Rail Industry News
Amtrak’s new Acela fleet not ready for service just yet
The new trains were supposed to enter service in 2021, and the railroad says the delay is because testing isn’t going smoothly. It comes down to Amtrak’s old tracks.
Independent testing finds dangerous chemicals at East Palestine family’s farm
Linda and Russell Murphy live a little under three miles from the train derailment site, so they didn’t qualify for any EPA testing, but they took matters in their own hands and hired an independent company to conduct testing.
UP to launch intermodal service linking port of Houston with five inland markets
Union Pacific will launch international intermodal service between Port Houston and five cities beginning on Thursday, a move that follows a similar announcement from BNSF Railway just two weeks ago.
CPKC adds 1,000 reefers to expanding Mexico service
Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) today announced the addition of 1,000 new, 53-foot, refrigerated intermodal containers to its network, more than doubling CPKC’s existing fleet and bringing more shipping options to customers using the expanding Mexico Midwest Express (MMX) Series premium intermodal service.
Unions tell regulators that Class I railroads’ hiring efforts are misleading
The Class I railroads are still far under the employment levels needed to provide exceptional rail service, let alone grow network capacity, an attorney representing seven freight rail unions argued in a Monday filing to the Surface Transportation Board.
BLET’s tentative deal with UP will improve schedules and address quality-of-life concerns
A pilot project in the Kansas City area showed that the 11/4 work-rest schedule helped reduce the number of days engineers took off at the last minute and kept some engineers from walking away from the railroad.
12 labor unions, NS, commit to working together to enhance rail safety
(Source: Norfolk Southern press release, May 23, 2023) ATLNTA — Norfolk Southern Corporation President and CEO Alan H. Shaw and leaders of 12 Norfolk Southern labor unions sent a joint letter Tuesday underscoring their shared goal of partnering together to drive...
Laredo and Houston concerns prompted UP lawsuit over STB’s CP-KCS merger decision
Union Pacific is suing the Surface Transportation Board because the agency’s approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger didn’t fully protect cross-border competition at the Laredo, Texas, gateway or address the potential for congestion in Houston, UP CEO Lance Fritz told a shipper conference today.
Western coal producer seeks STB intervention against BNSF
A proceeding before the Surface Transportation Board is raising questions about how a Class I rail carrier should define adequate service under the common carrier obligation.
NTSB to hold June investigative hearing on East Palestine
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will hold an investigative hearing open to the public in East Palestine, Ohio, on June 22-23.
High-speed rail between LA and Vegas can break ground by end of the year, CEO says
A Miami-based company intends to offer a third option that sounds like something out of Switzerland or Japan: a high-speed train that will cover 218 miles between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area in two hours and 10 minutes.
AAR: Carloads and intermodal down 5.2% in week ending May 20, 2023
For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 470,694 carloads and intermodal units, down 5.2 percent compared with the same week last year.
Englewood residents concerned as NS plans rail yard expansion
Now, as Norfolk Southern works to rebuild trust after East Palestine and build out their location in Englewood near Chicago, some neighbors said they’re furious with the expansion.
House Dems urge reluctant GOP to hold hearing on rail safety
The letter comes more than two months after Ranking Member Larsen first called for a rail safety hearing to be scheduled and shortly after the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee advanced their rail safety legislation out of Committee on a bipartisan vote.
Ag secretary: U.S. rail service “remains inadequate and unreliable”
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently urged STB to follow through with a number of actions to bolster rail service.
Trains blocking railroad crossings a major safety concern for first responders
When seconds matter, any first responder will tell you there’s simply no room for error.
TCRC reaches tentative agreement with Alstom for GO Trains
he Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and Alstom reached a tentative agreement affecting over 850 workers who operate Toronto’s commuter trains.
“That’s a lot of defects:” BNSF safety record under scrutiny in Minnesota
The section of track in Minnesota where a train carrying ethanol derailed earlier this spring had a history of defects.
Pennsylvania’s Senate Dems seek answers for rail safety in the state
Democrats in the Pennsylvania Senate hosted a policy meeting Friday toward strengthening safety regulations for the rail industry and if the tenor of that meeting is any indication, effective legislation will be hard to enact.
Amtrak, NC by Train to expand service in July
Amtrak and NC by Train plan to add a daily roundtrip on the Piedmont passenger-rail service between Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, beginning July 10.
BLET News
Congress: Budget proposal would gut Railroad Retirement Board
If you think phone wait times are bad now when calling the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), think again. They could get much worse if proposed budget cuts are allowed to happen. RRB Labor Member John Bragg announced on June 26 that the House Appropriations...
NTSB derailment investigation renews concerns about detectors, tank cars and Norfolk Southern
The National Transportation Safety Board’s daylong hearing on what caused the disastrous East Palestine train derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last year gave the community, railroads and policymakers plenty to think about.
NMB news: Sweatt assumes Chairmanship, UNITE/IBT employees released from mediation
In a brief published on July 1, the National Mediation Board announced that Loren Sweatt, a Republican, has assumed Chairmanship. Deirdre Hamilton and Linda Puchala, both Democrats, will remain as Members of the Board. The NMB also confirmed on July 1 that, pursuant...
California: BLET members ratify new agreement with PHL
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), Division 214, and Pacific Harbor Line, Inc. (PHL) have overwhelmingly ratified a three-year extension to their current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) well ahead of any deadline. The agreement...
Nevada: Union Pacific’s remote control locomotives are a threat to public safety
Just days after an explosive New York Times investigative report exposed the dangers of remote control technology, the Union Pacific launched a wide-ranging initiative to implement remote control locomotives (RCLs) in Las Vegas. Brother Matt Parker, Chairman of the...
BLET, BMWED members participate in Teamsters Women’s Conference
More than 1,500 Teamster Sisters attended dozens of workshops to empower workers and better advocate for their fellow members on the job during the Teamsters Women's Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 23-26. Topics included union bylaws, heat stress, internal...
Excessive train length: Rail industry is still lobbying against safety rules
A recent article published at Jacobin.com examines how the railroad industry has continued to aggressively lobby against federal safety regulations since the 2023 East Palestine disaster, even as new data suggests that increases in train length have made derailments...
Act now! SEPTA, PHL members should request a replacement ballot ASAP
Pacific Harbor Line intermodal train. Photo courtesy of Jason Burke ____________________ Balloting is currently underway on tentative agreements at two BLET-represented railroads — SEPTA and Pacific Harbor Line (PHL). Eligible members who have not received a ballot...
Ohio Senators ramp up pressure to pass Railway Safety Act
U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and J.D. Vance (R-OH) are pressuring Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and skeptical Republicans to pass the Railway Safety Act. The NTSB’s damning investigation of Norfolk Southern’s toxic 2023 train derailment in East...
Supreme Court strips regulatory power from federal agencies, with big impact on railroad industry
In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to kill a legal precedent known as the “Chevron deference.” Industry publication Railway Age said the landmark ruling would likely “clip the wings” of rail industry regulators such as the Federal Railroad Administration....
