The Federal Railroad Administration has a stark message for rail workers with safety-related duties: Only use your cell phone when allowed or you could lose your job. Emergency Order No. 26, which went into effect in October 2008, restricts the use by train crews and others i [...]
The Railroad Retirement Board reports it has adjusted benefits — effective with February benefits checks — for more than 140,000 beneficiaries to reflect new federal income tax withholding rates. The new rates comply with provisions of the congressionally passed T [...]
A BLET member working a conductor assignment on Norfolk Southern was killed in a conventional shoving movement accident in Kankakee, Ill., Feb. 8; and a UTU member conductor is hospitalized in critical condition following a fall from a bridge into a frigid river in Covington, [...]
WASHINGTON — The senior Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, introduced legislation Feb. 8 to reduce the rail route miles over which positive train control (PTC) must be implemented before January 2016. Senate co-sponsors include J [...]
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is pushing for a six-year, $53 billion investment in high-speed, higher-speed and expanded passenger rail service, but a fight is brewing with congressional Republicans. An initial $8 billion in funding for these rail projects is ex [...]
If a congressionally ordered railroad risk reduction program is to be effective, the Federal Railroad Administration must include railroad employees and their labor unions in the process of evaluating and managing the program. That is the message seven rail labor organization [...]
Amtrak has proposed a plan to build two new tunnels under the Hudson River linking New Jersey and New York City. The tunnel project would also include replacement and expansion of the 100-year-old Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River in New Jersey between Kearny and Secauc [...]
The following statement was released Jan. 7 by United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Steven M. Dettelbach: “An information has been filed charging Robert L. (Pete) McKinney, age 59, of Houston, Texas, with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in [...]
UTU Local 367 represented employees of Nebraska Central Railroad, which includes all crafts, have ratified a wage, rules and working conditions agreement with an 80 percent plurality. The five-year agreement provides for a signing bonus, wage increases, a minimum-hours guaran [...]
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats and Republicans have finalized appointments to the Senate Banking Committee, which is responsible for legislation affecting mass transit. Committee chairman is Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.). Democrats: Tim Johnson (S.D.), chairmanDaniel Akaka [...]
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