Rail Industry News
Onboard workers at Brightline vote to join TWU
The TWU victory comes after an aggressive anti-union campaign by the privately-owned company.
New NJ Transit head tells union he’s ready to bargain as strike deadline looms
Kris Kolluri, the new head of NJ Transit, is imploring the union that represents locomotive engineers to come to the table before a possible strike in March.
Shift to remote-controlled dams, trains raises unions’ concerns
But the lack of clarity surrounding training, or how the equipment would provide “equivalent levels of safety for workers who perform duties around or adjacent ” to the train cars, or the surrounding community and pedestrians, has drawn opposition from unions.
A 60-day pre-strike period kicks in as engineers, NJ Transit negotiate pay hikes
And a 60-day countdown has begun before a possible strike could start.
Appeals court blocks rule allowing movement of LNG by rail
Environmental groups asserted that “the amount of energy contained in 22 tank cars of LNG would be equal to that of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.”
January 19 ceremony to honor UP workers who died in Pecos derailment
The ceremony will take place at the West of the Pecos Museum at 4 p.m.
DOT announces over $1.1 billion in new grants to reduce train-vehicle collisions and blocked rail crossings
The grants for communities in 41 states will fund construction of railroad overpasses and underpasses, helping to reduce the risk of collisions between trains and roadway users and prevent blocked crossings.
Border agency seeks to close security gaps on rail exports to Canada, Mexico
Proposed rule includes penalties of up to $100,000 for each violation.
2 killed, 3 injured when UP train derails in Pecos, TX, after collision
BLET President Eddie Hall said the derailment “should serve as a wake-up call to legislators to improve rail safety.”
January 6, 2025, marks 20th anniversary of Graniteville tragedy
BLET locomotive engineer Chris Seeling was killed in the crash on January 6, 2005. He was 47 years old.
A NJ Transit rail strike could be coming soon
A second Presidential Emergency Board, #252, is evaluating both sides of the argument.
NS line to Asheville, N.C., to be closed until March 2025
Reopening will include 12 miles east of Asheville, N.C; Old Fort Loops segment still being inspected
Analysis: Railroads head into 2025 with headcount momentum to support growth
CSXT, BNSF Railway, and Union Pacific have larger T&E rosters than they did a year ago. Norfolk Southern’s year-over-year T&E roster is down 6%.
Wyoming and Montana seek to reverse decision that would end Powder River Basin coal leases
The move came after a federal court ordered the agency to re-evaluate its environmental review criteria to include both limited leasing and no coal leasing options.
Railroads ramp up the use of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is weaving itself into the daily operations of big U.S. railroads, helping managers make data-backed decisions about operating plans and identify trends among virtually any t process.
Supreme Court to hear argument on new U.S. rail line
The 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway would connect Utah oil fields to the national rail network, enabling up to 350,000 barrels of crude oil per day to travel on trains as long as two miles.
The decline of North America’s hump yards
Only 36 left, hump yards remain enormously important to the carload network
CSX’s appeal to Supreme Court tests reach of antitrust law
Freight rail giant CSX has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive its lawsuit accusing rival Norfolk Southern of denying access to a key East Coast terminal, costing CSX hundreds of millions of dollars in lost profits.
More people are riding Amtrak than ever before, and improvements are on the way
Amtrak said its goal is to double its ridership to 66 million passengers a year by 2040.
Amtrak notches ridership and revenue record for FY 2024
A 24% gain in ticket revenue from long-distance trains compared to 2019, in spite of constricted coach and sleeping car capacity, generated a 6% rise in total revenue.
BLET News
Capitol Hill: BLET takes members’ top issues to Congress during Teamsters annual Political Coordinators Meeting
BLET representatives included, from left: Eric Sroik, Chuck Schulz, Pete Baldwin, Ross Grooters, Vince Verna, and Brendan Sullivan. ____________________ Last week, representatives from BLET and BMWED were among 200 Teamsters who gathered in Washington, D.C. for the...
SAVE THE DATE: 2026 BLET regional meetings will be held in New Orleans and Chicago
The BLET’s 2026 Western Regional Meeting will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, the week of July 13. The 2026 Eastern Regional Meeting will take place in Chicago, Illinois, the week of August 24. As many BLET members are getting ready to schedule their vacations for...
Missouri: Congressman again seeks to overturn two-person crew rule
The two-person crew regulation is of vital importance to rail safety. Photo by Cory Rusch, BLET Division 659 __________________ Last year, U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, a Republican from Missouri, introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that sought to...
BLET applauds legislation that would expand “no tax on overtime” provisions to include railroad workers
The BLET is supporting a new bipartisan bill in Congress that would provide rail workers with tax exemptions on their overtime pay. The “No Tax on Overtime for All Workers Act” was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives today by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis...
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Sisterhood and solidarity from BLET and BMWED on display at annual Teamsters Women’s Conference
From left: Darice Gilliam, BLET Arizona, SLBC; Rhonda Thompson, BMWED Lodge 358; Jennifer Ross, BMWED Lodge 788; Becky Huebner, Secretary-Treasurer of BLET Div. 624; Bernadette Murphy, BMWED Lodge 509; Marketa Wells, BLET DIv. 766; and Megan Mead, Director of BLET...
Texas: Registration now open for upcoming rail hazmat/chemical emergency response training programs
Class participants will engage in a simulated hazmat response wearing full safety gear. ____________________ The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program is hosting four in-person rail worker training sessions in late 2025 and early 2026 in Houston during...
OSHA blasts Union Pacific as “serial violator” in Texas whistleblower case
The Union Pacific Railroad remained in the headlines this week over its wrongful termination of a BLET member. As reported in our August 29 Weekly Recap, a BLET member received more than $184,000 in back pay after the BLET’s UP-Southern Region GCA got him his job...
Rail safety: BLET fights for worker safety as “regulatory sprint” reaches September 2 deadline
BLET representatives at meetings with the Federal Railroad Administration in Nashville, Tenn., during the week of September 1, 2025. ____________________ The BLET rose to the challenge created by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)’s “regulatory sprint,”...
In case you missed it: History of BLET Zoom presentation now available online
Last month, the Teamsters Human Rights and Diversity Commission, in conjunction with the Teamsters History Project, hosted a Zoom presentation highlighting the history of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET). For those of you who may have missed...
Union Pacific: BLET reaches tentative agreement with UP
The BLET has reached a tentative on-property agreement with the Union Pacific Railroad covering rates of pay, work rules, and health & welfare benefits for over 6,000 BLET members employed at UP. Highlights of the tentative five-year contract include: General wage...
