Weekly Digest Number 1 - January 5th, 2021 |
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COVID-19 takes a heavy toll on railroading worldwide |
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The approach with which most nations addressed the spread of the coronavirus — one of regional and national lockdowns, and border closures — took a heavy toll on rail systems around the world. The pattern began after the COVID-19 virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Most rail traffic in China, especially export freight from China to Europe, was suspended until March, by which time the virus had spread across the world, and most of Europe was in lockdown.
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U.P. still making big profits, still sacrificing worker safety |
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Union Pacific has more than enough cash to protect its workers from Covid-19. Even during the Pandemic, U.P. stock price is at record highs (see graph at link below). In 2019, U.P. made $228,107 in profits per employee! While the BMWED has urged Management for common-sense Covid-19 safety precautions, U.P. has returned escalating profits to shareholders. Recently, they went to court and got a judge to temporarily stop us from refusing to work in unsafe conditions. On January 5th, the judge will hold another hearing.
For now the judge has ordered us to keep working, so we will. Stay tuned.
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NTSB investigating fatal accident of Housatonic Railroad worker |
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating a rail accident that occurred Oct. 14 in North Canaan, Connecticut, that resulted in the death of a Housatonic Railroad Inc. employee. The employee, who had 21 years of railroad service, was struck and killed by a rail-mounted rubber-tire track excavator traveling in an out-of-service track, NTSB officials reported in a summary of its ongoing investigation.
At the time of the accident, the worker was walking in the foul between the out-of-service track and a new switch panel that had been positioned to the side of the track for installation.
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FRA: PTC is operating on all required rail lines |
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(Editors' Note: While the rail industry crows about its amazing accomplishment, the untold story is that this took 50 years, and only was possible, not because of the rail industry, but in spite of it. The carriers have historically resisted every effort to implement any and all forms of train control. In recent decades, freight carriers have even been hard at work ripping out what "train control" systems remained on a handful of mainlines, all the time vehemently opposing any and all attempts at government safety regulation.
In addition, as required, the FRA has certified that each host railroad's PTC system complies with the technical requirements for PTC systems. Moreover, railroads have reported that interoperability has been achieved between each applicable host and tenant railroad that operates on PTC-governed main lines, FRA officials said in a press release.
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Cares Act: Relief Includes a Suspension of the Sequestration of RRB Benefits |
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Included in the Congressional COVID-19 Relief Agreement recently finalized is a suspension of the sequestration of RRB Unemployment and Sick Benefits. Railroaders currently out of work will receive payments in full until the Emergency Declaration for COVID-19 is lifted.
While the sequestration suspension is temporary in this new agreement, it does afford Rail Labor time to press the issue on Capitol Hill. Lifting sequestration of RRB Unemployment and Sick Benefits has bipartisan support in the Senate, with Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) co-sponsoring.
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KCS Trainman Killed in On-the-Job Accident in MIssissippi |
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(Editor's Note: We lost a total of 7 U.S. railroad workers in 7 separate incidents in the last three months of 2020. This is a dramatic number of fatalities in such a short period of time. The carriers must be held accountable.)
Tyrone Davis, 40, of SMART-TD Local #584 (Meridian, Miss.), passed away the morning of Dec. 23 in Tupelo, Miss., after an on-the-job accident. He had been a SMART-TD member since April 2018 and had about 10 years of seniority as a conductor for Kansas City Southern Railroad. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating Brother Davis’s death, which occurred after he was riding a tank car. SMART-TD union officers are involved in leading the investigation of the incident.
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Colorado Midland & Pacific inks pact to run trains on UP's Tennessee Pass |
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(Editor's Note: For more than 20 years this once vibrant freight main featuring welded rail and CTC signaling has sat dormant. Following the UP takeover of SP/Rio Grande in the mid 1990s, most traffic was diverted away from Colorado and onto UP's overland Route through Wyoming, leaving no traffic on this line, and little traffic elsewhere on the old Rio Grande RR system).
Colorado Midland & Pacific Railway Co. (CMP), a newly formed subsidiary of Rio Grande Pacific Corp. (RGPC), has entered into a commercial agreement with Union Pacific Railroad to lease the majority of UP's Tennessee Pass Line in Colorado, and has filed with the Surface Transportation Board to request authority to operate the line. CMP will assess community interest in providing commuter-rail service connecting Eagle, Lake, Chaffee and Fremont counties. If there's interest, CMP will assist public agencies in obtaining funding for establishing passenger-rail services, CMP officials said in a press release.
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Ten Good Stories of Passenger and High Speed Rail in 2020 |
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Despite everything, there was a lot of good news about passenger rail this year. High-speed rail projects in Nevada, Texas, Florida, California and the Pacific Northwest made significant progress. A member of Congress introduced a bill to invest more than $200 billion in a national HSR network. Amtrak moved closer to rolling out trains that can run at 186 mph (though the maximum track speed is 160 mph in the NE Corridor).
And President-elect Joe Biden promised to invest heavily in trains. There’s never been a more exciting and promising moment for this work.
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International rail's overlooked stories
Beyond the pandemic: Automated trains, digital couplers, new high speed lines are among noteworthy developments
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Plans were announced or trials began for automated trains, especially in Europe
While multiple subway and airport people-mover systems around the world use driverless trains, mainline operation without drivers has until now been restricted to Western Australia, where heavy iron ore trains operate on a 1,050-mile line without drivers in the largely uninhabited Pilbara region. During 2020, trials in France saw an electric locomotive work autonomously, and Alstom — which was involved in the French trial — has announced plans for unmanned operation of switchers in the Netherlands in 2021, and passenger-carrying commuter-rail EMUs in Germany in 2023.
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RWU News: Big Poster Sale! |
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Prices on All RWU Posters Drastically Reduced
RWU has purchased a new printer and can produce our posters now in-house. As a result, we can make these gorgeous full-color posters on 32 lb. glossy specialty laser paper available to you at a much better price, 30% to 50% less! Remember, the more you buy, the cheaper they are. Make sure to check the drop-down menu to see the big discounts you get when you order 5, 10, 25, 50 or 100!
1 poster - $1.50; new price now is just $1.00
5 posters - $5.00; new price now is just $3.00
12 posters - $10.00 new price now is just $6.00
25 posters - $15.00 new price now is just $8.00
50 posters - $25.00 new price now is just $15.00
100 posters - new price now is just $25.00
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