World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary c [...]
A 90-car train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in a rural area of western Alabama early on Friday, leaving 11 cars burning and potentially bolstering the push for tougher regulation of a boom in moving oil by rail. No injuries have been reported, but 20 of the train& [...]
FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Railroad is known across the state, and now it’s getting national attention thanks to a six-part documentary commissioned by the Discovery Channel. “Railroad Alaska” debuts Nov. 16 on the Destination America channel, one of several channels the Discover [...]
The Labor Department wants companies to begin filing all workplace injury and illness reports electronically so they are available for anyone in the public to see. The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will announce the plan on Thursday as part [...]
By Joe Nigro, SMART General President – Last month, delegates from both the SMART Transportation and Sheet Metal Divisions stood together united as one on the floor of the AFL-CIO convention. SMART’s message to our brothers and sisters in the labor movement was simple. We dem [...]
WASHINGTON – An oncoming freight train sounded its warning, and track guard gates started to descend. But the crowd was cheering, a marching band was playing, the lights of a police escort were flashing and a truck driver towing a parade float of wounded veterans and their wi [...]
WASHINGTON – Prodded by the families of people killed in a regional airline crash, federal officials issued an extensive overhaul of training requirements for pilots Tuesday. One of the most important changes requires airlines to provide better training on how to prevent and [...]
The number of pedestrians killed in U.S. train collisions increased 25 percent in the first eight months of this year, setting a pace unseen in more than a decade, according to new federal data. There were 352 pedestrian railroad deaths, classified as trespasser fatalities, t [...]
WASHINGTON – Cheers of support from a flag-waving crowd watching a parade turned into shouts of horror when a freight train rammed into a float carrying veterans and their wives in Midland, Texas, last year. Four veterans were killed and 16 others were injured in the collisio [...]
With 85 percent of eligible ballots returned, SMART Transportation Division conductors and assistant conductors on the Northern Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corp. (known as Metra) have approved a seven-year mediation agreement governing wages and working conditions, th [...]
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