciting time on the farm, bringing the long-anticipated results and the paycheck from the year’s work growing crops. But it can also be a busy and challenging time, and this year there...
Opinion: The good and bad of PSR
(Source: Freight Waves opinion column by Ben Thrower, November 1, 2019) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The railroads have been riding a bumpy track for the past several years, and for some of them it continues. Full story: Freight Waves
Moody’s lowers freight rail industry outlook to negative for 2020
(Source: Freight Waves, November 4, 2019) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Moody’s Investors Service has lowered its outlook for the North American freight rail industry to negative from stable amid expectations that overall freight volumes could fall by 1.75% to 3% over the next...
BNSF earnings increase, but Berkshire Hathaway’s Q3 2019 profits decline 11%
(Source: Associated Press, November 2, 2019) OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett's company reported Saturday that it saw an 11% decline in third-quarter profits because of a smaller increase in the paper value of its investments, even as it sits on a mountain of cash....
RRB Q&A: Railroad Retirement annuities and pensions from work not covered by Railroad Retirement or Social Security
(Source: Railroad Retirement press release, October 7, 2019) CHICAGO — Employee annuities paid under the Railroad Retirement Act are subject to dual benefit reductions when social security benefits are also payable, and they may be subject to reduction when certain...
Nov. 1, 1855: A bridge disaster derails St. Louis dream for a transcontinental railroad
(Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2019) ST. LOUIS, Mo. — On Nov. 1, 1855, the Pacific Railroad’s first train to Jefferson City left downtown bearing 600 prominent citizens. The railroad was a powerful expression of the city’s aspirations. Led by U.S. Sen....
BLET News
President Bush to nominate new FRA Administrator
President Bush is expected to nominate Robert Jamison as Federal Railroad Administrator. Mr. Jamison is now serving as the Acting FRA Adminstrator, replacing Betty Monro, who in December retired from the FRA’s top spot. He will become the Administrator if approved by the Senate.
Rail unions form historic coalition
On January 3, for the first time in two decades, seven major railroad unions have joined together in the creation of the “Rail Labor Bargaining Coalition” to coordinate upcoming contract negotiations with the rail carriers. The seven unions of the coalition represent nearly 85,000 rail workers from American railroad corporations. The Coalition will develop a coordinated contract negotiating strategy and each individual union will not sign off on any tentative agreements with the rail carriers until all the coalition members concur.
LIRR risks safety, passenger service
The Long Island Railroad (LIRR) is under fire by locomotive engineers for taking unnecessary risks with safety and jeopardizing service to tens of thousands of commuters.
Help tsunami disaster victims
Over 60,000 and counting is the death toll, not including the ones who are yet to be found and the ones who will get sick later on as an indirect cause of this disastrous tsunami and earthquake.
UTU at it again
The recent posting on the UTU website titled, “BLET members face huge legal fees,” is nothing more than an attempt by UTU leaders to divert attention from their own embarrassing predicament.
FRA denies UP request to inspect trains in Mexico
The Union Pacific’s request to inspect safety critical equipment on its trains in Mexico was denied today by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
Mother of former Vice-President Cassidy passes away
Miriam Cassidy, the mother of former International Vice-President Joseph Cassidy Jr. and grandmother of BLET New York State Legislative Board Secretary-Treasurer Kelly Cassidy, passed away on December 15, 2004. She was 84 years old.
How UTU dues are spent
When legal proceedings begin in the BLET’s lawsuit regarding “double dues” against the United Transportation Union (UTU) and the National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC), the UTU will be paying the legal fees of the Union Pacific Railroad.
‘Safe Rail, Secure America’ campaign continues
The Teamsters Rail Conference is continuing its “Safe Rails Secure America” campaign, which is designed to obtain firsthand information about the true condition of safety and security along our nation’s railroads.
In the Line of Duty: Kenneth Leonard
Brother Kenneth Leonard of BLET Division 5 (Los Angeles, Calif.) was killed in a head-on collision between two Union Pacific freight trains on December 10. Brother Leonard joined the BLE on November 1, 1992.
