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FRA_logo_wordsAccording to data from Federal Railroad Administration’s Management Information System, the rail industry’s random drug testing positive rate has remained below 1.0 percent for the last two years. FRA’s administrator has therefore determined that the minimum annual random drug testing rate for the period Jan. 1, 2015 through Dec. 31, 2015, will remain at 25 percent of covered railroad employees.

In addition, because the industry-wide random alcohol testing violation rate has remained below 0.5 percent for the last two years, the administrator has determined that the minimum random alcohol testing rate will remain at 10 percent of covered railroad employees for the period Jan. 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015. Railroads remain free, as always, to conduct random testing at higher rates.

This notice of determination was effective December 19, 2014.

FRA determines the minimum annual random drug testing rate and minimum random alcohol testing rate for the next calendar year based on railroad industry data available for two calendar years (for this notice, calendar years 2012 and 2013). Data from FRA’s Management Information System shows the rail industry’s random drug testing positive rate has remained below 1.0 percent for the applicable two calendar years.

The chief executive of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Tuesday that he would step down in April after six years of overseeing both high-profile failures and major milestones during the most ambitious rail expansion agenda in the agency’s history.

Leahy’s performance as chief executive has been under confidential review by the Metro board of directors for more than six months, and a majority of board members were ready to let his contract expire in April, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. But in an interview with The Times, Leahy, 65, said leaving Metro was his choice.

Read the complete story at the Los Angeles Times.

osha-logo_webWinter weather creates a variety of hazards that can significantly impact everyday tasks and work activities. These hazards include slippery roads and surfaces, strong winds and environmental cold.

Learning how to prepare for work during the winter, protect workers from the cold and other hazards that can cause illnesses, injuries, or fatalities, is essential to maintaining a safe work environment and completing tasks successfully.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has prepared a webpage dedicated to educating workers how to protect themselves during the winter months. Visit the webpage here.

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Szabo

Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo offered the following remarks at the groundbreaking for the California High-Speed Rail project in Fresno, Calif., Jan. 6.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Governor Brown, Congressman Costa, Administrator McCarthy, Chairman Richards – everyone here today – I bring you greetings on behalf of President Obama and Secretary Foxx.

Today we make history – and this Administration could not have asked for a more resolute partner than Governor Jerry Brown. Thanks to his visionary leadership, California will set the standard for high-speed rail in America.

In February 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, providing $8 billion for intercity passenger rail projects, and then in 2010, Congress appropriated another $2 billion.

From this money, $3.4 billion was invested in California High-Speed Rail and became the catalyst for the historic groundbreaking we celebrate today. However, the investment alone wasn’t enough, we’re here today because Governor Brown’s leadership transformed a vision into reality.

When you look at historic transportation projects like the Golden Gate Bridge or the Panama Canal, the naysayers are all long forgotten. It pays to be on the right side of history, because we remember the courageous leaders with the fortitude to weather the storms and prepare for the future.

By 2050, 100 million more Americans will call our country home and we must have an efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible way to move them.

Rail is the mode of opportunity and its benefits cannot be ignored. Two railroad tracks can carry as many travelers in an hour as 16 lanes of freeway…in a fraction of the space.

The California High Speed Train will not only serve the State of California, but ultimately will serve as the backbone to a southwest regional high-speed network and a model for High Speed Rail development nationwide.

It will reduce congestion, improve air quality and promote economic development. And right now it is bringing good paying jobs to California.

Throughout California and across America, record ridership growth show that Americans are re- discovering rail and choosing it as their preferred mode of travel. California will set an example for the Nation with America’s first high-speed train.

I’m proud to be a part of history today. Governor, thank you for your commitment to this historic project and, most importantly, your leadership.

Thank you.

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Risch

By John Risch, 
National Legislative Director – 

“So this is Christmas, And what have you done, Another year over, And a new one just begun,” so sang John Lennon.

The holidays are a good time for all of us to ponder what we have done to make life better for our families, our brothers and sisters in the workplace, and the communities in which we live.

I love a new year; 2015 offers a fresh start with new opportunities to make some progress for our membership and in our personal lives. The year 2014 is water under the bridge, and dwelling on past mistakes and lost opportunities wastes precious time and energy.

There are opportunities, and of course challenges, in store for our union this year and we are preparing to address them all.

National negotiations with the big freight railroads are front and center. John Previsich, our Transportation Division president, has assembled a great negotiating team and this team, along with our general chairpersons, have established our priorities. The rail industry, of course, has other priorities, but then that’s the nature of collective bargaining.

