Rail Safety Becomes Public Safety Real Quick

South Portland, Maine — For many railroaders, the instinct is simple. We handle problems in-house, look out for one another, and keep the operation moving as safely as possible with the equipment and conditions we’re given. It’s part of the culture. But when systemic safety failures go unaddressed, they stop being just workplace issues. They become public safety risks.

You don’t have to take the union’s word for it. You can always ask the people of East Palestine, Ohio.

SMART-TD’s Local 1400 out of Rigby Yard in South Portland, Maine, is at the point where they can’t bite their tongues about the safety conditions they and the people of South Portland are facing.

Critical Safety Gaps Put Workers in Danger

A major freight hub now operated by CSX, Rigby Yard has long been the subject of serious safety concerns dating back to its days under Pan Am. All these years have gone by with Pan Am and CSX being aware of these problems, but somehow our brothers and sisters are still dealing with them. Most of their safety reports have not brought about improvements and conditions have gotten even more urgent.

Among the most troubling issues reported by union members:

• The absence of dedicated yardmasters, despite the size and complexity of the yard
• The critical “man down” safety system for remote control locomotive (RCO) operations that isn’t assigned to be monitored by anyone
• Employees working under conflicting rule systems (GCOR and NORAC), with some being disciplined under rules they are not even qualified in
• Terminal managers lacking proper rule qualifications while simultaneously performing multiple safety-critical roles
• Failures to communicate hot box detector alerts to incoming crews
• A serious incident involving a pedestrian strike where CSX never actually responded and the crew was not provided Critical Incident protocol.

Individually, each of these issues raises serious red flags. All put together, they paint a picture of a terminal operating without the safety redundancies that railroaders (and the public) depend on.

Running Plays Without a Quarterback

The lack of yardmasters stands out as a glaring example of the problems at Rigby. Yardmasters are not just coordinators of efficiency; they are central to safe operations, ensuring trains are properly routed, movements don’t conflict, and hazards are addressed in real time. In a yard like Rigby, where freight traffic intersects with busy main lines, involving freight and passenger trains, the absence of that oversight is a hell of a lot more risky than the average “corporate staffing decision.”

The failure to monitor the RCO “man down” feature is another unacceptable and unexplainable gap. This system exists for one reason: if a railroader goes down and cannot respond, help must be dispatched immediately. In an environment where being on the ground normally means something has gone terribly wrong, ignoring those alerts is not an option.

And our risks don’t stay inside the yard.

Railroad safety failures have consequences that reach far beyond the right-of-way. Communities, families, and entire regions can be affected when warning signs are ignored. That’s why the concerns at Rigby Yard have drawn attention not only from our members, but from local residents in South Portland who have organized around the issue. They see what’s happening. And they understand the stakes.

Speaking Out Is Key to Preventing the Next Tragedy

SMART-TD members in Local 1400, along with Chris Lawrence the Chair of their General Committee and Dave Stevenson, our New England Safety and Legislative Director, have taken those concerns beyond the yard limits. They are taking them directly to policymakers. That effort recently led to a significant development.

The former Senate President for the State of Maine and current gubernatorial candidate, Troy Jackson attended a Local 1400 meeting to hear firsthand from the men and women working in these conditions every day.

It matters because when decision-makers take the time to listen directly to railroaders. The conversation changes. The reality of the job, the risks, the responsibilities, and the consequences become clear in a way they just don’t from a report or a briefing alone.

Jackson’s background advocating for working people in another dangerous industry of logging, shaped his response. He didn’t just hear our concerns. He engaged with them. And because SMART-TD members and leaders made the effort to bring him into that room, the situation at Rigby Yard will now factor into his decisions in ways it otherwise wouldn’t have.

That’s the lesson here.

Railroaders pride ourselves on handling our own problems. But when those problems rise to the level of public safety, we have a responsibility to go further. To speak up. To involve our communities. To bring in local, state, and federal leaders who have the power to demand change.

It doesn’t matter who holds office. What matters is that they understand what’s at stake.

And that only happens when we make our voices heard.

Local 1400 Leading From the Front

Our brothers and sisters of Local 1400, along with their legislative representatives, have set the example. They’ve taken some serious and long-standing safety issues and put them where they belong. That’s in the public eye, and on the desks of people who can no longer ignore them.

At the end of the day, this isn’t just about one rail yard in Maine.

It’s about every railroader who deserves to go home safe.
It’s about every community that trusts us to operate responsibly.
And it’s about making sure the next preventable tragedy never happens.