Category: Transportation
Colo. members: Tell the governor you support our two-person crew bill
Two-person freight crew safety legislation is one step closer to becoming law in Colorado with the state Senate’s passage of House Bill 1034 (H.B. 1034). After its 19-15 passage on Feb. 25 in the Senate, the bill is on the desk of Democratic Gov. Jared Polis for conside [...]
Amtrak says it’ll match funds to keep Southwest Chief route
Amtrak has informed federal, state and local officials along the route of the daily Chicago-to-Los Angeles Southwest Chief that it will provide matching funds to enable a federal grant to be awarded for safety and reliability upgrades in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, the c [...]New Jersey Transit, claiming ‘sovereign immunity,’ asks federal judge to dismiss worker injury suits
New Jersey Transit (NJT) is claiming sovereign immunity after a victory in the case Karns v. Shanahan 18 months ago, which upheld NJT’s argument that it is a part of the state of New Jersey, not an independent agency, and as such is not responsible for employee injuries. In a [...]
FRA issues national trespass prevention strategy
WASHINGTON – The U.S Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued to Congress the first National Strategy to Prevent Trespassing on Railroad Property. The report examines the causal factors that contribute to trespassing incidents on rai [...]Capital expenditures for U.S. Class I’s largely flat for 2019
Capital expenditures in 2019 will largely remain flat from the previous year for five of seven U.S. Class I railroads, according to financial reports released by the carriers. BNSF spent $3.4 billion in 2018 and is one of two carriers that plan to increase capital expenditure [...]
RRB announces spring schedule of pre-retirement seminars
If you are thinking of retiring within the next five years, you may want to consider attending a pre-retirement seminar hosted by the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). Designed for railroad employees and spouses planning to retire, the pre-retirement seminars the RRB offers fa [...]
A new name for UTU PAC, but the same support for labor-friendly legislators!
NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (Feb. 13, 2019) — The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Transportation Division (SMART TD) has filed with the Federal Elections Commission to change the name of its Political Action Committee. Formerly known as [...]Local 951 conductor expresses opinion on carrier push toward automation
Robert Peterson, a BNSF conductor out of Local 951 (Sheridan, Wyo.), questions the cost and need for freight railroads to push into automated technology in an opinion piece published Feb. 12 on the Railway Age website. Class I freight carriers are thriving with booming profit [...]