The good news is the industry is in very good financial shape and the future looks great for freight rail in America. Our big freight railroads are investing in their infrastructure and are hiring far beyond normal attrition levels, meaning there will be more jobs in the industry in 2015 than in 2014.

It makes sense for America to expand our freight rail network for a number of reasons: shipping by rail is better for the environment; it’s more fuel efficient, it relieves highway congestion and freight rail doesn’t rely on government investment, because it is almost entirely privately funded.

As for passenger rail, Amtrak continues to set ridership records and needs less federal operating assistance every year. Amtrak, however, continues to need additional money to invest in infrastructure and equipment. We will be working with Amtrak’s leadership to make that case in Congress. In addition to Amtrak, passenger rail is expanding. California is proceeding with their high-speed rail project and there are other passenger rail proposals in Florida, Texas, Nevada and elsewhere.

For our bus members, there are always challenges for adequate funding at the federal and state levels. Our national office and our state legislative directors will be working to make sure transit agencies get the money they sorely need. But the big picture for public transportation is that more young people are opting out of cars in favor of public transportation. So the future is bright here as well.

There is no question the 2015 Congress, and many of the state legislatures, are more conservative and less supportive of public transportation and organized labor in general than in 2014. So be it. We will make our case that investments in public transportation, and adopting policies that encourage the expansion of rail, is not just good for our members, but is good for America as well.

So this is Christmas. And while we will have lots of challenges in 2015, it’s a great time to be in our industry and for that reason we are truly blessed.

Wishing you and your family all the best this holiday season.

Train and engine service employees of Alliance Terminal Railroad located in Haslet, Texas, have voted for representation by the SMART Transportation Division, Director of Organizing Rich Ross reports.

Of 23 eligible voters, 14 voted for SMART while two cast ballots for no union.

The National Mediation Board certified the election results Dec. 30.

ATR is a Class III terminal railroad responsible for the switching and operations at the Alliance Intermodal Facility. It is owned by OmniTRAX, a North American private railroad and transportation management company with interests in railroads, terminals, ports and industrial real estate.

ATR connects with BNSF Railway at Haslet and operates over seven miles of BNSF track through incidental trackage rights, according to the company’s website.

LARIMORE, N.D. – A school bus failed to yield to railroad crossing and stop signs and collided with an empty freight train Monday in North Dakota, killing the bus driver and a 17-year-old student and injuring 12 other people, the Highway Patrol said.

The accident happened at 3:39 p.m. Monday on a gravel road about 5 miles east of Larimore in the northeastern part of the state, about 100 miles north of Fargo. The bus was from the Larimore Public School District, authorities said.

Read the complete story at ABC Action News.

California on Tuesday will break ground in Fresno on its ambitious but controversial high-speed rail project, marking another milestone for Governor Jerry Brown and for foreign manufacturers waiting to bid on lucrative train contracts.

The United States lags behind Europe and Asia in building both high-speed rail and its trains. The 800-mile (1,287-km)high-speed rail is expected to be the legacy project for Brown, whose unprecedented fourth inauguration will take place the day before the groundbreaking on Monday.

Read the complete story at Reuters.

oil-train-railOMAHA, Neb. – The stunning collapse in oil prices won’t derail the railroads’ profit engine, even if it does slow the tremendous growth in crude shipments seen in recent years.

Carloads of crude oil spiked well over 4,000 percent between 2008 and last year — from 9,500 carloads to 435,560 — as production boomed and the cost for a barrel of oil soared into the triple digits.

Read the complete story at the Times Herald-Record.

NTSB_logoWASHINGTON– The National Transportation Safety Board issued a Safety Alert that focuses on the visibility of railroad signals.

On railroads, light-emitting diode (LED) railroad signals may mask nearby incandescent signals, preventing incandescent signals from being visible to train crews. If LED and incandescent signals are installed in close proximity to one another, the LED signal may appear brighter or closer, causing crews to confuse the sequence of the signals as they approach. This effect may be more pronounced the closer the train gets to the signals.

A Safety Alert is a brief information sheet that pinpoints a particular safety hazard and offers practical remedies to address the issue. This Alert highlights actions to avoid accidents by identifying locations where the close spacing of signals may cause a signal to either mask or visually dominate another signal, especially at locations where LED and incandescent light units have been installed in close proximity. These actions include evaluating the railroad computer aided dispatching software to prevent confusion when lining routes non-sequentially at multiple control points; conducting a hazard analysis that includes testing signal visibility with input from train crews; and through the use of configuration management.

The Safety Alert is available http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-alerts/Documents/SA_038.pdf.

All 35 Safety Alerts the NTSB has issued are available at: http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-alerts/Pages/default.aspx.