Both inspectors for a state rail safety program — aimed to prevent such fiery derailments involving crude oil as happened this year near Weimdal, N.D. — have been hired and are training with federal inspectors. In July, an agreement was approved by the Public Service Commissi [...]
In a letter dated Dec. 5, the National Mediation Board (NMB) certified the SMART Transportation Division as the official union of the train and engine service employees of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway (CMQR). SMART TD invoked the services of the NMB Aug. 12, 2015, t [...]
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has called on the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to limit the vapor pressure of crude oil shipped by rail. In a petition for rulemaking, Schneiderman asked the agency to require all crude transpo [...]
Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) announced that its board of directors has unanimously rejected Canadian Pacific’s (NYSE:CP) previously announced unsolicited, low-premium, non-binding, highly conditional indication of interest to acquire the Company for $46.72 in cash and a [...]
On December 3, 2015, Congress passed H.R. 22, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST ACT) by overwhelming bipartisan votes of 83 to 16 and 359 to 65 in the Senate and House respectively. The legislation is the first long-term surface transportation reauthorizat [...]
The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) released its annual tax rates, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, for the upcoming 2016 year. The Tier II tax rates are determined annually from a tax rate schedule based on an average account benefits ratio reflecting railroad retirement fund levels [...]
Washington — Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued this statement in response to a House-Senate deal on a long overdue surface transportation reauthorization bill: “The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act is a [...]
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has launched a nationwide transit-oriented development (TOD) initiative to encourage development near transit systems that boosts the local economy; provides easy access to jobs and serv [...]
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine no longer will disclose to the public any details about shipments of crude oil by rail through the state, an official said Wednesday, a move that has angered activists who say the information is critical to public safety. The state’s Department of Envi [...]
Frank “Dwayne” Adkins died Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, at his residence in Dupo, Ill. He was 84 years old. Adkins, a member of SMART TD (then United Transportation Union) Local 1929 of East St. Louis, Ill., hired out as an engineer with the Alton & Southern Railway in 1956. Ad [...]
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